Belgium chocolate festival – 10000 pralines and a chocolate competition

For three days, chocolate was the star of a food festival where pastry cooks mixed with curious and hungry visitors. During the opening night on Thursday (May 14), eighty Belgian pastry cooks joined forces to display a dazzling line of pralines. 10000 pralines were needed to form the 25 metre line, which quickly disappeared as visitors picked and chose which chocolate to take home or taste with a glass of champagne. If chocolate was first discovered in Latin America, the praline was invented in Belgium by Jean Neuhaus, organisers of the event Barry Callebaut said. In 1912, Belgian chocolate maker Neuhaus invented a chocolate shell that he could fill with cream or nut pastes: the praline was born. Belgium brand Leonidas then trivialised chocolate by selling it at a lower prices through window sales. And a few years later, Belgium also invented the chocolate bar by reducing the size of chocolate tablets, organisers said. As a result, the sales of Belgian chocolate rapidly increased first on the streets of Brussels then throughout Europe. Belgium became one of the world’s top destination of chocolate lovers. Another highlight of the food event was the Belgium pre-selection of the World Chocolate Masters competition. In Brussels, eleven pastry cooks competed to create chocolate sculpture inspired by the theme ‘haute couture’. Hats, bustiers, brooches, flowers — everything was made out of chocolate and for the occasion it was painted in dark, white or covered in golden leafs …