Do you remember that I mentioned about a special event that brought me to Paris?
It's the 12th Paris Salon du Chocolat! It is an annual chocolate trade show. It is also held in other countries (New York, Tokyo, China, Moscow) but Paris was the first to hold the exhibition! I have wanted to visit the show in Paris ever since I found out about it 3-4 years ago!!!
The exhibition itself was held at the Porte de Versailles. This year, there were almost 130 chocolatier participating in the trade show.
It's the 12th Paris Salon du Chocolat! It is an annual chocolate trade show. It is also held in other countries (New York, Tokyo, China, Moscow) but Paris was the first to hold the exhibition! I have wanted to visit the show in Paris ever since I found out about it 3-4 years ago!!!
The exhibition itself was held at the Porte de Versailles. This year, there were almost 130 chocolatier participating in the trade show.
In front of the exhibition centre
OK. Let's get your most 'important' question out of the way: do they offer chocolate samples?
The answers is YES! There were many things to try.
The exhibition hall was really quite big and the samples will definitely satisfy your chocolate 'needs'.
So, which chocolate makers were there?
Some of the big names were there (including Nestlé, who makes their 'chocolate confectionery' with vegetable oil instead of proper cocoa butter! Shameless corporation!! hehe) and they occupied very large space:
The answers is YES! There were many things to try.
The exhibition hall was really quite big and the samples will definitely satisfy your chocolate 'needs'.
So, which chocolate makers were there?
Some of the big names were there (including Nestlé, who makes their 'chocolate confectionery' with vegetable oil instead of proper cocoa butter! Shameless corporation!! hehe) and they occupied very large space:
Jeff de Bruges. They were offering specials on the day!
Leonidas was there. I am never a fan of theirs, but some other chocolate stall was offering free ice creams in front of their stall. haha
One of the most well-known French chocolate brand!
I really wanted to try chocolates from the smaller chocolatiers though, so I tried to steer clear of the more commercial brands.
Michel Cluizel was offering lots of chocolate samples. These people process their own cocoa beans, which is unusual for chocolatier.
There were also cake stalls. They are very popular around tea time!
One of the more special stall was the Madame Setsuko, a chocolate maker who creates chocolate with oriental ingredients, such as, green tea, soy, sesame seeds and lemon grass:
They have turned chocolate-making into an art form!
These chocolates are supposed to represent the 4 seasons. I know, I know. One of the seasons is missing. I blame the photographer!
The chocolate maker at work!
(Photo from: http://www.oswegotea.com/)
They were offering these green tea ganache samples. I really really like them. I should have gotten more!
The kind of chocolate-related things that people can come up with is amazing. There were the more usual hot chocolate (there were some seriously good hot chocolate!), chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce. Then, there were chocolate busts (made on-the-spot and to a good degree of likeness), chocolate calender, chocolate sandwich, cocoa-based beauty products... In addition to chocolate, there were also other (extremely vaguely-linked) products on offer: French wine, foie gras, macaroons, artworks from cocoa-producing countries, spices....
Fancy to add spices to your chocolate?
While there, I also had the chance to pretend to be a 'vrai connaisseur de chocolat' and offered my 'expert' opinion at Marquise de Sévigné about their new line of chocolate.
'Professional' at work!
O, there was also a chocolate fashion show. We didn't watch the catwalk. Personally, I think that is just pure waste of chocolate! SP did take a few photos of the 'fashion items':
Will the chocolate melt with such close contact with the body?
Chocolate patterns on kimono
I imagine a lot of time and CHOCOLATE has been used on creating the 'soft fabric-like' effect.
For more information:
It costs €12 to get in. If you like chocolate, you will probably get more than your money's worth of chocolate samples in the exhibition. It is recommended to get your tickets in advance because there was a LONG queue at the ticket office!
To get your tickets, go to:
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