Opening the year with Mahatma Gandhi and ending it with former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Zuka, Puducherry’s speciality chocolate boutique, has just installed a 5 feet 11 inches model of Mr. Kalam in edible chocolate, weighing 400 kg, as part of its chocolate festival.
The team led by in-house chef Rajendran Thangarasu took 180 hours to complete the task. This follows a 300 kilogram model of Mahatma Gandhi in chocolate which was in the shop in January. The team at Zuka has earlier made a chocolate cricket kit, a chocolate Statue of Liberty, a chocolate vintage train and real size chocolate footballs for the World Cup. The chocolate models have now taken on the form of a tradition now, it appears.
“During the World Chocolate Day in July, our customers asked us which model is next, and gave their suggestions. We asked people for their choices on Facebook as well. A majority of people asked for a model of Mr. Kalam,” says Srinath Balachandran, owner of Zuka, about the choice.
“Making a vertical statue is not easy. We had to get the density of the chocolate right so the balance is not disturbed. Creating cloth pleats in chocolate is not easy,” said Mr. Balachandran.
“I worked with a photograph for reference. Getting the facial features right was a challenge. Once it was done, transporting it from our factory which is quite nearby was risky,” said Mr. Thangarasu.
Visitors have been regularly streaming in to take a look and take photographs, said Mr. Balachandran.
The idea of the festival in time to come is to take Indian flavours combined with chocolate to a global platform.
Srinath Balachandran
Owner of Zuka
