A volcano by the Lake receives an eastern breeze, creating a special micro climate. In there, an endogenous breed of cacao has grown since ancient times.

By these lines, I wish to draw attention to the "Salon des Chocolatiers et du Chocolat" that is going to be held between October 27-28, 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Hard to believe, but until last year no chocolate show was ever held in Switzerland, home country of the chocolate. In October 2011 we organised for the very first time the "Salon des Chocolatiers et du Chocolat" in Geneva, a show dedicated to master chocolate makers with 28 exhibitors and about 6'000 visitors over the two days of the event.

Due to the Salon's great succes, this year the show will be held during 3 days, and everyone shold make plans to attend this particularly attractive exhibition. The link to the Salon's site is:

http://www.salondeschocolatiers.com/accueil/

Our "Association des Mordus de Chocolat" ("Association of Chocolate Fans") extends a warm welcome to all those who are interested in sharing this great chocolate experience.

Pierre Borsodi

President of the Association

A BROTHER/SISTER bond is the most blessed relationship!

They are special. They are our best friends.
They laugh at jokes that no one else really understands.
They share memories of smiles and tears. They share the same parents, pets, and silliness. They share the holidays.

They walk together through life, through death, through common bonds and sad farewells. They become aunts/uncles and great aunts/uncles to each others children and grandchildren. They watch each other grow older, struggle, and succeed.

There is no other relationship in the world quite like the one shared by siblings.

Often they go too long without telling those they love what they mean to them. Time flies, it seems too mushy, or they just forget. They find their own lives cluttered with more 'important' issues, they move away, or they work too hard and become too tired.

Raksha Bandhan, a festival that reminds of such wonderful memories that all have shared with their siblings.

This season dont forget to remind them how wonderful, caring and loving they have been. And that you will always be there for them in good times, great times, sad times, and devastating times.

Rakhi is one of the most imporatant festival of the year and when it comes to gifts, people always want something new, something unique. This year GoGappa introduced luxury rakhi gifts hampers like La Grande Chocolate Gift Tower that spread sweetness of sisterly love, premium goodie bag like ' Royal Nawabi Chocolate Bar Library ' and many others.

Celebrate this most beautiful festival by sending rakhi gifts to brothers & sisters with unique rakhi gift ideas from GoGappa.com.

Hello Chocolate friends,

Need your help spereading the word about the importaqnce of Fairtrade chocolate and the truth behind the chocolates we love. Spoke at TED Talks Amsterdam and now have the chance to speak at Long Beach TED Talks 2013.

HOw you can help?

1. Watch the following link

2. Share via twitter/facebook/email

3. Comment on the link as to why I should have the chance to speak at TED 2013

Many thanks XXXX

http://talentsearch.ted.com/video/Linda-Monique-The-truth-behind;TEDAmsterdam

A friend of mine who's a foodie and a USC Graduate wrote this for "The Chocolate Life"on behalf of [Editor: Link to site deleted - obvious shilling for traffic to a non-chocolate site].

By virtue of being a chocolate lover, I already know you're a disciple of decadence. Some prefer over-the-top indulgences like bright red convertibles, while others seek out physical ones like aromatherapy massages, but if you're an Epicurean (like myself), there is no indulgence sweeter than a single chocolate truffle with an unexpected filling and a shell adorned as if for royalty.

So how do you deck out your homemade chocolate truffles in pure princess fashion? While a miniature Kate Middleton-inspired hat might be an original touch, edible gold flakes provide the regality, without so much of the kitsch.

Before you start melting your old gold jewelry in a saucepan, know that edible gold leaf, just like all gourmet ingredients, requires proper handling and safety precautions. So for all you aspiring kitchen Midases, below are some answers to your frequently asked gold leaf questions.

Wait a minute is it really gold?

You may have some mental barriers preventing you from ingesting gold, but rest assured, there are no biological barriers stopping you. Yes, edible gold flakes are made from real gold, yes, gold is biologically inert and thus absorbable by the human digestive tract, but no, that does not mean your kids should be licking grandmas old watch. It is recommended to stick to the purest possible gold, between 22 and 24 carats, as impurities come with health risks. Fortunately, most packaged edible gold falls into the 22-24 carat category.

