Belgian chocolate and Croatian love meet in sweets shop

Rakovica, Croatia, Nov 17, 2011 (AFP) -Christine Scholtes Covic went to Croatia's Lika region drawn by its stunning scenery and ended up with a husband and a new career combining Belgian chocolate with nature's bounty.

"Chocolate is the food of gods, something really noble," said the Belgian native at her tiny production facility in a village nestled among the green hills and valleys of central Croatia.

The 37-year-old had found a new home in the Lika region, famous for its well-preserved forests, mountains and crystal clear rivers and lakes, and there turned her passions for nature and chocolate into a business making truffles and bonbons.

"I always loved to cook but pastries were my speciality. As a six-year-old I was making my own birthday cakes.

"My grandmother had a restaurant so I'm like an Obelix who fell into the magic potion," she said with a grin, referring to the character from the French comic book series Asterix as she explained her "chocolate addiction".

Years later she obtained a diploma in France in bakery and pastry from the Institut National de la Boulangerie et Patisserie, and opened a small pastry shop back in Belgium.


But after discovering the beauty of Lika and its Plitvice Lake national park with 16
rcascading lakes and spectacular waterfalls, she fell in love with the place and


This photo of Lika-Senj is
 courtesy of TripAdvisor

a local man and moved to Croatia in 2009.


"I was looking for a house and got a husband with it," said the short-hair brunette, smiling warmly.

When the chocolate "addict" first spoke of setting up a luxury chocolate shop in the Lika area, picturesque but hard-hit by Croatia's 1990s independence war and with over 20 percent unemployment, the locals were surprised, even sceptical.

But she eventually won over the people in the town of Rakovica.

"It was a great idea but it was something completely new for me," said Ankica Baric, a local woman who helps out in the shop.

"When Christine asked me what I know about chocolate I replied that I only knew how to eat it," she added, bursting into laughter.


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