[CharlesM]

Are there any C & Z chocolate lovers that are going to the Salon Du Chocolat (Paris Expo 28th October to 1st November - www.chocoland.com) ?

Perhaps we can have a get-together on one of the exhibition days, either at the Salon or in Paris afterwards?

I am coming down from Sweden on the Friday with my wife. We will be staying near Cluny-La Sorbonne until Tuesday, and have not really decided which day to visit. Each day contains so much to see and experience!

[Alisa]

I have gone for the past two years, (will most likely not go this year). Both times I went on a weekday and arrived about 10 minutes before the doors opened. By noon the place was SO crowded that it was difficult to move around. I can only assume that the weekends are even more crowded. Anyway.....each time I found wonderful things, new and unusual, and found that 2 to 3 hours was more than enough time to spend there. Have a great time!


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What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it’s all about?

[CharlesM]

Thanks for your comment and encouragement, Alisa.

Enjoying and enthusiasting about anything often means avoiding the crowds. That is why we have already bought our entrance tickets on the web via FNAC, and why we are thinking of going to the Salon on Monday, leaving the weekend for shopping/museums, eating out and perhaps meeting with other C & Z's.

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The Salon will be our second chocolate exhibition this month. We will be enlivening our taste buds at the 5th Chokladfestival here in Sweden at the folk-life museum(!), at Stockholm next weekend. If anyone is interested, there is an English page on the www.nordiskamuseet.se link, although the photos from 2005 and 2004 are only at the bottom of the Swedish language page.

[CharlesM]

FINAL CALL for an informal rendez-vous somewhere in Paris next weekend.

Well, I am sure you have heard the phrase "I'm double-parked, where's the Mona-Lisa?" to describe a high-speed tourist. But our local chocolate exhibition here in Stockholm was just 40 stands and that took nearly 5 hours, including watching demonstrations by master chocolateers. So I guess that we'll once again dig deep into the samples on the exhibition stands.

Afterwards, I am sure that we will need a few weeks diet of "zucchini" just to balance the "chocolate"!

[David]

Have a great time CharlesM. And do report back to us please.
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

[Donna]

Sorry I won't be able to join you on your chocolate odyssey! I want to know how to get one started here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have some amazing chocolatiers here! What a fun project that would be!

Any Bay Area C& Z'ers up for starting a chocolate expo here? I'm game!


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L'appetit vient en mangeant. -Rabelais

[alexs]

Hi Charles

i will be coming in from London on the Tuesday--so when you are leaving I am arriving. Too bad!! would love to meet up with any C&Z chocolat lovers whilst there.
Have a great time at the Salon---and dont eat all the chocolate please, save a bit for me
be well
Alexsandra

[CharlesM]

David: Here is a quick thumbnail review of the Salon.

We were sure that the Salon du Chocolat would be very popular, and being there at the bell with pre-paid tickets was a must.

Once in the salon, there was an abundance of impressions. Many stands from producer countries gave a geographical touch to the Salon. At least one of the main producers had walled their stand with sacks of plantation beans as a colourful backdrop. Several flamboyant dance displays from Mexico, a steel-drum orchestra from the West Indies and other producer countries punctuated the day. These shows were also an excellent opportunity to sit down and regain a little strength, as we were in the exhibition hall for over 6 hours. On the praline side of things, there were displays of praline making, with small mould machines, to chocolate “origami” from a Japanese supplier– Don’t ask how that was done.

In short, something for everyone for a typical family day-out.

Going on the Monday meant that there was no catwalk show of the chocolate dresses; instead they were just on display. There were however a few interesting combined talks and demonstrations. Besides a quick (one hour) illustrated tour of the history of chocolate manufacturing from an artisan, there was a champagne producer that demonstrated cocktails to accompany chocolate. I fell for a pink-champagne drink flavoured with grapefruit and lychees to accompany a pink chocolate with crushed roasted beans.

One thing that I missed at the Salon was any stand from the Italian Gold and Silver medal winners at the London Chocolate Festival last year, but the Salon du Chocolat was almost exclusively Francophone.

At the Salon, there were no “event pralines” that I could find, of the kind that had been at the Stockholm chocolate festival a few weeks earlier. There, the artisans were very innovative. For example a commemorative praline collection had been created for the nine control points in the 90 km annual ski-competition called the Vasaloppet. Each of the nine villages had inspired a unique flavour for the filling. Perhaps one day, there will be the same for the Tour de France or the New York Marathon.

Donna, you asked how to organise a chocolate festival. Just do it! Here in Sweden it is so “hot” with chocolate that in our small university town, there are two excellent French-trained chocolatiers/praline artisans, there is nearly a two-month waiting list for chocolate tasting evenings, and plantation Grand Cru chocolates can now be bought at our local supermarket. Recently, an astute candy-store businessman widened his products to include the best chocolate tablets available. His open day for the new luxury chocolate ranges was just packed with people.

If that is the kind of interest you have in California, then no chocolate event should fail, however small.

Chocolate exhibitions should inspire and enthuse, even though production of chocolate is a specialist process, and without inspiration it would be too easy just to remain a passive consumer, with the insidious risk that boredom sets in before the individual rewards of our own experimentation takes footing.

Being inspired is also why I love reading Clotilde’s food blog; her fine, intelligent anecdotes are interweaved with numerous associations and incidents of serendipity. One can only wish her all the best for the coming book and her future projects.

PS: After four wonderful and mild days in Paris, including several art museum visits; the day after our return was the worst snowstorm for ten years in Sweden. Luckily we had our chocolates to taste in front of the newly ordered French channels on the cable-TV!

[Barbara]

CharlesM - thanks for sharing. Sounds like a lot of fun.
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Barbara

[David]

Yeah, great reportage! Thank you so much.
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!