Copyright USA Today Information Network Feb 13, 2004

Destinations & Diversions

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- On a nondescript residential side street in this historic capital, the chocolate boutique Passion Chocolat has just opened its door at noon. Within the first few minutes, nearly a dozen people crowd into the cozy, 7-year-old confectionary to get their fresh fix. Seventy artfully displayed varieties, all meticulously handmade and no more than 5 days old, glisten in a glass case.

Rows of decadent, dark-chocolate squares. Silky-smooth milky mounds. Luscious ganaches. Tantalizing truffles. And the Bonaparte of Belgian bonbons: nutty pralines.

Wasim Tabassum, a computer programmer who once lived in the neighborhood and now works in Holland, makes a point of shopping here whenever he returns.

"When you find a good thing, you stay with it," says Tabassum, while his wife, Liang Yang, carefully selects from the dizzying array. With a white cotton-gloved hand, the shop's petite owner, Claire Macq, gingerly boxes, wraps and be-ribbons the precious cargo, in a daily ritual repeated countless times in chocolate shops all across town.

It takes Valentine's Day in the USA, which the National Confectioners Association ranks as the biggest boxed-chocolate sales day of the year, to elicit the kind of passion for this "food of the gods" that's commonplace throughout tiny Belgium. But at a time when chocolate is poised to become the next snob food -- when the provenance of a candy's cocoa beans are considered as carefully as its percentage of pure cocoa -- all that is changing. And Brussels, as the chocolate capital of the world, is uniquely primed to welcome the increasingly sophisticated chocolate lovers from the USA and beyond.

Indeed, nowhere else is chocolate as celebrated as in Belgium, where it's comparable in status to wine in France or caviar in Russia. While its residents may lag behind Switzerland and the United Kingdom in per capita consumption of the confection, this part-Flemish, part-French nation of 10 million boasts more than 2,100 chocolate shops and fully four chocolate museums. Brussels alone, with a population of just 1 million, lists nearly 200 chocolate shops in the telephone directory. (Of the USA's two largest cities, New York lists only 46; Los Angeles, a mere 24.) And nationwide, some 500 producers, more even than the 400 beer brewers, turn out hand- and factory-made sweets using jealously guarded recipes. Makers are more Willy Wonka than high-volume Hershey.

"For us, chocolate is a devouring passion, a sweet addiction, and our national pride," writes Belgian Ruth Van Waerebeek in Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. And not just on Valentine's Day, either. "Daily social life in Belgium would be unimaginable without chocolate," she writes.

Belgians rarely visit friends or relatives without bearing a beautifully adorned box. Connoisseurs passionately debate the merits of the best artisanal makers, such as Macq, who hand-dates each sale and expects her delicate wares to be savored within two weeks -- not a day more. And just try to get a cup of restaurant coffee or tea without a requisite mini-square on the side.

Birth of the praline and the ballotin

History provides clues to Belgium's infatuation with "black gold." In 1857, pharmacist Jean Neuhaus founded the first chocolate shop in Brussels. In 1912, his grandson, Jean Neuhaus Jr., filled a molded chocolate shell with a sweet nutty paste, creating the world's first praline (not to be confused with the chocolate-free New Orleans praline). It was a watershed, eventually turning any filled bite-size chocolate, or praline, into a Belgian cult item.

Eight years later, Neuhaus' wife created a box with flaps to layer the pralines in a protected container. Voila -- the classic ballotin was born.

With the Belgian Congo a ready source of cocoa beans, the chocolate industry took off. By 1930, Frans Callebaut, an owner of the Belgian Callebaut brand, produced fine couverture chocolate that was easily stored and transported. Today, Belgium is the world's largest exporter of couverture, the melt-in-your-mouth coating chocolate used by top confectioners.

But more than anything, it's the demanding palate of this nation of gourmets that explains chocolate's star quality here. There are more than 1,000 restaurants in Brussels and -- mon Dieu! -- more Michelin-starred eateries per capita in Belgium than in France.

