Chocolate Appreciation Evening with Van Houten ♥

Do you love chocolate?! How do you eat your chocolate?! And how do you appreciate them?!


Chocolate is my favourite snack. My feet go weak on anything with chocolate. I always want my waffle to be covered with thick layer of chocolate spread; opt for rich chocolaty ice cream; sinful chocolate cake; and I even want my facial mask to be rich in chocolaty scent. 



Well, I do love having wine with chocolate too :)


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Just some weeks ago, I was invited to indulge and appreciate chocolate with Van Houten in Chinoz on the park, KLCC. Thanks to Van Houten for this lovely invitation 



On the evening, we had Deanne Yusoff to share her passion towards chocolate with us. We were also taught to appreciate the chocolate with our five senses - look, smell, touch, listen and taste. 



1# Vision
We were given a bar of plain semi sweet chocolate and we were asked to use our vision. A good chocolate should have consistent colour, texture and natural finishing looking, free from air bubbles and blemishes. 



2# Touch
Then, use your touch sensory to rip open the wrappers, run the fingers down the bar of chocolate, When we touch the chocolate, it should not melt immediately in hands. 


3# Smell
Next, it's time to use the olfactory receptors. Savouring chocolate begins with the moment after unwrapping and inhale the aromatic cocoa. 


4# Listen
Listen to the sound of snapping chocolate. A clear, clean snap indicated that the chocolate has better quality. This is because higher quality of chocolate has greater level of cocoa butter and smaller particle size. Therefore, a snap will give a clear sound. 


5# Taste
Finally, it's time for the last sense. We used our gustatory system to appreciate the chocolate. Good quality chocolate tends to have a long, pleasant aftertaste that lingers in your mouth.
Mmmmm....



After the appreciation session, we were introduced with the pairing session. I didn't know that chocolate compatible well with coffee! (just forget about the mocha ya...)


The first pair was cafe latte and semi sweet chocolate. Put a small block of chocolate on your tongue, take a sip of cafe latte and allow the chocolate to dissolve slowly in your mouth. Mmm, I love this pairing the most as this combination gave special kick to my taste buds. 



We also had milk chocolate to go with espresso con panna



and to go with espresso 



Churos with Van Houten Chocolate Dippings


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Cocoaphilia 
[ko ko fee lee yah]


noun:
a. appreciation of chocolate
b. refers to the passion of a person, who is nuts over chocolate
c. someone who knows that Van Houten is good chocolate. 


It defines chocolate lovers who are passionate about chocolate. They are the one who appreciate the rich, fine taste of chocolate made with finest coca and high quality ingredients. 


So, are you one of the Cocoaphilia(s)???