Where do I buy edible gold leaf?

Edible gold leaf can be purchased from specialty baking stores. You can often find gold leaf at specialty art stores; just make sure the gold is edible-grade before cooking with it. Edible gold leaf can also be found online, through Amazon.com or any number of specialty gold retailers.

Edible gold leaf is packaged either as flakes or sheets. Flakes can be sprinkled on homemade chocolate truffles and other baked goods for decorative finishing touches. While edible gold sheets are very delicate and require a bit of patience, they can be used for covering entire surfaces or specific detailing.

How do I decorate my homemade truffles with gold leaf sheets?

Before we go into the detailing, you should know a few things about gold leaf. Gold leaf is very, VERY delicate. Slight wind, most surfaces, even your fingers can damage these paper thin sheets. It is recommended to wear cotton gloves while dealing with gold leaf sheets and to work with them directly from the packaging. Turn off any kitchen fans and keep windows closed to prevent wind-induced wrinkling.

For applying the gold leaf, you will need a sharp paring knife or a clean razor and a dry paintbrush. Use the paint brush to steady the sheet you are cutting and prevent from tears. Run the knife along the shape you are crafting and pick up the section using the tip of your blade (to prevent from sticking).

The brush will help you press the gold leaf from the blade onto your homemade truffle. Once the desired section of gold leaf is anchored, paint it in place with your brush. You can repeat this process for additional gold details or smooth a sheet over the entire surface of your truffle for a bold gold statement.

Just because the delicate decorating process is complete, don't be careless with your precious gold creations. These candies should be stored and presented gently to avoid scratches or tears.

Bon appetit everyone!

1879 marks a significant shift in the world of chocolate. If you define chocolate as a solid substance that is eaten (not drinking chocolate) that melts in your mouth with a creamy smooth deliciousness, then this is the birth year of chocolate. It was the conching of the chocolate to break down particle sizes and sugar crystals to a fine liquid as well as to reduce the sour flavors, that defined chocolate from that moment on.

Ever since that moment ,it was the chocolate maker who was in the driver's seat for the next 400 years or so. It was a relationship between chocolate makers and cacao plantation owners that made the best chocolates in the world.

Skip forward to the last 10 years or so and I see another shift about to happen. But first, I want to mention that with the development of the best wines in the world it was always the grape producers who made the best wine. Grape producers have had over 3000 years to perfect their art. It wasn't until recent history where wine producers would be only wine producers and not also grape producers. Wine has already gone through the shift that chocolate is currently taking.

During the last 400 years or so of chocolate as previously defined, plantation owners have had to accept the price paid for their cacao. With the advent of industrial chocolate, plantation owners (and their slaves or share-croppers) were generally trained to do as little to the cacao as possible. Why experiment with fermentation or drying when the price will be the same whether it is done properly or not? Leave the rest up to the chocolate factory to make the flavor consistent. Chocolate makers would direct the cacao workers to do what they wanted to the cacao. All the rest of the knowledge and value added was securely in the hands of the chocolate maker.

So Caribeans has discovered that we are one of very few small artisan chocolate makers who are also cacao producers. This affords us the freedom to experiment much earlier in the tree-to-bar process. Since we are adding value from the tree to the bar we also have financial freedom that modern day cacao producers haven't traditionally had. Combine that with the manufacture of very good small scale machines for several steps in the chocolate making process, and we have the chance to make a major shift in the whole economy of chocolate.

It is our belief that someday the best chocolates in the world will be made right in the same cacao forests that give us this miraculous substance we call chocolate. It will be the combined knowledge and freedom to experiment with small batches, which will produce the deeper understanding of what is really going on at the basic level. As cacao producing nations start to see the value added by becoming excellent chocolate makers as well as cacao producers, the local culture will begin to appreciate the art of chocolate. Chocolate is an art after all. It was never intended for massive production. It wasn't supposed to make you fat and give you acne.

