Chocolaterie Duval

Yesterday I was in Chocolaterie Duval, on a visit organized by the Stage Committee. This is a family owned business, working for 20 years in Brussels, specialized on the fine art of making chocolates for companies. Indeed, they are known for making great chocolate with the companies' logos, or with any design they request, which are then used in parties and events. The chocolate is produced in another factory, with their very own recipe and then on this chocolaterie they mold it into the shapes they want. The visit was very interesting, with a great explanation on the process of making chocolate (and live viewing of it!), including some very generous tasting in between.

It ended up with space for people to ask questions and we learnt a lof of things, namely:

• A chocolate bonbon with filling is called a praline;
• A praline whose filling is of hazelnut and chocolate is called a praliné;
• You should not keep your chocolate in the fridge;
• The white chocolate is not really chocolate, as it has no cocoa, only cocoa butter;
• There are dark chocolates with 85% of cocoa, when the normal average would be 40%;
• When chocolate was first introduced in Europe, it used to be drank, not eaten;
• The 5 things Belgium is famous for are chocolate (that we had figured out already, yum!), beer, waffles, moules and frites.

In the end, we could explore the factory shop and bring some of their marvellous delights home (they have some exquisite and exclusive ones, like beer praline!). If you're interested, check out their website for more information on organizing visits, opening times or to know how to contact them. It is definitely a must-do while in Brussels!