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| The gates of heaven |
A
few days ago I wrote about some book-related experiences in Prague.
Now I'll continue with another favourite topic: chocolate!
I
must start with the visit to the chocolate museum... yes, that's
right, a museum dedicated to chocolate! I'll admit that I didn't
know about this museum when we planned our trip or even when we
arrived – it was one of those things we discovered unexpectedly.
One night, we were walking along the streets of this beautiful city,
and I saw a sign that said ”Chocolate Story” … that called for
some investigation, and the place turned out to be a chocolate
museum! That was, of course, something we had to see.
The
museum isn't very big, but the exhibition features many fascinating
objects and a great deal of information. You learn about the history
of chocolate, health benefits of eating chocolate, how cocoa is grown
and harvested, and so on. You can watch a couple of videos about how
chocolate is made, and you can even observe a live demonstration of
praline making – which includes a tasting of the finished product!
We happened to be the only people watching the demonstration, which
meant we could observe the process up close. I can only admire the
skill of the chocolatier. He made it all look so easy!
When
the pralines were finished, we got to sample them. These particular
specimen were milk chocolate pralines filled with hazelnut nougat,
and I have to say, it was delectable. It was one of the best
chocolates I have ever tasted! (We have pictures of me eating the chocolate, but the look on my face is simply too lascivious for those pictures to be shared.) We were also offered an opportunity to
try making our own chocolate, but although I was tempted, I refused
(I am infamously clumsy and messing around with molten chocolate in
the museum kitchen just didn't seem like a wise idea).
In
addition, the museum features numerous interesting artefacts, among
them chocolate cups and vessels for making hot chocolate, from
ancient clay cups of the Aztecs to the later, decorative European
versions.
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| A chocolate cup for a moustached man! |
In addition, there are chocolate wrappings and chocolate
boxes...
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| A book-shaped chocolate box! |
...and a huge, and I mean huge, chocolate fall (that's like a
waterfall but what falls isn't water but molten chocolate).
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| Why, oh why did they put that glass there?!? |
After
touring the museum – we stayed well over an hour, it was so
fascinating – we visited the museum shop and bought a couple of
chocolate bars, which, we assumed, were flavoured to resemble the
oldest chocolate (the kind you drink) recipes from the Aztecs and the
Spaniards, respectively. There is also another, larger shop on the
same premises, but more about that later.
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| A handy chart for describing the aromas of chocolate |
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