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Living in Copenhagen.

14 March 2011

Chocolate festival 2011

Sunday I was at the 2011 Chocolate festival. What an absolutely brilliant day.

As agreed with "Chokoladeselskabet" (The Chocolate Society) who arrange the festival every year, I was let in an hour early to photograph the stands and preparations. I had so much fun! And the only thing better than having a great time is having someone to share it with - happily my dad turned up soon after the doors were officially opened, yay! I know where I get my childlike enthusiasm from. You see, I was raised on important principles such as "it's never the wrong time of year for ice cream" and "you're never too old to enjoy animated movies". We were smiling wider than kids on a Christmas sweets sugar rush.

I spent 7 hours at the festival photographing the (50!) stands, visitors (by the thousands), award ceremonies, cooking demonstrations and not least lots and lots of chocolate. By the end of it my back was killing me and my legs were aching, but it was worth it. I am still smiling.

See you at next year's festival!

Meyers offered baked goods and chocolate mousse
A XOCO's beautiful easter eggs.
Yes, that sign on the left reads "bacon/tomato". A XOCO's Fusion selection is very bold indeed - how about a foie gras/raspberry piece?
The Danish 'flødebolle' has seen a revival in recent years with new and interesting versions. More on that in a separate post to come.
Chocolate 'cupcakes' from Gryberg. Rikke Gryberg won 2 awards this year for her chocolates although she started out as a baker/pastry chef. Well done indeed!
Summerbird had brought their whole range of elegant and delicate products
Lemon almonds.
Raspberry almonds.
Coffee Lovers hazelnuts.
Mint Matcha almonds.
 
Tapas eggs - I had to get me some of those. I really love how Summerbird mixes the rich taste of chocolate with citrus, passion fruit and raspberries to give it a tang.

 
Nikolaos Strangas won the 'Newcomer' award - not that he's new in the business at all (he's worked as dessert chef in Era Ora's kitchen among other things), but he just opened his own 'Conditori & Cakeaway' and apparently the Chocolate Society are as thrilled about it as the rest of us.
And yes, all these little artworks taste just as good as they look.
Valrhona eggs.
Bojesen brought their easter eggs.
Packed in egg boxes of course.
Simply Chocolate is a new brand, but the company has been producing chocolate for the larger department stores for years. You can find Simply Chocolate's own shop on the bottom floor of Illum department store.
Now that's a bold statement.
The Swedes were represented as well
That's my kind of handbag - thank you Neuhaus.
This turned out the be one of the most popular stands at the festival - see below why.
The chocolate massage was popular too.
Chocolate Society volunteers.
Demo kitchen - the use of chocolate in savoury dishes. Here it's guacamole with dark chocolate.
Langoustine soup with milk chocolate! And the chef went on to say that if you are cooking a nice white fish and makinga sauce from white wine and cream as most people would do, you could add a tablespoon of white chocolate to give it a nice smooth finish. Who knew?
The awards.
Nikolaos Strangas with his daughter making fondant in the demo kitchen - now there's another little girl who will be raised on important principles such as "chocolate is good for you".

1 comment:

  1. I really hope I can visit the festival next year. I want oral satisfaction too, hehe.

    ReplyDelete