"Belgians are self-indulgent, they love to eat and drink well," says Belgian Catherine Van Der Linden, North American marketing manager for the giant Belgian chocolate manufacturer Leonidas. "They're great consumers, which drives the market."

Plus, Belgian chocolate makers use only the choicest beans, very highly refined, and all natural ingredients. "Belgian chocolate is better because of the raw materials and the fillings," says Jo Draps, granddaughter of the founder of Godiva (named for her aunt's long blond hair, and now owned by Campbell's).

'I'm happy every day'

Five years ago, Draps created the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate, right on the Grand Place, arguably Europe's most beautiful town square. It's a sweet spot to begin a chocolate tour of the city, with displays on cocoa cultivation and chocolate history. In the cavelike basement, confectioners demonstrate the craft of molding pralines -- the thinner the shell, the better.

When asked if eating chocolate, which has an anti-depressant effect, lifts her spirits, Draps grins broadly. "I eat it every day. I'm happy every day. I feel good." It's a reply repeated again and again all over town.

Maybe that's why chocolate shops are to Brussels what pubs are to Dublin or patisseries to Paris. In the center of town, they're chock- a-block, tucked in among the lace and Flemish tapestry purveyors. And every Belgian worth his sugar has a favorite.

"In each shop, I know the specialty," says tour guide Louis Berkowicz. "Real chocolatiers are artists who like to create something different."

Like fine couturiers, each has a signature style, often with seasonal variations. At about $21 to $28 a pound, their prices are also designer-dear.

The self-described Hermes of the chocolate world is Pierre Marcolini, whose minimalist-chic bonbonniere on the Place du Grand Sablon offers more than 100 varieties. His dark-chocolate squares bear the gold-lettered names of Madagascar (more bitter), Ecuador (fruitier) and Venezuela (milder) to identify their cocoa beans' origin, a distinction all the rage among fanatics. Hints of thyme orange, violet, jasmine, lemon tea and cinnamon infuse others.

Across the street is bustling Wittamer, where Marcolini once apprenticed. After nearly a century of making fine chocolates and pastries, Wittamer now handcrafts 85 bonbon varieties, including ambrosial raspberry-flavored dark ganaches and Grand Marnier- infused fresh-cream morsels. Run by the third-generation brother- sister team of Paul and Myriam Wittamer, the shop -- heady with pungent chocolate aroma -- is an official supplier to the Belgian royal family, who often stop in for their indulgences.

While Wittamer employs 55 artisans, Christian Vanderkerken is the solitary prince of the praline. With just two assistants and using his grandfather's recipes, he turns out elaborate works of art under his Manon label, and admits to eating half a pound of them a day ("I'm addicted," he says). His award-winning Sputnik is a 24-karat- gold-tipped 2-inch-tall chocolate rocket filled with marzipan, fresh cream, orange liqueur and a "secret ingredient"; his delectable dark Bouchon encases fresh and butter cream, Cognac and champagne. No wonder his creations are coveted abroad. (Nancy Reagan, Diana Ross and Jane Fonda have all indulged.)

"Chocolate is good here because we have the know-how of the filling," he says during a lively demonstration in his small workshop. "In France, it's all ganache. The perfect wedding for a praline is 40% chocolate shell with 60% filling."

On and on, the chocolate shops beckon: royal suppliers Galler and Mary (a favorite of both Presidents Bush); avant-garde Planete Chocolat; truffle-specialist Elisabeth; and best-value-per-price Leonidas.

You can even still visit the original old-fashioned Neuhaus shop in the glass-domed 19th-century Galeries St. Hubert, Europe's first shopping arcade. Faced with its assortment of plump marzipans, butter creams, manons, nougatines and classic pralines, JoAnne Pandey, 31, an educational researcher from Los Angeles, says she "feels overwhelmed." Still, like any good Belgian, she handpicks her pieces with care.

With her treasures secure in their trademark green-and-gold ballotin, Pandey departs, destined to become yet another convert to the growing ranks of chocolate aficionados everywhere.

Sweet somethings

A chocolate by any other name would still be as sweet. A glossary of terms:

Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate: A slightly sweetened dark chocolate (bittersweet has at least 45%-50% chocolate liquor; semisweet, 35%), primarily used for baking.

