A PASSION FOR CHOCOLATE
A Passion For Chocolate - Luxury Travel Magazine
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A Passion For Chocolate | |||||
| Story By Andrew Marshall and Photos By Karin Riikonen, Issue 27 – Winter 2006 | |||||
| (Belgian) | |||||
| CONOISSEURS RATE BELGIAN CHOCOLATE AS THE BEST IN THE WORLD. WE TAKE A TASTE TOUR OF THE MOST EXCLUSIVE BONBON BOUTIQUES. | |||||
| Seductive, romantic, decadent, sensual and tantalising – that’s chocolate. Anyone who has watched Juliet Binoche and her chocolate emporium enflame the passions of a village in the film Chocolat understands the power of pralines. Casanova, it is said, often used chocolate and champagne as the perfect aid to seduction. The Catholic church once banned it on the grounds it was an aphrodisiac. Belgium is synonymous with chocolate, and the nation’s speciality known as bonbons or pralines (chocolates with creamy fillings), are considered by connoisseurs to be the best in the world. Anyone strolling around the heart of Brussels or the medieval city of Bruges can’t fail to notice the perfect partnership between the romantic history and the handmade chocolate stores. The pure artisan character of the craft of the chocolatiers (chocolate makers) adds to the charm of the cities. In a tale of the two cities we find a selection of the premier chocolate establishments, where chocolate making is an art from. | |||||
| The Chocolate Line, Bruges | |||||
| The sweets from this exclusive shop are so good their creator, 36-year-old master chocolatier Dominique Persoone, is acknowledged in the Michelin Guide. The store enchants you like an old-fashioned sweet shop from a time gone by. Its window is piled high with a bewitching display of exotic chocolate. Once inside, you can fill your lungs with the gloriously pungent aroma of cocoa beans. Through a large window at the back of the store, Persoone can be observed busy at work. “I want our customers to see us actively making our chocolates by hand,” says Dominique, who trained as a junior apprentice in Parisian three-star restaurants. Since 1989, he and his wife Fabienne have been running the Chocolate Line with a team of eleven staff. “Starting with quality ingredients is the key to making exceptional chocolates,” he says with passion, “ I love working with origin chocolate. Twice a year the cocoa beans are harvested and some of the best come from countries such as the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Papua New Guinea.” Dominique is at the cutting edge of chocolate recipes. “I have some pretty crazy ones,” he says. “Years ago, I made a chili chocolate inspired by the movie Chocolat and some people laughed at me, but the customers kept coming back with a definite twinkle in their eye and that’s how we came to be in the Michelin Guide”. Other exotic creations from his collection include: Tonka (white ganache with coconut milk, bourbon-vanilla and tonka beans from Venezuela) and Havana (marzipan with a liqueur from Cuban tobacco leaves marinated in half rum and half cognac). | |||||
| Le Chocolatier Manon, Brussels | |||||
| If the Chocolate Line’s Dominique Persoone is experimental, then 52-year-old Christian Vanderkerken, owner of Le Chocolatier Manon, is more from the old school of chocolate makers. “I’m not into adding exotic flavours and prefer to use traditional recipes handed down from my grandfather,” says Manon from his workshop in Brussels. “For Belgians, chocolate is a devouring passion, a sweet addiction, and our national pride.” Manon chocolates are fully handmade, hand-moulded and hand-dipped. Each individual piece is crafted as though it was a priceless jewel. Around 85% of Manon chocolates are exported. Nancy Reagan, Diana Ross and Jane Fonda have all indulged. The remainder is sold from his tiny shop at Rue du Congres 24. His most famous creation, the award-winning Sputnik, a space-capsule shaped bonbon is made of two kinds of chocolate and filled with orange-flavoured crème fraiche in the nose cone and a Cointreau-laced marzipan in the fuselage. “You must pop all of it at once into your mouth,” he urges, “so that you get a cocktail of all the tastes”. Eating one is certainly a gastronomic blast-off. | |||||
| Wittamer, Brussels | |||||
