The premises
\nwe’re walking into are bright and welcoming. On the boarded floor we can see traces
\nof chocolate-like steps and we can smell the sweet scent of the miraculous
\ndessert. We’re in a museum of chocolate. Nothing special about chocolate today.
\nWell, apparently…Had it not been brought to Europe 500 years ago at the court
\nof a Spanish king by explorer Hernando Cortes, today chocolate would not have
\nbeen included on the list of forbidden pleasures…Don’t eat chocolate at night
\nas you’re sure to get insomnia. Don’t eat too much of it, as you will put on
\nweight.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The early days of chocolate can be traced thousands
\nof years back, when the cultivation of the cocoa tree was reported on a large
\nscale in South America. Christopher Columbus in 1502 was the first explorer to
\nhave seen and touched the cocoa grains in the New World. Brought over to Europe,
\nthe cocoa grains were not given the attention they deserved because nobody knew
\nwhat they were good for. In 1519, conquistador Hernando Cortes discovered the Aztec
\nleader Montezuma used to drink a brew made of cocoa seeds, known as chocolatl.
\nMontezuma drank around 50 cups a day. Montezuma invited Hernando Cortes to have
\nthe royal drink, which he found a little bit bitter for his taste. However, the
\nSpaniards added sugar cane and enriched its flavor, also adding vanilla and
\ncinnamon. Furthermore, they discovered the brew was tastier if served hot. And
\never since, Spanish aristocracy began to appreciate the miraculous drink they
\ndid not reveal to the rest of Europe for a century. It was the Spanish monks
\nwho made public the recipe for the preparation of the drink which was rapidly
\nheld in high esteem by the Royal Court of France and later by that in Great
\nBritain. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
If you want to find out more about the story of
\nchocolate, make sure you visit the museum in Bucharest. We’ve been there and
\nwere welcomed by the director of the museum, Augustin Plesa.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The idea is not an original one, I cannot brag about it; four years ago I was
\non a city-break in Dublin with my wife and as we were taking a walk the museum
\nof chocolate there just happened to be in our way, we took time to visit it,
\nthen we also went to Vienna to visit the museum near the chocolate factory
\nthere. And, using the Internet, with help provide by some IT specialists, we
\ndid a 6-minute film, so that visitors can get an idea about the natural
\nenvironment of the cocoa tree. So that they may also learn a little bit about
\nthe chocolate-making technology. In the museum, we show something I myself did
\nnot know until four years ago. We show how the cocoa drink was served in South
\nAmerica for hundreds of years, we offer info on Montezuma, on the Aztecs, the
\nMayans, and then we come a little bit closer to the modern times, to Cortes,
\nwho brought chocolate to the court of the Spanish king. Then we have a sample
\nof cocoa tree, we have samples of cocoa fruit, or seeds. Then we have a couple
\nof statues of South American natives, with the tools they used for picking
\nactivities. We have a couple of scales, grinders used for the cocoa powder. We
\nhave played a little bit ourselves and made chocolate statues, we even have an
\nEminescu, a replica of Jalea’s sculpture. The workshop is our strongpoint. As
\nsoon as we’ve seen the movie, as soon as the chocolate-maker on duty has taught
\nus how pralines were made, how chocolate comfits are made, there is also a
\nhands-on demonstration, we have a tasting session at the chocolate fountain and
\nthen there’s the workshop, the strongpoint, where the visitor is given a
\nchocolate tablet and from the chocolate maker they receive a fountain pen made
\nof white chocolate with which they write messages for their dearest, or they
\ncan draw something, they can put the lid of the chocolate back and offer it as
\na gift.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\ndirector of the Chocolate Museum, Augustin Ple\u015fa, has told us more on the
\nvisitors’ reactions: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It is a tasty, sweet visit and most tourists are
\nreally surprised of what they see, just as I was four years ago, because I
\ndidn’t know how cocoa powder is produced. I didn’t know that cocoa is a
\nspectacular fruit, just like you can see in our photos and after taking a look
\nat the cocoa beans we have here, as samples. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It’s
\nalso Augustin Ple\u015fa who has unveiled the secrets of making chocolate to us: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There are no special secrets,
\njust a correct mix of the right amounts of cocoa butter and cocoa powder. This
\nis called conching: the more homogenous the mixture, the tastier the chocolate.
\nThe mixture is then tempered, and we have a tempering machine to show little
\nsecrets to our visitors, as chocolate should also have a silky, smooth texture.
\nThe mixture is then placed in moulds, air bubbles are removed, in a process
\nsimilar to that of making bricks.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As
\nmany chocolate statues are put on show in the museum, including a bust of
\nEminescu, the Romanians’ national poet, we’ve asked Augustin Ple\u015fa how such a
\nstatue is made: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A statue is covered in chocolate
\nand this is just a replica. The other statues, too, are replicas. Chocolate
\nshould be kept at a temperature of maximum 20 degrees Celsius in order not to
\nmelt. We’ve learnt that, too, because I used to store chocolate in the fridge
\nand lower temperature spoilt the taste. There is also another reason for keeping the chocolates out of the fridge.
\nChilling and then exposing chocolate to warmer air cause condensation on the
\nsurface, which dissolves some of the sugar. This will then re-crystallize,
\nleaving a white surface layer. That’s why chocolate should not be stored in the
\nfridge. We teach people to do that in the museum, too. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This
\nis a museum which might become one of the attractions of Romania’s capital
\ncity!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A delightful new experience for the people of Bucharest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":135626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42520],"tags":[43179,43180,43181,43178],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-135625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-romania","tag-augustin-plesa","tag-chocolate-fountain","tag-history-of-chocolate","tag-museum-of-chocolate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n