Paris By Chocolate - An Autumn Delight

Sunday, March 31, 2013 Eva 0 Comments



Autumn is upon us here in the southern hemisphere and with it comes the refreshingly cooler mild weather.  Thoughts of rich velvety chocolate have now begun to pop into my head ......mmmmm.  However, my tastebuds have sunk to new lows. I am beginning to indulge in supermarket-purchased chocolate.  How woeful, especially when I think of all those varieties of refined artisan-made chocolates I’d sampled when last in Paris. 

Upon returning from the chocolate expo in the city of lights, love and indulgences in the northern hemisphere's autumn time, I’ve turned up my nose at the brand name chocolates and macarons available here in Perth.  My chocolate palate had changed.  After tasting some of the best of the best from around the world all under one Parisian roof, how can one eat the commoner’s stuff on offer in local stores back home?

SALON DU CHOCOLAT

The Salon du Chocolat is an annual cocoa extravaganza held in Paris each October.  When I discovered that our trip to Paris coincided with this event I was beside myself with delight.  My favourite food on tap in one vast Aladdin’s cave! 





"How do I love thee, let me count the ways.  I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach".             
The English poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning must surely have been referring to chocolate.

 

By metro, getting to the choc expo at Porte de Versailles in the 15th arrondissement was a good 30 minute commute.  It was a reprieve from the outside temperatures and, once inside, my heart rate went up the moment we paid for our entry tickets and stood gawping at the huge number of chocolate displays on offer.  

INSIDE THE TEMPLE OF COCOA

Stepping into the Salon du Chocolat was to worship at the Temple of Cocoa. Only the French can elevate the bitter cacao bean to such sweet divine status.  I’d reached heaven!  There were slabs of chocolate and nougat stacked up high on trestle tables, chocolate sculptures, chocolate fountains, pyramids of macarons, chocolate artisans at work, chocolate merchandise, video presentations, cultural song and dance acts, sugarless chocolate, chocolate goblets, chocolate sauces and all the various accompaniments that could possibly partner it. Chocolate couture was on display on mannequins.  These fashion pieces crafted from real chocolate were to be worn by models in the early evening catwalk parade.  


Chocolate couture


Madonna eat your heart out!

Countries represented were Switzerland (of course!), Belgium, Germany, Italy, Japan, Syria (pre-revolution days), Ivory Coast, Mexico, Madagascar, South American producers as well as local and regional French chocolatiers and patissiers.  

An amazing taste sensation was partnering foie gras with chocolate and onion jam - who would have thought!!!. Those French think of everythink!  But, my best chocolate discovery was the green tea-dusted Tokyo chocolate beans.  After the sweetness of all the other varieties, the slightly bitter and unusual flavour was refreshing.

After two or three hours of free sampling, Max and I reached saturation point and we still had a few hours to spare.  I was ready to regurgitate my addiction but our new French friend, Edith, who’d rented us her family townhouse in Monpazier just weeks before, was meeting us here after work.  By the afternoon we went through it all over again. Groan ..... I couldn’t stomach any more.  Hard as it is to believe I had to wave away further offers of free chocolate from vendors. 

Too much of a good thing is exactly that.  Looking back on it now, though, I wish I had crammed in just one more mouthful!

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