Most of us eat a hell of a lot of chocolate, but few of us know much about the stuff — from its complicated New World roots to its evolution from beverage to luxury food to the more-than-meets-the-eye nature of the cacao percentage, it’s right up there with wine, beer, and cheese in terms of complexity and awesomeness.
Thus, Chocolate: The Exhibition at the Minnesota History Center. The new exhibit kicked off this Saturday with a whirl of activity including live music, cocoa mug painting, and copious samples offered up by the likes of Abdallah Chocolates, Patisserie 46, BT McElrath, and Patisserie Margo.
Colin Gasko (of Rogue Chocolatier, below left) spoke for 45 minutes about the process of growing, sourcing, and making chocolate, going from a broad strokes picture of the process down into granular details such as cacao genetics, cocoa bean drying tunnels, and the subtleties of conching.
Chocolate: The Exhibition runs through Jan. 2, 2011 and, naturally, features a delicious gift shop component with chocolates made by a number of Minnesota makers.
Awesome chocolate samples at this exhibition’s opening – so many that my daughter actually declined to eat any more chocolates by the end. Yum!