“My weakness is dark chocolate,” US actress Sharon Stone once admitted.

Director and actor Mel Gibson had something to say about chocolate too: “After about 20 years of marriage, I’m finally starting to scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate.”

Many chocolate lovers, some of whom do not mind saying they cannot go to sleep unless they have a couple of chocolate bars on their bedside table, descended on Ħamrun for the 10th edition of the chocolate festival on Saturday.

There were all sorts of chocolate-related items produced by top chefs, bakers and chocolate makers from Malta, Italy, Germany, Brazil and the UK, among others.

Visitors could smell and eat chocolate but also admire ‘creative applications’ like painting on canvas, tattoos, body painting and sculptures. Children could express their creativity by painting with cocoa.

The event also aimed to spread information on fair trade and how chocolate is increasingly being used in beauty products, such as for chocolate massages or cocoa therapies, as well as forming part of a healthy and balanced diet.

The event was also a good opportunity to learn about the history of chocolate, which dates back to the Maya civilisation and, later, the Aztecs, who used to make a nectar from cocoa beans they spiced with peppers.

When they invaded Latin America, the Spanish conquistadors came up with the idea of adding cane sugar to the drink, which made the Aztec tchocolatl more palatable for the Europeans.

When the Knights of the Order of St John were in Malta, cocoa beans were stored at the Tas-Samra area in Ħamrun, hence the locality’s connection with chocolate.

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