3 Reasons why Belgian Chocolate is the World’s Finest
Everyone knows that Belgian chocolates are the world’s finest, but did you ever wonder why? What’s so special about it? Read on if you’re as curious as we are.
When we started our collaboration with Sugarfied & Co we learned that they serve homemade Belgian Chocolate. We then noticed that not a lot of people understand why Belgian chocolate is so famously renowned, so we thought we’d write a short blog post about it!
1. The History of Belgian Chocolate
It all started in the 17th century when Belgium was still ruled by the Spanish. Explorers introduced the African chocolate to the Belgian community as they returned from the expeditions. Back then chocolate was only served to nobility in the form of hot chocolate and to impress visitors. As a matter of fact the mayor of Zurich himself visited the Grand Palace of Brussels in 1697 and had a taste of the historic Belgian chocolate. He took back some chocolate with him to Switzerland and introduced the Belgian recipe to his home country. As a result Swiss chocolate is now the biggest competitor to Belgian chocolate.
Most of us know about Belgium’s troubled past in colonizing Congo during the 18th century. That’s when the Belgian chocolate started to captivate the world as supply increased tenfolds. Belgium became the number one trader in cocoa and chocolate.
Now that we have a brief understanding of the rich history Belgian chocolate has, we can move on to the 2nd reason of why Belgian chocolate is the world’s finest.
2. The World’s First Praline
In 1912 a Swiss man by the name of Jean Neuhaus invented the world’s first praline in a Belgian sweet shop that used to be an apothecary. Not only that but his grandson later invented the hollow chocolate shell with a sweet filling. The Neuhaus family started the true flare of Belgian chocolate.
If it wasn’t for these inventions we wouldn’t have hazelnut, nougat or caramel filled chocolates! There’s a variety of homemade Belgian delicacies with different delicious fillings available at Sugarfied & Co. You’ll be glad to know that you can order online now form http://www.sugarfiedandco.com and get a 15% discount when using this coupon code: HELLOCHEF (offer valid until 30/11/19)
To this day the Neuhaus brand is known world wide. You can still visit the original sweet shop in Brussels! In fact, it’s one of the must visit places for the true fans of chocolate. There’s yet another reason as to why Belgian chocolate still maintains its quality & reputation over centuries.
3. Rules & Culture
The real reason why Belgian chocolate is still very successful and known as the finest to this day is the rules put behind it. A minimum of 35% cocoa must be used to prevent the usage of low quality sources of fat or other components.
Every Belgian village has a Chocolaterie. It’s an integral part of the Belgian culture as there’s a lot of pride invested in making Belgian chocolate. It’s extremely impressive to know that they have over 2,000 chocolate shops & factories capable of producing over 600,000 tonnes of chocolates every single year!
We hope you know now why Belgian chocolate is regarded as premium and why Sugarfied & Co pride themselves in making their own handmade treats only using high grade Belgian chocolate. If you find yourself in Riverland or The Beach JBR make sure you drop by and have a taste for yourself. If you’ve already ordered last week then you know what we’re talking about. Even then, what was in your box was a small sample, there’s a lot more to try!
We will be randomly placing 4 Golden Tickets next week and 4 more tickets the week after! The lucky winners will be getting a free tour around Sugarfied & Co’s candy store with the owners of this candy & Belgian Chocolate haven. Not only that but they will also receive a large chocolate box with Sugarfied & Co’s finest Belgian Chocolate selections!
You can find the location of both stores below:
Sugarfied & Co – Riverland: https://goo.gl/maps/EdysZrJPtabQgrHN8
Sugarfied & Co – The Beach: https://goo.gl/maps/PLJWXjeVmqKHQcDy5
