Note to start: This story was written up based on my experiences from a trip I made here in a pre COVID world. This means you will see photos with lots of people with no masks and no social distancing (remember that?). I have noted at the end whether they are currently open (for takeaway or delivery) but it is best to visit their website for up to date information. I think we all need a bit of arm chair travelling at the moment so I thought I’d still share these to inspire current hot chocolates at home and future trips. Enjoy!
Happy New Year! While this pandemic has slowed down my travels, it has in no way slowed my consumption of hot chocolates. If you are in lockdown (or not), I highly recommend that you make sure you have a good supply of chocolate in your pantry to make hot chocolates. Your head and heart, and obviously your tummy, will thank you (not to mention your local chocolate makers who definitely need your support now more than ever). While I know it isn’t a vaccine, my completely unqualified medical opinion is that, until this all passes, hot chocolate is my medicine of choice (for anything really…it is a bit like the windex in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding…but obviously a whole lot safer).
Anyways, back to hot chocolate. While I haven’t been travelling as much as I usually do, I have a notebook full of notes on hot chocolates I sipped while following the historic trail of hot chocolate through Europe before COVID took over all of our lives. So, for the next while I’ll be posting those so that we can take a bit of a trip without having to leave our homes. I’ll also post some local hot chocolates I’ve been tasting lately…although it is 40C again today which isn’t ideal hot chocolate whether (but that has never stopped me).
I’m going to start off the year with the first hot chocolate I had when I arrived in Brussels. It was also my favourite, in part probably because it was the first of what seemed like hundreds of hot chocolates (including more than a dozen in Belgium) that I would end up drinking over a period of a few weeks. I was in the city to speak at a conference and was so incredibly nervous I was just barely coping. This moment, with this hot chocolate, probably saved me from having a complete meltdown. But above all that, it was a very good hot chocolate.
I’ll write more about chocolate in Belgium in my next few posts but for now I’ll just sit you down so we can enjoy this hot chocolate together (apologies for I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures at this one). The shop is a block off the touristic centre of Brussels, near Brussels’ Central Station, so while the area was swarming with tourists, the shop itself was relatively quiet and serene. There is a large display with a selection of pralines along the back wall. Pralines (also referred to as bonbons in many countries) are truly Belgium, invented by another chocolatier, Jean Neuhause, over 100 years ago. A praline has chocolate on the outside and a filling inside. Laurent Gerbaud has beautiful pralines. As his moto says, these have “no added sugar, no alcohol, no butter, no additives, no preservatives, but full of love…”. Many of his flavour combinations are inspired by his time living and making chocolate in China. Apparently, his original plans were to open a chocolate shop in Shanghai (Laurent speaks Mandarin and spent some time there). His logo was designed by a Chinese friend of his and is the symbol for chocolate in Chinese and his initials, LG.
Laurent uses a lot of nuts and dried fruits and his flavour combinations are unique and a tour around the world in themselves. Pepper from Madagascar, yuzu from Japan, bergamot from Calabria and then mixed together into combinations such mango, coriander and lime or Beijing black tea, jasmin and passion fruit, the one I eventually settled on. I feel it is a crime to not order a praline if they are available. If you are going to have a hot chocolate, and there are pralines, order one. Besides, these chocolatiers are more famous for their pralines than for their hot chocolates, so it is worth having a try to see what all the fuss is about. I’m not sure why, looking back, I only ordered one. I’ll put that one to jetlag. It was delicious.
The shop offers a hot chocolate made with whole milk (which I ordered). They also have a selection of non-dairy options and one with orange and rum which looks like the perfect way to end a day in Brussels. I took my little tray and sat down near the windows not far from the front door. Every time someone would walk through the door, I’d get whiffs of cigarette smoke. This particular smell reminds me of Europe, so this was my “I’m in Belgium” moment when my nervousness and jetlag cleared enough for me to fully enjoy this time here. The hot chocolate was perfectly balanced, not sweet, not bitter. It was light but still decadent and had these fruity notes to it. It was a bit like getting everything I wanted at once.
A good hot chocolate, a good anything, is so much more than the sum of its parts (although those parts are important). How much you enjoy any food or drink also comes down to who you enjoy it with, where you are enjoying it and so many other factors. I’m not sure I can ever go back to Laurent Gerbaud because of that. That moment was so perfect that I fear it just wouldn’t be the same hot chocolate if I went back (although, don’t get me wrong, it was great). Luckily for me he has a second location so, as soon as all of this craziness passes, I’m planning to pay it a visit so I can have another perfect moment, this time with orange and rum (and 3 pralines).
Verdict: This hot chocolate cost 5.50euros and was worth every cent. There is a video on their Instagram account showing how they make their hot chocolate. It isn’t rocket science, but it will have to do until you can go to visit yourself. The shop is currently open, and products are also available for delivery (locally). 2D Rue Ravenstein 100, Brussels, Belgium
