Kokova Magazine

Concluding Chocolate Week, Chocolate Unwrapped is the ultimate occasion for chocolate lovers and is the perfect opportunity for a spot of decadent indulgence. For two days chocolate lovers booked their ticket and popped into the London Film Museum in Covent Garden to find a treasure trove of chocolate makers, creators, suppliers and artistes!

With demonstrations and tastings, as well as an inspiring selection of the purest and finest chocolate available to buy, this promised to be a few days of non-stop indulgence.

Covent Garden is the perfect place to grab a bargain, haggle over prices and grab a bite to eat at the many outlets that surround the market area. But if you are looking for good quality chocolate that won't break the bank, look no further than Chocolate Unwrapped.

As we enter the building and descend the stairs it is immediately obvious that we are about to walk into 'Chocolate Heaven'. At the foot of the staircase Paul A. Young commands the entire entrance space and, in a dedicated area, we can watch the master at work as Paul shows us how to temper chocolate by hand and explains the art of rolling chocolate truffles.

Delving a little deeper past this point, an Aladdin's Cave opens up before us as we get our first glimpse of all the different stands, heavily laden with chocolates beyond our wildest dreams. The lighting is soft and subtle, much to the chocolatiers' relief, for the last thing you would want is a mass of melting chocolate suffering under the heat of bright lights and milling bodies. The effect is slightly ethereal and the venue pulls you into its furthest corners to seek out its hidden delights. So with our taste buds at the ready we delve in...

We see a familiar face as we begin our journey around the event, as we are greeted by Rekha, owner and founder of Pistachio Rose. We first discovered this fusion of quintessential Indian flavours with elegant cakes, delicate biscuits and crumbling pastries at the Cake and Bake Show last month. And later in the afternoon we observe a couple of customers standing back in a recess tucking into one of her naans, describing it as 'simply fantastic'.

We quickly spot another familiar face and get a closer look at the fabulous Dinosaur Excavation sculpture created by The Chocolatier, Aneesh Popat. And this time we get to sample even more of his wonderfully balanced and fascinating chocolate combinations.

Munchy Seeds have joined in with Chocolate Week and created a range of Pumpkins and Sunflower seeds coated in luxury Belgian chocolate. It certainly works and with seeds trending up this could be a winner for 2013 - but having already been converted to their Omega Sprinkle mix, this may take us some getting used to.

With their welcoming nature and a true passion for what they are and will be, The Chocolate Tree had a lot to offer us in the way of tiny bears and 'melt-in-the-mouth' macaroons. We will certainly be sharing more from this family-run business in the coming month, especially since their chocolate is so divine! It was almost a shame to eat the little chocolate bears but as they tasted so good we soon forgot any guilt we felt at biting off the heads...

Dolci Liberta have taken chocolate making one step further, and with the help of private investment their chocolates are being made within the confines of the Busto Arsizio (Varese) prison. Chocolatiers and patissiers make their produce with the assistance of detainees who have received the necessary training for this work. We will bring you more from this story but for now from an end point, you will find their chocolate is nothing short of scrumptious!

Creighton's Chocolaterie had us more than a little tickled with their chocolate false teeth and 'burgers' in a box. For amusing chocolate that tastes as good as it looks, Creightons is a must-have.

Chococo managed to capture our attention along a similar line with their boxed chocolate fish & chips and amazing pumpkin heads, complete with spiders inside.

In search of the perfect lemon chocolate? Look no further than Lauden Chocolate. Using real lemons reduced to a purée, they have accomplished the task of making a 'real' lemon chocolate. By leaving out the gelling agents they retain the strong flavour that makes this chocolate our winning lemon flavour of the day!

We stopped to chat with the passionate people behind Daskalidès and find out more about their chocolate. We like their ethics, their chocolate and we are now looking forward to trying their Pâtes de Fruit.

Situated on the end of the line we found a simple stall with a small selection of chocolate bars. The young man tending the Chocolate Naive stand informed us that all their chocolate comes from Lithuania and the idea is to not only sell and manufacture the bars but to provide a connection from the growers to the consumer. We found stories on the back of every bar and each was personally signed by the chocolate producer.

Further on we uncovered gorgeous little jars containing a twin layer of delicious cakes with creamy toppings at Lucky's. The Toffee Groove transformed us back to yester-year, with visions of a cold Sunday afternoon and bowls of Ambrosia Cream Rice steaming on the table, ready for us to eat. The creamy, caramel taste was loaded with memories in this little pot of heaven. We were then presented with miniature versions of Lucky's unique chocolates filled with cake! A chocoholics dream come true.

Chocolate Unwrapped is so much more of an adventure than we anticipated, extending beyond the act of simply eating chocolate. It is here that we have discovered Mikkel Friis-Holm and his Chuno 70% Triple Turned. Mikkel is balancing chocolate in one hand and a babe-in-arms in the other, while producing chocolate that will revolutionise the way we think about cacao forever more.

There were a few surprises from the day, especially from Lindt, who we thought were probably suited better to the sweet counter at the local shop. Fighting their way back into the market and possibly bridging the gap between the more commercially produced chocolates and the artisan market, they have been experimenting with flavours and trying something new.

Herzog were at the other end of the scale, bringing us passion fruit and Riesling inside a chocolate bomb! Freeze dried passion fruit powder covered a crisp chocolate ball, home to a delicate amount of wine to compliment the explosion of flavour that this sweet treat created. Alongside some creative combinations we looked on in awe at the untitled sculpture, modelled by Sven for the event. The use of colour and chocolate, combined with the most adorable ladybug made this work of art hard to miss.

Valrhona presented their 'first 'Blond Chocolate' boasting a 'creamy and toasty taste'. This is indeed very fine caramel toned chocolate, reminiscent of the Cadbury's Caramel but without any artificial taste. Exceptionally creamy, the flavour grows in the mouth, leaving the toasty taste on a final note, with no lingering heaviness or coated oils in the mouth. Truly an indulgent bar.

We have touched on just a few of the wonderful chocolate makers and producers who attended Chocolate Unwrapped, found little time to include the many other classes and demonstrations that ran throughout the event or even mention the many stories behind the companies, the social projects, fairtrade initiatives and local support shown for cacao growers.

To appreciate everything the show has to offer we would definitely suggest attending over both of the days and making sure you arrive as the doors open - and only leave when they insist on locking you out!

So make a date in the dairy to get the full unedited story yourself at Chocolate Unwrapped 2013.