Monthly Archives October 2013

The Food of the Gods honoured in Bastia – 2nd Annual Chocolate Show

October 28, 2013, Posted in  Events/Festivals | Comments: 0

Salon de Chocolat de Bastia Oct 2013 025This is, one of my favourite shows, and whenever I can, I try to attend. Over several years, the direction was usually Paris, and this year for the second edition here in Corsica, my choice of direction went to Bastia (north of the island), where I explored this very exciting event that I had been waiting for quite impatiently, I may add.

Let’s view what this show would reveal …

Imagine 2600m2 of vacant space, where 105 stands and over 100 exhibitors (of which fifteen came from the mainland) presented their extremely tempting creations and products. And as we are discussing numbers here, you might like to learn that during last year’s show, 10 tons of chocolate was actually sold – those present, sold the equivalent to their Christmas sales ....

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‘Festiventu’ – the 22nd Annual ‘Wind Festival’ in Calvi

October 23, 2013, Posted in  Events/Festivals | Comments: 0

Plage par Eric Gueret Fest du Vent Calvi

As many islands, Corsica too is often wind-blown and senses the force of enveloping strength. However, this island uses this natural power and honours the wind annually, with a special festival ‘Festiventu’ running through five days of festivities and excitement, held in Calvi (north of the island) – an event where creation and education mingle.

Visitors from all over the world attend, and where one sees children accompanied by their parents and school outings too, certainly a thrill for some fortunate classes. It’s taking ‘time out’ for natural appreciation, communication and exchange of ideas.

Nature surprises us, and our adaption to her movement, energy and personality provokes inspiration, loyalty, creativity and respect...

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‘CUCURUZZU’ – let’s drift back to the Bronze Age/Middle Ages ..

October 21, 2013, Posted in  Heritage | Comments: 2

Cucuruzzu_JPG2 wiki2

One of the charms of this island, as you may have already realised, is the fact that you can wander around and visit several prehistoric/archaeological sites, which offer fascinating and interesting outings – places where once again, the temporal length of existence appears on pause.

This is the case of Cucuruzzu, which is situated in the south of the island, belonging to the municipality of Levie.

I remember my visit there, and I found the name itself just irresistible. ‘Cucuruzzu’ evokes rhythmic mystery to me, although very sweet-sounding.

It was during the second millennium BC that a citadel was constructed, to be abandoned within the third, leaving tremendous boulders, sometimes weighing over a ton...

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Mustard is not just ‘mustard’ – there’s a whole world out there worth exploring!

October 17, 2013, Posted in  Gastronomy | Comments: 2

Yellow_mustard_flower Wiki

After working for a major French mustard company on the mainland, Dominique Variot decided to move to Corsica – and more precisely to Linguizzetta, at Serra-Piana (east of the island), with his Corsican wife in 2007. It wasn’t his intention to produce mustard immediately, and over the first two years he actually grew hay and cereals, having bought twenty hectares of land. Starting off with strong standard mustard, he sold the 1000 pots he had prepared. In 2011, he decided to launch flavoured mustard, driven by his creative artisan background and originality. Myrtle was his first choice, leading to herbs, fig, honey, tangerine, lemon, orange, chestnut and citron/cédrat...
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The Revival and Survival of ‘A Morra’

October 14, 2013, Posted in  Heritage | Comments: 0

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To revive and perpetuate a choice of entertainment originating from ancient times, has been the choice of Alex Casamarte, President of the Association Corsica Morra – based just outside of Ajaccio in Sarrola-Carcopino, and now reaching over 150 members.

But, what is this game ?

‘A Morra’ is a hand game, (casting lots) played by two players and dating back to the times of ancient Rome and Greece.Face to face, and with one hand only, the two players in turn announce a number, showing their fingers, whoever announces the sum of the two hands, wins (from 2 to10) – if the correct number is not announced the game continues. Teams contribute to the winning of matches, and are composed of two or three people, and a match is won when there are two winning sets...

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