Salon du Chocolat in Cannes
Cocoa is a must, cocoa is too much
The Popol Vuh, Maya's Genesis book, attributed the discovery of chocolate to Gods. During the pre-Columbian civilization in all Mesoamerica, chocolate was a luxury, and, many centuries later, the Marquise de Sévigné used to tell in her letters about chocolate that " it flatters you for a while, and then suddenly ignites in you a continuous fever"! It is this fever that made no less than 18,000 visitors took by storm the 3,000m2 of the Riviera Hall in Cannes Palais des Festivals. The first Salon du Chocolat opened under the patronage of the His Excellency Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia - first producer of chocolate in the world - and was inaugurated by dances from Indonesia, followed by a chocolate dresses fashion show, whose creations - born from the talent of an artists duo, a couturier and a chocolatier - enchanted the large audience of guests.
The first edition of the Salon du Chocolat in Cannes has been so successful that at some times, the flow of visitors had to be contained in order not to exceed the capacity limits of a public that came to discover and smell the enchanting and magical fragrances of the Gods bean. The waiting queue was extending until the Croisette and it took sometimes until more than half an hour to access the temple of the kingdom of chocolate. Better than the enchanted world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, all the conditions were met during theses three days of gourmandise to give visitors an unforgettable moment of magic. More than 40 well-known exhibitors from the region had come to showcase their brown gold in the Cannes spotlights, and ignoring the crisis, young and old alike eyes and taste buds eagerly peered the cascading black, white or milk, vanilla and spices chocolate. There was something for every taste and every purses and the festive season is approaching, it was for many the opportunity to make their purchases under the advice of gourmet "chocolatiers artisans".
Under the theme "The Cacao is putting on a show", conferences and workshops succeeded throughout the day. The demonstrations and tastings space led by great pastry chefs and master chocolatiers as Christian Campini, Meilleur Ouvrier de France Chocolatier with his recipe: "Country's Citrus Jelly with one Scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Chocolate", was followed by a curious and concentrated large audience; more than 20 recipes were carried out in three days.
The Cocoa Area show with its dances, songs and tales from cocoa producer countries made you travel to faraway and exotic paradises; permanent shows animated the scene and one could also admired chocolate artistic exhibitions and live performance, and then one could work hands-on to make a flower or an animal from melted chocolate into a mold and could then decorate it by painting with a brush.
Always in the trend and in the heart of the Festival, the Salon du Chocolat combined Chocolate and Cinéma: the encounter of the seventh Art and chocolate, illusion and image of real-life, silhouettes inspired by the greatest cinema masterpieces, daring references to the film culture. The fashion show consisted of 13 creations particularly worked out by pairs of chocolatiers/designers: from the Moulin Rouge through Star Wars to Alice in Wonderland, it was a series of images of moving pictures, each one more spectacular the other. All creations presented at the Salon du Chocolat's parade were entirely made by the creators and designers of the region.
The all chocolate dress created by duo Jérôme de Oliveira (pastry world champion, Patisserie Intuitions) and couturier Denis Durand opened the fashion show, followed by chocolatiers and designers tandems: Puyricard Chocolate and Ben Brass, Christian Camprini and Deborah Desavie, Christian Cottard and Patricia Barrere, Christopher Canet and Lara Quarto, Jean-Luc Pelé and Aline Buffet, Jean-Michel Llorca and Sandra Maurel, Lilial Bonnefoi-Durieux and Belotti Couture, Loelia Pissot and Amanda Relier, Philippe Britto and Dorinn Grüner, Bruno Laffargue and Denis Durand, Pascal Picasse and Laurence Perez, with the participation of the model have been presented their works made on theme of major 7th Art masterpieces. Cannes fashion designer Aline Buffet and chocolatier Jean-Luc Pelé talked about their interpretation of the Diva from the film "The Fifth Element": "It took us 544 hours of work to achieve a strong creation that thrilled the audience at the apparition of our model on stage! The challenge was really technical: with a dress weighing more than 8 kg, one must study the weight of textile used after the worked chocolates."
The parade ended by the presentation of Princess Grace of Monaco's wedding dress, a work realized by Pascal Picasse, pastry chef of the Grand Hotel in Cannes. The work of art took him sixty hours of work and 5 kg Domori chocolate. He was assisted in this difficult task by his "second", Maxime Simonot, and stylist Laurence Perez, a specialist in wedding dress.
During the opening night, the guests savored the delicious chocolate cakes and pastries made by the Apréca Pastry Chefs (Association of the Côte d'Azur Restaurants Pastry Chefs) who also made animations during all day on Sunday.
The next edition will take place in November 2013.
Fashion Show on the Theme of Cinema
The fashion show consisted of 13 creations particularly worked out by pairs of chocolatiers/designers: from the Moulin Rouge through Star Wars to Alice in Wonderland, it was a series of images of moving pictures, each one more spectacular the other. All creations presented at the Salon du Chocolat's parade were entirely made by the creators and designers of the region.
Salon du Chocolat: the Exhibition
More than 40 well-known exhibitors from the region had come to showcase their brown gold in the Cannes spotlights, and ignoring the crisis, young and old alike eyes and taste buds eagerly peered the cascading black, white or milk, vanilla and spices chocolate. There was something for every taste and every purses and the festive season is approaching, it was for many the opportunity to make their purchases under the advice of gourmet "chocolatiers artisans".
Apreca at Salon du Chocolat
During the opening night, the guests savored the delicious chocolate cakes and pastries made by the Apréca Pastry Chefs (Association of the Côte d'Azur Restaurants Pastry Chefs) who also made animations during all day on Sunday.
Workshops at Salon du Chocolat
Under the theme "The Cacao is putting on a show", conferences and workshops succeeded throughout the day. The demonstrations and tastings space led by great pastry chefs and master chocolatiers as Christian Campini, Meilleur Ouvrier de France Chocolatier with his recipe: "Country's Citrus Jelly with one Scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Chocolate", was followed by a curious and concentrated large audience; more than 20 recipes were carried out in three days.
Chocolate Artistic Exhibitions and Performances at the Majestic
During the 3-day event, the Hotel Majestic Barrière hosted chocolate creations in the lobby. Fabrice Zuppo carried out live three sculptures depicting three scenes from movies, mixing emotions, mystery, talent... This artist has also made a giant Christmas tree to be admired at the Hotel Majestic Barrière alongside other works by chocolatiers in the region.