Come on down to Tour & Taxis for a fun and delicious day out. In the 8,000sqm event space, you’ll have the  chance to meet more than 130 chocolatiers, pastry chefs, confectioners, designers and cocoa experts! This year, the Salon will be celebrating the theme of taste and naturality: Nature offers something to suit all tastes!

Thanks to a combination of education, tradition and new “Bean-to-Bar” businesses, the origins and benefits of chocolate will be revealed at the Salon to the general public. Peru, Madagascar, the Dominican Republic and other cocoa-producing countries will be giving consumers the opportunity to see and understand the origins of the bean and the land in which it grows. The trend towards healthier products will be also highlighted through the latest chocolate innovations and activities on show. The Salon du Chocolat is here to show you that, now more than ever, it is good to become a chocolate- and cocoa-addict.

This year’s Salon is here to unveil all of the secrets and flavours of the bean!

A DELICIOUS AND INDULGENT OPENING EVENING – FOR A  GOOD CAUSE

So what if you could experience the Salon as a special guest and be the first to see the chocolate fashion show – and for a good cause, no less? You can! The Salon du Chocolat will be opening its doors for an opening evening on Thursday the 21st of February to raise money for Télévie. This is a great opportunity for chocolate-lovers to enjoy a wonderful evening out while supporting a good cause: Télévie was founded in 1989 to finance cancer and leukaemia research in adults and children.

In the presence of: Philippe Close, Burgomaster for the City of Brussels and Ambassadors of cocoa-producing countries

Price: 20€ per person, with 6€ going to Télévie
Tickets are available upon reservation only at brussels.salon-duchocolat.com and the visit.brussels and agenda.brussels websites

On the agenda at the Salon

FASHION / THE CHOCOLATE CATWALK
Every day, the Cacao Show Podium: Get an exclusive first look at the 15 exceptional dresses unveiled during the opening evening, and which will be revealed to the public in a fashion show every day at 5pm. Chocolatiers and designers are already teaming up to take on 2019’s theme of Nature, gearing up for a deliciously avant-garde fashion show.

Here are some of the chocolatier and designer tag teams lining up for the 2019 show:

Belvas & Lauranne De Jaegher
Carré Noir (Mélanie Lemmens) & Marie Lovenberg
Chocolaterie Valenza (Dave van Luyck) & Dirk Vervoort
Frederic Blondeel, voted “Chocolatier of the Year 2018” by Gault&Millau & the Peruvian designer Ricardo
Davila
Institut Émile Gryzon & Gohar Gabrielyan
Jean-Luc Decluzeau & Angel Sewing
Laurent Gerbaud & Patou Saint Germain
Leonidas (Daniel Stallaert)
Millesime Chocolat & Giovanni Biasolo
Nadia Flecha Guazo (Cho-kolate)
Valentino Chocolatier & Sixtine Anne de Molina
Van Dender & Melissa Martin Ciudad

RECIPES / CHEFS TAKE TO THE STAGE!

Every day, the Cacao Show Podium: Every hour, the Pastry Show Podium will see top chefs and master chocolatiers take to the stage, showcasing their finest chocolate recipes and sharing their tips and tricks with the audience.

CONFERENCES / CHOCOLATE CULTURE

Every day, the Cacao Show Podium: Visitors will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and discover the many facets of chocolate and cocoa during the series of expert conferences. Among the themes discussed this year are: Bean to bar, Pastry, Chef Portraits and Master Classes on chocolate and wine, whisky and rum pairings.

INDULGENT WORKSHOPS & MASTER CLASSES

Masalto, the espresso specialist, will set up a bar right in the heart of the Salon du Chocolat where you can buy coffee (all day long) or take a “Coffee & Chocolate Pairing” master class with full chocolate and coffee tastings (twice per day).
Chocolissimo & Zaabär will be hosting free chocolate/cocoa-focused cooking workshops every day of the Salon.
The Roger Lambion Institute will feature demonstrations on their stand all day long. On the agenda: chocolate moulding, enrobing and showpieces.

BEER & CHOCOLATE

This year, the Salon is proud to pay homage to the pairing of beer and chocolate, the two most iconic products in Belgium’s culinary canon. Come down to the dedicated Duvel beer space to try their pairings of beers and pralines, in partnership with a chocolatier.

SHOWCASING THE NEXT GENERATION

The “Young Talents” space, sponsored by the City of Brussels, is back again this year to shine a spotlight on the brightest new talent from in and around Brussels, such as Eugène Chocolatier and Vanessa Renard Chocolaterie.