| It’s almost a hundred years since the Wittamer family founded its famous shop in 1910 in Brussels’ romantic Place du Grand Sablon. While Vanderkerken, is the solitary prince of the praline, 87-year-old Henri Wittamer employs around 55 artisans to maintain the tradition and excellence of the brand. One of these is chief chocolate decorator and stylist Michael Lewis-Anderson. Michael is now responsible for creating the lavish chocolate designs that help separate Wittamer from the pack. “It’s a fusion of fashion with chocolate,” he says, pointing to a Louis Vuitton shoe (pictured above) taking pride of place in a window display, brimming with the company’s distinctive colours of vibrant fuchsia pink, chocolate and white. In association with prestigious brands such as Louis Vuitton, Wittamer creates special events by creating exclusive series. “Another memorable one, was the 20th anniversary of Microsoft where a special chocolate cake we’d made was presented to Bill Gates by Ruby Wax.” “When you bite into a Wittamer chocolate you first get the burst of cocoa beans and then the subtle flavours of the filling coming through. It could be a simple praline, something with a raspberry filling or something more sophisticated like Chinese tea,” says Michael. “The aim is to get everything in harmony.” In 2000 the Belgian Royal Family appointed Wittamer Master Chocolate Makers as official supplier to the Belgian Court. In a country renowned for its chocolates, this is the ultimate accolade. | |||||
| Chocolaterie Sukerbuyc, Bruges | |||||
| Mr Sukerbuyc is a chemist by trade, which is rather appropriate as the first chocolate maker in Belgium was a chemist. “Years ago, chocolate was only available as a medicine in pharmacies,” says Mr Sukerbuyc. “Chocolate contains theobromin, which stimulates the nervous system and is said to fortify the heart and has a curative effect on depression. More and more people are finally catching on to the Belgian habit of savouring a bit of high-quality chocolate, especially dark chocolate, realising its better for them.” Chocolaterie Sukerbuyc is one of only two shops in the city that make chocolates by hand on the premises. “We have two basic styles, using moulds and then filling the shell or making a filling first and then coating it in chocolate,” he says. | |||||
| Mary Chocolatier, Brussels | |||||
| Situated in the royal quarter of town and with its blue and gold velvet decor and Louis XVI furniture, at first glance, this exclusive boutique looks more like a jewellery store, than one of Brussels most established chocolateries. Madam Marie Delluc founded Mary Chocolatier in 1919 and the original chocolate recipes are still in use today. Husband and wife team, Mr Michel Boey and Mrs Sarah Boey now own and operate the shop. “Mary’s has been supplying the Belgian royal family with chocolates since 1942,” says Mrs Boey proudly. “George W Bush indulges here too when he’s in town.” While Mr Boey crafts perfect pralines filled with everything from caramel to delicate liquers in the workshop below, Mrs Boey welcomes customers into a small sitting area in the shop and attends to their orders. With a cotton-gloved hand, she delicately makes a selection from seventy artfully displayed varieties in a glass case in front of her: rows of decadent dark-chocolate squares, luscious ganaches and tantalising truffles. | |||||
| Luxe List - Brussels: Sofitel, Av.de la Toison d’Or, 40 Gulden Vlieslaan Brussels 1050, +32 (0) 2 5142200, www.sofitel.com | |||||
| - Bruges: Hotel Montanus, Nieuwe Gentweg 78 8000 Bruges, +32 (0) 50 331176, http://www.montanus.be/n/en | |||||
| Chocolate Shops - Chocolate Line: Simon Stevinplein 19, 8000 Bruges, +32 (0) 50 341090, www.thechocolateline.be | |||||
| - Chocolaterie Sukerbuyc: Katelijnestraat 5, 8000, Bruges. | |||||
| - Mary Chocolatier: Rue Royale 73, Congress Column, 1000 Brussels, +32 (0) 2 2174500, www.marychoc.com | |||||
| - Le Chocolatier Manon: Shop, Rue Du Congres 24, B-1000 Brussels; Workshop, Rue Tilmont 64, B-1090 Brussels, +32 (0) 2 4252632, www.chocolatiermanon.com | |||||
| - Wittamer Chocolatier: 6 Place du Grand Sablon 12-13 1000 Brussels, +32 (0) 2 5123742, www.wittamer.com, wittamer@wittamer.com | |||||
| Further Information The Belgian Tourist Office: Flanders-Brussels, Vester Farimagsgade 1, 3rd Floor, DK-1606, Copenhagen V, Denmark, +45 33 93 01 30, www.visitflanders.com | |||||
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