Over 4,500 hours and 7,275 pounds of chocolate have gone into creating the creche.
Christmas has never tasted this good. Thirty-two pastry chefs in the southern Italian city of Naples unveiled on Saturday what they say is the biggest ever nativity scene made entirely of chocolate.
Over 4,500 hours and 7,275 pounds of chocolate have gone into creating the creche which is 19 feet, 8 inches wide, 9 feet, 10 inches high and -- to the delight of chocoholics -- totally edible.
"For us, this is an unrepeatable event, something which we will never be able to do again," pastry chef Antonio Castaldo told reporters ahead of the unveiling as he put the last touches on the golden locks of a white chocolate baby Jesus.
The Neapolitan team, working through the night in a spartan garage, not only included the area''s finest pastry chefs but expert carpenters, sculptors and painters pooling their skills to produce this ode to the cocoa bean.
More than 100 figures of shepherds, animals and townspeople decorate the elaborate scene of hills and caves and Mediterranean-style houses. The angelic-looking Madonna alone took two weeks to make.
Every year, the narrow cobbled street of San Gregorio Armeno in the heart of Naples comes alive as artisans peddle their often witty, hand-crafted nativity scenes.
This year''s personalities include Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, the two Italian women taken hostage in Iraq last September and then released. In the past, Osama Bin Laden, and President Bush have featured alongside Jesus and Mary.
But without a doubt, the chocolate creche has stolen the limelight this Christmas.
Lucky for the crowds that hungrily descended on the scene Saturday, its creators said they are considering donating the nativity scene to the city so that people can taste a piece of chocolate history in true Christmas spirit.
nativity: a representation, such as a painting, of Jesus's birth（耶稣诞生图）
locks: a length or curl of hair; a tress（一绺卷发；一束长发）
spartan: simple, frugal, or austere（简朴的、节约的或严格的）
peddle: to travel about selling (wares)（沿街叫卖，兜售）
steal the limelight: 最引人注意，出尽风头，抢镜头
圣诞节的味道从来没这么棒过。上周六（12月4日），意大利南部城市那不勒斯的32位糕点师首次展示了他们用巧克力搭建而成的“耶稣诞生实景”，据他们说，这是有史以来最大的再现耶稣诞生场景的巧克力。
糕点师们花费了4500多个小时，共消耗7275磅巧克力才制成这座巧克力马厩。马厩宽19英尺8英寸，高9英尺10英寸。最让巧克力爱好者高兴的是，它全部可以食用。
“对我们来说，这是一件绝无仅有的盛事，我们以后再也无法这样做了。”糕点师安东尼奥·卡斯塔尔多在巧克力马厩揭幕前对记者说，当时他正在为圣婴耶稣的金色卷发做最后的润色，这位小耶稣是用白巧克力制作的。
那不勒斯的糕点师们在一个条件简陋的车库里通宵达旦地工作，他们中不仅有当地最好的糕点师，还有木匠、雕刻家和画家等专业人士，他们各显所能，协力合作，用可可豆创造了这部颂诗。
在这块巧克力上，不仅有100多个人物形象，其中包括牧羊人、动物和市民，还有山峦、洞穴、地中海风格的房屋等美丽风光，人物和风景相映成趣。单单是有着天使容颜的圣母玛利亚就花了两周时间才完成。
每年（的这个时候），那不勒斯市中心的这条名叫圣格雷戈里奥·阿尔梅诺的鹅卵石窄街都会充满生机。巧手匠们沿街叫卖手工制作的新颖有趣的耶稣诞生实景。
今年的“主要人物”有西莫纳·帕里和西莫纳·托雷塔。去年9月，这两位意大利妇女在伊拉克被劫为人质，随后被释放。往年，乌萨马·本·拉登和美国总统布什的雕像总会出现在耶稣和玛丽身边。
这座巧克力马厩无疑在这个圣诞节出尽了风头。
星期六那天赶到现场的人群是幸运的，这块巧克力的创造者们说，他们正在考虑将它捐给这座城市，这样人们就可以品尝一块记载着历史的巧克力，这体现了真正的圣诞精神。
