A Maltese chocolatier behind two previous Guinness World Records has done it again, this time with a 52-metre-long chocolate train unveiled in Milan, now officially the longest chocolate sculpture in the world.
Andrew Farrugia’s mouthwatering creation was made with the help of Maltese and Italian culinary students.
Made from 3,000kg of high-quality Belgian chocolate, it was unveiled on Monday at the Palazzo della Regione Lombardia in Milan, ahead of the Winter Games being held in northern Italy.
There, the students from the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) and the Italian Institute of Culinary Arts and Hospitality (CAST) and ITS lecturer Farrugia watched as the chocolate train they worked on for months was measured by an official of the Guinness World Record and awarded the title for the World’s Longest Chocolate Sculpture.
After Monday’s event, the Mellieħa chef is now the holder of not one, but three Guinness World Records.
ITS lecturer Andrew Farrugia with his three Guinness World Records. Photo: Provided by Andrew Farrugia
In 2012, he created a 34-metre-long chocolate train, which was displayed in Brussels, and in 2014, Farrugia created the tallest chocolate sculpture, a 13.52 m tall replica of the Burj Khalifa, which was unveiled at the Dubai International Airport.
While it might be tempting to take a bite of the train, the chocolate is not edible as it is not safe to eat after being exposed for so long. Instead, part of it will be melted to be used for training, while the rest will be used as animal feed.
The chocolate structure was made in an effort to raise money for Hospice Malta and Associazione Cure Palliative ODV-ETS in Bergamo. Prievously, ITS students and students from Bergamo baked over 12,000 biscuits and chocolates forpurchase against a donation fee.
In Milan, ahead of Monday’s event, students were busy selling chocolate bars in aid of the two NGOs.
During Monday’s reveal of the chocolate structure, Farrugia thanked all the Maltese and Italian students and colleagues he worked with, whom he now calls “his friends”.
He said the event was more special as his family, his wife and three children, were there with him to celebrate the moment.
He said he is not only proud to wear the ITS jacket, the institute he has been teaching in for the past 29 years, but also to be wearing two badges- one for Hospice Malta and the second for the Associazione Cure Palliative ODV ETS in Bergamo.
He said the project is celebrating two things- chocolate and all the hard-working and dedicated volunteers at Hospice.
“This is a special project, my colleagues, students, staff, we are here to celebrate Hospice,” he added.
In a Facebook post, Mellieħa council congratulated Farrugia for his third world record, saying it was “a proud moment for Mellieħa”.
Dining and Cooking