Valzani chocolate eggs

we picked up a big chocolate egg today, from my favorite candy shop in town, cioccolateria Valzani, a slightly-worn mom-and-pop affair (well, grandmom-and-pop, now) tucked away on Via del Moro, in the Trastevere quarter.

chocolate eggs are kinda their specialty: they’re only sold around easter, but Valzani stocks sun-faded Eggs-Of-Yore photos on the walls all year long. plus, they’ve currently got a housemade four-foot-tall chocolate egg squatting stately by the cash register, a fine testament to how serious they are about this egg business, i’d say.

they’ve got competition, of course: every market in town is hawking choco-eggs of various sorts at the moment, the most intriguing being the only-for-easter, deluxe-sized version of Ferrero’s ‘Kinder Egg’ which weighs in at 400% bigger than the sold-all-year-round variety, and with better surprises inside, to boot.

still, i’ll stick with my humbler Valzani egg, if nothing but for the fact that they produce the meanest and baddest ‘Diavoletti al Peperoncini’ this side of the Tiber — them’s dark chocolate and crushed red pepper truffles. double-plus good!