Marmite de l'Escalade: choc pot

When you see sweetshops displaying pots made of chocolate, Geneva's festival of L'Escalade cannot be far off. It is celebrated on 11–12 December: for on this night in 1602, the troops of the Duke of Savoy tried to storm the city. Mère Royaume, a plucky cook, tipped her cauldron over the heads of the soldiers scaling the walls. To commemorate this, the Genevois eat pots ("marmites" in French) of chocolate, filled with marzipan vegetables.