THE BEAN TO BAR VILLAGE

The Bean-to-Bar Village is back again this year, featuring companies such as Bean to Bar, Legast Artisan Chocolatier, Mi Joya, Millesime Chocolat and Munsakao. Now more than ever, bean-to-bar is the force driving the industry forward. More and more passionate chocolatiers have taken the plunge and started up their own bean-to-bar companies. This approach combines pleasure and mindfulness, and is fully in line with the current enthusiasm for natural flavours, authenticity and traceability sought by today’s consumers.

ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

Little chocoholics will want to head down to Chocoland for the introduction to chocolate workshops, specially developed for younger hands and palates – in partnership with the Institut Emile Gryzon.

Sign up at the Salon, places are limited. 12 children per workshop, one every hour. Workshops are open to
children from 6 to 12 years old.

Entrance Fees:
In advance – until February 21st at midnight:

Adult Friday: €8.50 – Saturday or Sunday: €10
Children from 3 to 12: €5
Free for children under 3
Senior (from 60) : €8.50
Student (on presentation of proof) : €8.50
Family Pack: 2 adults + 2 children between 3 and 12: €26
Opening Night – Thursday, 21st February 2019 – advance tickets only: €20

From February 22nd:

Adult Friday: €9 – Saturday or Sunday: €11
Children from 3 to 12: €5
Free for children under 3
Senior (from 60 ) : €9
Student (on presentation of proof) : €9
Family Pack: 2 adults + 2 children between 3 and 12: €27 on Friday / €28 on Saturday or Sunday

For more information, visit their website.

The post 6th Edition of the Salon du Chocolat in Brussels appeared first on Brussels Express.

Sure, Leonidas pralines are easily bought during this fair and the Neuhaus – making-of – demo of the iconic Caprice draws visitors’ attention, but this Salon du Chocolat is particularly fun for those cocoa-inamoratos that want to dig deeper into the world of chocolate.

Take your chance to taste and buy fruity and salty bonbons, sandwich spread without palm oil or Indian spiced chocolate. Learn from chocolatier Callebaut how chocolate is made from the very beginning. Taste the Nutty Thins from Belgian hipster Baru, which mostly sells their chocolate flakes through niche delis.

In the Young Talent Space you can meet among others a family from Tervuren that a year ago decided to start a chocolate company under the name Mi Joya. Get acquainted with pure Colombian chocolate and proceed your adventure at the booth of Peru Organic, a company founded in the heart of the land of the Incas. Encounter the Chocolat Beussent Lachelle, a company that started as a family business thirty years ago and now owns its own cocoa plantation in Equador. This French chocolatier controls the entire chocolate production process: from the growth and harvest of cocoa to the finishing touch of the praline. Like this, an honest product with a fine taste is guaranteed.

A message to those people that are not into chocolate but end up at shed 3 and 4 of Tour&Taxis this weekend anyway: don’t worry. Leave the chocolate stands where they are and enjoy your Duvel beer, accompanied by an Arabic pastry, some marshmallows or a carrot cupcake while you check the catwalk for models presenting couture outfits. Beware though, that a complete escape is not possible: the fashion is made from chocolate!

The post Chocolate & Cocoa: The Great Adventure appeared first on Brussels Express.

To mark the fifth year in Brussels, the festival will give attention to two products of Belgian cuisine: beer and chocolate; pairing them together to give off some new dimensions that beer surprisingly brings out in chocolate. They’ll also show « Young Talents », who are supported by the City of Brussels and will show the promising new chocolate artisans of the city.

This year’s theme – Chocolate & Cocoa: the Great Adventure – as it travels from city to city, aims to show all the newest chocolate trends and the creativity within them. It will have chocolate producers from countries like Peru, which will show the nuances of the cocoa in it’s beginning state as well as showing the many stages of processing cocoa into chocolate; with a Callebaut reconstructed production line present in the Brussels exhibition.

Spread over three days, The Salon du Chocolat will offer a complete program of activities; one such event is a Chocolate Fashion Show! Chocolatiers and fashion designers work together to showcase a 2018 collection of chocolate outfits; previewed during the Gala Evening on Thursday, 1st March and presented to the public every day after at 5:00 pm during the Salon.

There will also be live demonstrations by top chefs, where some of the best pastry chefs and chocolate masters will, every hour, appear on the Pastry Show podium to present their best chocolate recipes and share their tips and tricks with the public. Workshops: where visitors will be treated with brand new hands-on pastry workshops offered by Les secrets du Chef. Talks and tastings: visitors will perfect their knowledge about chocolate and cocoa during conferences held by experts and chocolate lovers; dedicated workshops in the Chocolate area with Institut Emile Gryzon, book signings and much more.

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