The Chocolate Date’s Recap on the North West Chocolate Festival 2011
Chocolate lovers Dream – Feast for the eyes and heaven on the taste buds!
© TheChocolateDate.com | Indi Chocolates
Chocolate festivals are a great place to take your Chocolate Date to experience and taste a splendor array of chocolates from local and international chocolatiers. Festivals make a perfect gathering place for chocolate lovers and aficionados alike to celebrate their love for chocolate.
One of my recent journeys was to the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle. The largest festival that I have ever participated in with two large rooms of chocolatiers and vendors, demonstration areas, two rooms for talks and seminars, and of course my absolute favorite is the Aphrodisiac Room.
Can one get chocolate out? Going through two large rooms (World Of Chocolate Room and Exploring Cacao Room) with more than 30 chocolatiers, one easily can. The plan is to pace yourself, one bite at a time. Truffles, bars, fudge, chocolate candy treats, drinking chocolate, fair trade, vegan, organic and even raw were available to taste and purchase on the spot.
Did you know there is more to chocolate than we realize? Demonstration areas and the educational rooms were great places to learn more and develop an appreciation for it.
Here were some of the topics:
- A Sip of Chocolate History with Escazu Artisan Chocolates
- Meet Your Cocoa Farmer with Kallari Chocolate
- Women in Chocolate with Forte Chocolates and Indi Chocolate
- Chocolate in the Raw with Chocolate Conspiracy
- Cacao Spotlight: Fortunato #4 with Forte Chocolates and Intrigue Chocolates Co.
Kitchen Culinary Stage
- Use of Chocolate in a Savory Preparation
- The Complete Truffle: From Start to Finish with Blissful Wunders
- Exploring Salted Caramel with Hotcakes Confections
- The Secrets of Chocolate Ganache with Theo Chocolate
- Creating Chocolate Sculptures
- Delectable Caramels with Snake and Butterfly
© TheChocolateDate.com | Chocolate Shop - chocolate wine
Chocolate is also seen as part of the romantic affair when it comes to love so the Aphrodisiac Room was a perfect complement to the festival. This room touched the sensual side through hourly talks, works of visual art, live demonstrations, chair massages (services available by the minute) and the beer/wine garden. The beer/wine garden was a great place to learn more about pairing chocolate with alcoholic beverages and spirits.
Some Topics at the Aphrodisiac Room
- Painting the Body with Chocolate with Babeland
- Coffee and Chocolate Pairing and Wine and Chocolate Pairing
- Aphrodisiacs and Chocolate with Indahphoria Chocolatier
- Sensual Body Art with La Figa Project
- Awakening the Senses with Herbal Aphrodisiacs with Sugarpill Apothecary
- Chocolate Body Care
Surprisingly, many of the vendors were business start-ups and doing very well considering our current economic climate. Sales are climbing at a steady pace. Great news for small chocolate businesses! I could tell these chocolatiers put large amounts of time, energy, resources and dedication in making their business run like well-oiled machine. At the end of the day, it is their passion and determination that drives the success of the business. Kudos to them!
Be sure to visit The Chocolate Date Facebook page or click on this link: North West Chocolate Festival 2011 Chocolatier Spotlight for pictures of the event. These will be updated daily featuring the vendor of the day and their products.
Thanks for putting indi chocolate LLC in your post. It was so great meeting you. Glad you got to try our indi chocolate body care too.
We just leased a commercial kitchen space in Ballard where we will be making great tasting chocolate from the bean. We will have the opportunity to teach small classes in this space too.
Look forward to seeing you again soon and thanks again!
indi chocolate
Hello Erin! It was great to meet you too. Congrats on getting a space in Ballard. Pretty exciting news. Can’t wait to see what other chocolate creations you will be creating. Take care and have fun!