Cacao: The term for a cacao plant, which grows in tropical climes, as well as for the unprocessed pods of the plant, from which chocolate is made.

Chocolate liquor: The finely ground center of the cocoa bean; also referred to as cocoa mass.

Cocoa butter: The fat extracted from the cocoa bean, ideal for molding.

Couverture: Professional-quality coating chocolate with at least 32% cocoa butter, which forms a thinner shell than non-couverture.

Ganache: A rich, silky filling of semisweet chocolate and boiling cream.

Manon: Large chocolate filled with cream or butter cream and a walnut, and covered with fondant sugar.

Milk chocolate: A combination of chocolate liquor (at least 15%), extra cocoa butter, milk or cream, and sweetener.

Molding: Pouring chocolate into a mold to obtain a chocolate shell that is then filled and sealed with another layer of chocolate, like the typical Belgian praline.

Nougatine: A filling of little pieces of caramelized sugar and finely crushed roasted hazelnuts or almonds.

Praline: The classic Belgian bonbon, typically filled with a chocolate-hazelnut paste, but also used to refer to any filled chocolate mound.

Sweet chocolate: A combination of chocolate liquor (at least 15%) with sweetener and added cocoa butter.

Truffle: A confection of ganache, butter, sugar, and sometimes liqueur shaped into balls and often dusted with cocoa powder. Named after the exotic French mushroom for its visual resemblance.

White chocolate: Not real chocolate because it lacks chocolate liquor. Contains cocoa butter (at least 32%), milk, sugar and vanilla.

Source: www.chocolatesource.com

If you go...

Chocolate shops

Nearly 200 in Brussels satisfy even the most discriminating sweet tooth. Among the top confectioners:

Manon. Specialties: cream-filled pralines. Price: $21-$26/lb. Information: 011-322-217-6409; www.salonduchocolat.nl/sdcmanon.htm.

Wittamer. Specialties: ganaches. Price: $28/lb. Information: 011- 322-512-3742; www.wittamer.com.

Marcolini (four shops in Brussels). Specialties: dark chocolate made from beans from specific countries. Price: $28/lb. Information: 011-322-514-1206; www.marcolini.be.

Mary. Specialties: dark-chocolate mousse filling in five degrees of bitterness; cream fillings. Price: $26/lb. Information: 011-322- 217-4500; www .marychoc.com.

Galler. Specialties: cream-filled pralines with little sugar; ganaches; manons. Price: $20/lb. Information: 011-322-502-0266; www.galler.com.

Passion Chocolat. Specialties: pralines with coffee ganache; truffles. Price: $24/lb. Information: 011-322-772-4710; www.passionchocolat.be.

Neuhaus (69 shops throughout Belgium). Specialties: hazelnut pralines; manons. Price: $21/lb. Information: 011-322-512-6359; www.neuhaus.be.

Planete Chocolat. Specialties: chocolate flower bouquets ($17 for 5); art deco carved squares. Price: $21/lb. Information: 011-322- 511-0755; www.planetechocolat.be.

Elisabeth. Specialty: truffles. Price: $23/lb. Information: 011- 322-344-3303; www.elisabethbrussels.be.

Leonidas. (23 shops in Brussels). Specialty: white-chocolate manons with whole hazelnuts. Price: $8/lb. Information: 011-322-512- 8737; www.leonidas.com.

Demonstrations (available in English)

Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate: Demonstrations of praline-making. Admission: $6. Information: 011-322-514-2048; www.mucc.be.

Manon workshop: Praline-making demonstration by master chocolatier Christian Vanderkerken, by appointment only. Admission: $10 (includes box of chocolates). Information: 01l-322-425-2632.

Planete Chocolat: Demonstration of the history and making of chocolate, followed by a tasting. Saturdays, 4-4:30 p.m. Information: 011-322-511-0755.

Chocolate tours

Tours of Belgium for chocolate lovers by Greta Inowlocki. Rates: $2,500 per person, double occupancy (without airfare). 845-634- 0484; www.intrend.com.