Paradise for chocolate lovers
Text and photos by Tor Eigeland
JUST outside Paris city limits at Porte de Versailles there is a vast area of wall-to-wall warehouses, a depressing, soul-destroying sight on a grey, wet and cold evening. Any time for that matter. But within these forbidding walls lies another world, the fair-grounds of Paris Expo, home to some of France's most important trade fairs.
After passing through the gates of Hall 5 it was like entering paradise. Paradise, that is, for chocolate lovers. What first hit me was the enticing smell of chocolate, then the amazing blaze of colour from all the stands decorated to the hilt for what is possibly the world's most important chocolate fair.
This, the 14th year, saw more than 400 stands presenting the pleasures of chocolate in every imaginable fashion. And every year the Salon du Chocolat gets more international in character. This year 140 top artisan chocolatiers from all over the world participated, many demonstrating their skills on the spot.
Beside the obvious pleasures of smelling, tasting, shopping and eyeballing chocolate as well as related products, there were bands playing and special exhibits of different kinds.
The opening night saw a spectacular fashion show of 30 models, all well-known personalities in one field or another and all equally well proportioned. Among them were two vintages of Miss France, an opera singer, fashion mannequins . . . The theme of their costumes, all designed by well-known French couturiers was, of course, CHOCOLATE.
Some of the amazing creations clinging to the shapely bodies were decorated with or made of actual pieces of chocolate. How none of it fell off or melted I'll never understand as the atmosphere was fairly heated.
Judging by the massive attendance of a keen and enthusiastic crowd there was no sign of recession here. In fact, the following day a couple of Paris newspapers claimed that chocolate was a good cure for feelings of depression and one advised that it was a lot better for you to eat chocolate than to drown your problems in alcohol.
A lifelong lover of chocolate, at this Salon I soon realised that in spite of all my years of practice of which I am visible proof, here I was a newcomer to another fascinating world.
Listening to conversations among the pros I kept hearing choco therapy.
I headed for the Salon's press centre ¿ full of free chocolate ¿ and information on such matters. They told me that in beauty and skin treatment there is now a tendency to use chocolate or cocoa for its hydrating qualities. Naturally without gaining an ounce of weight.
For instance, there is a shower gel called Crème de Douche anti-stress Carrément chocolat de Bourjois. There are many others along the same lines; Gamme Cocoa Therapy Origins, Gamme des soins Sensation Chocolat . . .
Well-known household brands have also entered this business. A completely new one is Nivea Hair Care Cacao Explosion which as I understood it enriches the hair of brunettes and leaves a subtle smell of chocolate. Clarins has just perfected a Crème Delicieuse Auto-Bronzante aux extraits de cacao for tanning.
Men haven't been left out entirely of chocolate cures. There is now a deodorant called Axe Chocolate which I may consider for myself as a Christmas present. I 'Googled´ this latter product with some interesting results. Over to the reader at this point.
To go further afield for a moment, one of the most famous dishes of Mexican cuisine is turkey with a chocolate sauce ¿ mole poblano. It is not sweet as could be expected but it has a distinct chocolate flavour. A surprising number of people bought mole at the Mexican stand. Cocoa and chocolate, by the way, originated in Mexico with the Mayans.
In the line of snacks served with drinks a Belgian company called Lolla suggests chocolates stuffed with foie gras and a company called Frédéric Bau delights a refined public with chocolat à la sauce americaine, a lobster sauce.
A French food journalist I ran into in the press office provided me with more useful information: "Did you know that now in Paris we have chocolate bars, like cafés, for the true dedicated chocoholics? Some of them like the Choco Bar have a real Zen like atmosphere. There you can have it hot or cold in multiple flavours."
Inevitably, some of the names mentioned above are French as is the survey I found during my visit. Most of the results are not too startling but some of the others surprised me:
l Fifty per cent of the French prefer black chocolate, 35 per cent milk chocolate and the rest white chocolate.
l Fifty per cent eat chocolate at least once a day.
l Eighty-eight per cent find that eating chocolate is good for the morale.
l Chocolate has a great influence on the libido for 15 per cent of the men versus 11 per cent of the women.
l Intriguingly, 41 per cent of the women think that eating chocolate gives them more pleasure than making love.
l Also interesting is the fact that 69 per cent of the people eat their chocolate alone although most say they would prefer to enjoy it with family or friends. I guess some can't wait!
As I was finishing up this article a friend of mine from Paris called and said: "Remember for your article that everyone here in Paris is talking about chocolate as a beauty cure. They smear it all over the skin. And it is also the in hair colour at the moment ¿ and don't forget that it is anti-stress."
Just before she hung up, she added: "And dark chocolate, the 70 per cent kind, is full of iron!"
No doubt about it, chocolate is Big over here now.
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If you have any comments or feedback, Tor Eigeland can be contacted at tor.eigelandwanadoo.fr