This best thing about this shift, besides some of the most amazing chocolate ever created, is that the next shift brings the value and goodness of chocolate back to the current generation of indigenous cacao farmers who were the first to discover it's godly fruit thousands of years ago!

Support the new generation of cacao producers/chocolate makers by choosing to buy their chocolate. Travel to chocolate destinations like Puerto Viejo, Limon Costa Rica and see for yourself who will be the best chocolate makers in the world!

www.caribeanschocolate.com

the Esprit range by Van Wees in Amsterdam is amazing.The purity of the product is from a time long forgotten and absolutely natural.De Ooievaar Stokerij is in the Jordaan, situated in the old city and is known for its artisan Jenever and Liqueurs.

the Almond Esprit is phenomenal as are the Rose and the Apple.

check it out here:

http://ning.it/LS7nCf

What cacao makes the best Single Origin Dark Chocolate bar ?

Whether watching your favorite TV cooking show or perhaps observing a gourmet chef create a unique and decadent chocolate dessert, you constantly hear: make sure to use the best quality chocolate you can find. But what is the best quality chocolate? Where does it come from?

Fine, like fine wine, results from the combination of many factors such as geography, weather, ground conditions and type of cacao beans. As with wine, chocolate can vary with characteristics of flavor and fragrance, distinguished by the senses as woody, fruity, floral, musky, spicy, earthy, silky, tarty etc.

Read more: http://www.arribanoir.com/blog/best-single-origin-dark-chocolate/

The cacao forest that surrounds our chocolate factory is much like many other forests around here. It was planted about 120 years ago as part of a big push to prevent the Panama disease from reaching the banana plantations in the Caribbean Costa of Costa Rica. Once the fruit was coming, the harvest was plentiful and the cacao was good quality.

Sadly, about 40 years ago a mold called monilla infected the fruit and many cacao trees were chopped down and replaced with banana. Some cacao was simply abandoned and considered dead by the people who were working these hilly areas that were not good for banana.

About six years ago my friend Jeff invited my family to be caretakers of his 13 acre farm here in Puerto Viejo, Limon. Costa Rica. We were just finishing up a volunteer time and were seeking a way to stay and work in Costa Rica. We started a coffee roasting business which turned into a coffee shop called Caribeans.

Once we moved to Jeff's newly built house we began to see that we were surrounded by beautiful mountain forest and within that forest cacao. Many of the fruit were black and obviously old or diseased. However, that first year there was some cacao to harvest so we did and learned about basic fermenting and drying of the beans. With that cacao we made some rustic chocolate with ground cacao and sweetened evaporated milk. Yummy!

Now after six years we are making European style gourmet chocolate! Our production from this property has always been very low due to disease and no strategy for resurrecting this abandoned dead cacao. So we are dedicated to farmer direct relationships with cacao producers. But we have always harvested a little bit from this dead cacao plantation.

Caribeans has a new plan for the Chocolate Forest! Now that we are becoming better known amongst the cacao and chocolate professionals here in Costa Rica and abroad, we have finally begun to learn some of the more successful ways of managing the cacao. Progress has been slow but we have seen some improvement. Through the teaching of Global Creek over the last three of years, we have a renewed dedication to sustainable ways of managing the Chocolate Forest. Through the sweat of some great volunteers we have begun to select zones of management and begun cleaning and trimming trees. The work is tough, buggy and generally uncomfortable. However, the chocolate that is made is all worth it!

Cacao researchers as C.A.T.I.E have been making progress too! Caribeans will be planting great tasting disease resistant cacao amongst the heritage cacao we have here in the property. We can continue to harvest the cacao that is ready while we wait for the new cacao to grow. The cacao forest depends on bio-diverstity. So we are dedicated to our wildlife zones and a natural forest environment for cacao. Visitors to Caribeans Chocolate Forest Experience will be treated to a true cacao forest not just a cacao plantation where the only trees you see are cacao. They will also taste chocolate made tree to bar from the very forest they are experiencing!

So, after 40 years of abandonment these old diseased cacao trees will be called forth once again to produce in all their glory!