Happy Easter from Bariloche - and the longest chocolate bar in the world!

Chocolate Festival, Bariloche

As far as chocolate is concerned, if there is a good place to be at Easter, Bariloche in Argentina has to be high on the list. Whatever time of the year, the city is known for its chocolate - its high street is full of shops dedicated to all its forms - truffles, bars, drinks and of course at this time of year, eggs.  But at Easter they go one stage further and have a chocolate festival.

The first modern settlement of Bariloche was started by a German immigrant, Carlos Wiederhold, who had originally settled closer to our last stop, around Lake Llanquihue, but then moved across the Andes and set up a shop here. The European influence is visible in the city's main streets, which were designed in the 1930s to be like an Alpine village. With the nickname Little Switzerland, it is unsurprising that chocolate became such a factor here.

Chocolate Festival, Bariloche

The chocolate did make sticking to our good eating plan a bit tricky here. We knew that we wouldn't be able to resist it completely. So we did a bit of checking into which of the numerous chocolate shops were supposed to be the best, and narrowed it down to three: Mamuschka, Rapa Nui, and Abuela Goye.

Mamuschka, chocolate shops, Bariloche

Whereas in days of old we would have happily bought and eaten loads of the stuff, we decided to limit ourselves to five chocolates from each of these three shops. We both agreed that Mamuschka was the best, with the best overall chocolates as well as some especially good ones, and that Rapa Nui was not far behind, with great flavours in some, just not as good overall.

Chocolate Festival, Bariloche

Then we got to Easter, and the festival. The city started holding a chocolate festival in 2012, as part of a celebration of its revival after the Chilean volcano Puyehue erupted in June 2011, causing a red alert in the area and covering the city in a layer of ash. The ash cloud went 10km into the sky, and residents were advised to seal their windows to prevent it getting into the air in their homes. It was the reason that we didn't visit Bariloche last time we were in South America, as they were still cleaning up when we were down this way.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

This time, thankfully there were no more eruptions, and we made it. We were slightly disappointed to discover that this year they wouldn't be making the giant Easter Egg. In some years they have built a huge - and when I say huge I mean over eight metres tall - chocolate egg, which people come to see in the run up, and then on Easter Sunday it is broken up and distributed to all the people who queue up to get some. But this year there was to be no giant egg.


What they did have, on the Thursday, was what they claim is the worlds longest chocolate bar. I don't know whether it actually is a world record, but it is certainly long. We didn't know quite what to expect. We had in mind that they made it off site in chunks, and then put it together afterwards. We did know that it was going to be 200 metres long, and that they break it up and give it out to those there.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

It was scheduled for 7pm, but we knew that we would need to get there early to get a place at the front, so we turned up a little before 6, and managed to nab a place at the barrier, at around the 130 metre mark.

We were a little disappointed initially, as we thought the tin foil on the trestle tables was covering the bar, and it looked a bit pathetic. Then we realised that the foil was just the tray, and they actually make the chocolate bar in front of you. This sounded much more interesting

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

By the time they got started, the crowd was about five people deep where we were, and bigger near the 200 metre end, where the stage was. The makers are representatives from the five companies that provide the chocolate, the three we had tried, Mamuschka, Rapa Nui, and Abuela Goye, and two others, Turista, and Tante Frida.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

The chocolate makers arrived, carrying their bowls, spatulas, and huge vats of melted chocolate, together with extras like sultanas, nuts and crispy things. It took them quite a while to organise themselves, and we were a bit worried at one stage when it looked like there wasn't enough chocolate around our section.


They sorted themselves out though, and began pouring their vats of rather lovely smelling chocolate onto the tray, and smoothing it out to get rid of any lumps or bubbles. When they were happy with that, the toppings went on, followed by another layer of melted chocolate.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

Then came the frustrating bit - waiting for it to harden. We could see the chocolate. We could smell the chocolate. But for now at least, we couldn't get our hands on the chocolate.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

It took a little over an hour to make the bar, and then it was time to cut it up and hand it out, regardless of whether it was fully set or not. Some bits were, but others were a little on the soft side, and the chefs had some trouble getting it off the table and onto the trays to serve. But they persisted and soon, we were all putting out our hands to receive our chunk of chocolate.


Protocol is that when you have got your piece, you move away, so that those behind you can get their turn. We did, but we soon realised that there was plenty of chocolate to go around, and people were going back time and time again, so we joined the back of the crowd in another section and got ourselves another couple of pieces.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

I suspect that, had we tried to get more, we could have come away with quite a bit, but we were already going to have to put in extra time at the gym to make up for what we'd had, so we resisted.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

We walked up the street afterwards, and the chocolate shops were full of people buying even more chocolate. We were tempted, especially as we had been handed a voucher for 15% off, but refrained, though I can't promise that we won't give in for one more set of five pieces before we leave.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

I say it was a voucher, but it was actually a prescription, setting out various reasons why chocolate is medically good for you. A couple of them seemed reasonable - I can see the claim of it being a natural anti-depressant, and I have heard it is good for anti-oxidants, but others were a little more tongue in cheek I think!

We may not have had the giant egg, but actually the giant chocolate bar was quite good fun to see being made, and we did enjoy the chocolate handouts.

Happy Easter everyone.

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

World's Longest Chocolate Bar, Bariloche

Chocolate Festival, Bariloche

Chocolate Festival, Bariloche

Mamuschka, chocolate shops, Bariloche

Rapa Nui, chocolate shops, Bariloche

Abuela Goye, chocolate shops, Bariloche

Turista, chocolate shops, Bariloche