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Hello Everybody, I am baaaaaccckkkkk. My life has been just a tiny, little bit crazy busy in the past few weeks. Interesting word of choice I must say. Anyhow, I cannot seem to keep up and get on track with all of my to do lists. They just keep getting longer and wider, if that makes any sense. Anyhow, I will start to post blogs on a more regular basis, and I am so sorry that I have not been around much. I hope that everyone has and still is indulging in lots of amazing chocolate whether it is healthy or not. I know that I certainly have. I need my daily endorphin kick, and choco world is just the right place to go. Anyhow, I am so excited to say that this year, I finally managed to get my hands on tickets to the Northwest Chocolate Festival. It took place on October 3-4th, at the Bell Harbour Pier, in Seattle, Washington. That is in America for all of my international readers who might not be aware. I went on the 4th. Here is their direct website for you to browse around, http://nwchocolate.com/.
Also, please take a look at video footage from me visiting the Northwest Chocolate Festival youtu.be/5ey7FkUgMDk Moving on: My experience with the festival was delicious. It took me about three hours to drive to Seattle, and then of course parking was a disaster. Nevertheless, I was lucky enough to find a spot. Once parked, I quickly made my way to the Pier. I was absolutely shocked to see so many people. I did not expect it to be that full, wow. Once inside, I was given a little brochure that listed all of the vendors to expect. I have heard of some, but others were completely new, even to me. I felt as though I was in university, going to a lecture. The first large auditorium was jam-packed. Hundreds of people sitting down, and watching a live performance from Alice Medrich. She was making all sorts of pastries, filled, drizzled, and dunked in the most precious commodity of all, chocolate. The following autobiography about her comes directly from the Chocolate Festival website: “Award winning author, pastry chef, and teacher, Alice Medrich is one of the country’s foremost experts on chocolate and chocolate desserts. Since 1976, when her renowned dessert shop Cocolat, opened, and her first dessert feature appeared in a national publication, Alice’s innovative ideas and recipes, and her insistence on quality ingredients have influenced a generation of confectioners, pastry chefs, and home cooks. Alice is credited with popularizing chocolate truffles in the US and (accidentally!) introducing the larger “American” chocolate truffle in Berkeley’s “gourmet ghetto”. Since the sale of Cocolat, Alice has continued to write, teach, and consult with venerable and emerging chocolate companies, including Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. Her book, Bittersweet (Artisan 2003), named IACP cookbook of the Year, was the first book to decode the use of different percentage chocolates in recipes, and to feature cacao nibs. A revised and updated edition, Seriously Bittersweet, is out next month”. At this point, I was really impressed. What a great start to the festival. After “lusting” for over half an hour at Alice’s chocolate concoctions live, I decided that it was time for me to make my way to the actual chocolate event, the vendors. As I was walking down what felt like the longest stairwell in the world, all of a sudden, the doors opened, and before me stood a jackpot, lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of chocolate! That is all that my brain processed, my eyes saw, my nose smelled!. All of the people in my own perception were omitted, the tables holding the bonbons were gone, and it was just me and masses of chocolate floating around. “This is my world” was my first thought. When I finally decided to come down from cloud 9, I began to feel overwhelmed as I did not know how to best tackle this festival. I decided to make my way in consecutive order of tables set up, and not jump around as I will then lose track of what vendors I have actually visited. I started to taste, and buy, then all over again, taste and buy. There was so much dark chocolate at the festival, that milk was a minority, and white chocolate was nowhere to be seen. This should have been called Cardiovascular Chocolate Festival with Benefits. Seriously, some vendors, even had electrical activity of healthy hearts on their packaging. This festival promoted the chocolate of course, and second to that, the health benefits of cacao. There was even a presentation with tasting raw cacao beans, after they have been ground, in its purest form. It was refreshing I must say. I thoroughly enjoyed it all, but once I was nearing the end of my vendor visits, and trying most of every single kind of chocolate, I started to not feel so good. Dark chocolate has a compound called l-theanine. This compound makes you feel intoxicated, okay, the improper word would be drunk. I am sorry for this vulgar word usage, but I need to be as blunt as possible so that everybody can understand. At that moment, I knew that I needed to counter balance my dark chocolate intoxication with actual food, some salty food that is. I could not test even a tablespoon more of chocolate as I must have indulged in at least a pound. My delightful visit was unfortunately over. My overall experience of the Chocolate Festival though was extremely positive. I introduced myself to many of the chocolate connoisseurs and handed out my business card. Everyone was so positive and enthusiastic which I adored. Well, how could they not be, this is a chocolate infestation after all, who would not be jolly? I purchased quite a bit of yum yums, and I will share that with my regular postings. Be on the lookout. Here comes lots and lots of writing about chocolate. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the beginning of this chocolate fiesta. xoxoxo Soriah Here is a link to a video from the Northwest Chocolate Festival. Enjoy! youtu.be/5ey7FkUgMDk EXHIBITORS THAT ATTENDED
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AuthorMy name is Soriah and I am an enormous lover of fine chocolates. I enjoy strolling through charming towns and by chance, finding a little, delightful chocolate gem hidden in the corner, offering bon bons that are ready to be just devoured. CategoriesArchives
September 2022
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