Brussels welcomes its first-ever Chocolate Salon

If you heard that the Salon du Chocolat to be held in Tour & Taxis next month was the first of its sort to be held here, your first question might be: “What took them so long?"

The Salon is organised by Event International, based in Paris, where they’ve been organising an international fair around chocolate and cocoa for 20 years. But when I challenged François Jeantet, one of the organisers, to explain this breath-taking act of bringing coals to Newcastle, he answered that the French had simply not previously dared to teach their Belgian neighbours any lessons on a subject.

Aside from that reticence, they also assumed – wrongly, as it happened, but who can blame them? – that the Belgians would organise something like this for themselves.

Belgium’s reputation in the world of chocolate is of course stellar and world-beating. Brussels alone has 250 businesses working in the field, says Sylvie Douce, also from Event International. Belgium is the world’s second-biggest consumer of the “magic potion”, as she calls it, putting away 10 kilograms per person on average every year. And of course, Belgium invented the praline.

The Salon will feature more than 80 exhibitors in a space of 4,000 square metres, with an expected 15,000 visitors a day. One of the big attractions will be the big fashion show, staged several times throughout the three days. The dresses on the catwalk are made entirely from chocolate. The dresses are also exhibited outside of the hours of the show.

Every day also sees demonstrations by some big names in the business, among them starred chefs like Bart De Pooter of Restaurant Pastorale in Reet, Antwerp province, and Pascal De Valkeneer of Le Chalet de la Forêt in Brussels, as well as chocolate specialists like Dominique Persoone of The Chocolate Line and Jean-Philippe Darcis of Brussels and Singapore. Sadly Pierre Marcolini, who is listed for Friday and Sunday, cannot attend and will be replaced by a member of his staff. 

Aside from those attractions, there will be book signings, workshops for kids (and for adults) and an exhibition of works by the students of the Executive Master Food Design course at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Brussels. 

7 to 9 February
Tour & Taxis
Havenlaan 86c, Brussels
http://brussels.salon-du-chocolat.com

 photo courtesy of Event International