Kokova Magazine

When it comes to work, the last few weeks of being an 'Out & About' reviewer for Kokova Magazine has been pretty painful! In the last fortnight I've had a 'forced' introduction into the world of 'proper' chocolate for the first time in my life... and it has been exceptionally hard work, I am sure you will all agree.

You have to understand that tasting a variety of beautiful handmade chocolates, flavoured and wrapped around equally delicious centers has been an arduous task - but someone has to do it...

And while I gather more information from a variety of sources for my in depth review, covering all aspects of my journey into the world of 'proper' chocolate (coming soon), for now let me just tell you about the experiences I had over the past two weeks in joining other visitors at both the Denbies and Oxted Chocolate Fairs.

Denbies Chocolate Fair - Sunday 13th March 2016 10am - 4.30pm

Denbies Wine Estate is situated on the outskirts of Dorking Town, and hosted their first ever chocolate fair, and the first Discover Cacao fair of the year! If you have been to the Denbies Wine Estate you will know that it is a stunning and sophisticated venue and one that worked so well with the combination of fine wines and chocolates!

My family and I arrived about 11am to find the Chocolate Fair absolutely buzzing. It was jam packed full of visitors and I must say I had to wait to get to see any of the chocolate - let alone taste, buy and talk to the knowledgeable chocolatiers.

Denbies ‘Surrey Gold’ wine was being paired with chocolate as we arrived and luckily I had planned to go to one of the later presentations as I certainly wouldn't have got a seat anyway without arriving much earlier.

When I eventually made my way around the event, Ama from Lococoa Chocolate was really one lady who stood out for me, as she explained to my 10 year old daughter and I all about the Lucocoa sugar free chocolate, explaining the story from bean to bar. My daughter was telling me all about it for the rest of the day and I really think it was educational, as a lot of children would struggle to understand where chocolate comes from.

I also spent some time with Patissiere Lingaud and their beautiful easter eggs, and let's just say the Easter Bunny has moved up in the world this year...

Aneesh Popat and his lovely wife Nina at The Chocolatier were again so knowledgeable about their products and chocolate, and explained so much about the 'what and why' behind the chocolates. It was even suggested to put some of their Madagascan chocolate in to my morning smoothie each day, which I am still to try because it is apparently full of nutrients and should set me up for the day. I will keep you posted...

Aneesh left me with a most divine salted caramel truffle as I sat down to join the talk and tasting with Denbies Demi Sec (trust me to time that so well!).

Denbies wine expert Christopher talked very well about the Demi Sec and we were introduced to Fifth Dimension Chocolates and Rococo. The presentation and tasting ran for about 45 wonderful minutes.

There were only 25 seats available and I did have to save my seat about 30 mins before as it was so well attended and everyone wanted to have a taste. It felt very select and special having this little intimate session with the experts.

We tried Fifth Dimension Chocolates 68% Wild Bolivia and the Passion Fruit Pate De Fruits, followed by Rococo 64% Madagascan Dark Chocolate and their Orange, Mango & Passion Fruit Ganache. Sam from Rococo Chocolates again really knew his stuff and organizes and presents many paring events up in London, so good to have it local, and I just got up at the end feeling like we need more of this.

The gentleman visitor next to me got up and said he was off to buy a couple of bottles of the delicious Denbies Demi Sec - and I was not alone in making several chocolate purchases from the selection we had tasted, so I think everyone enjoyed the session as much as I had.

We also visited Sylvia and Terry's Fine Kentish Chocolates, Bonieri, Appetitus (who I understand lives down the road from me so could be dangerous for my waistline) Urban Village Chocolates, Cocoa Runners and the wonderful chocolate kits from Pachanka.

I did manage to visit all the stalls and I hate to admit I think I tried most of the chocolate available. My children loved the rich, gooey, chocolatey brownies from 'B is for Brownie' made with the finest Madagascan or Colombian single-origin chocolate. Solkiki came all the way from Dorset and were just what I had been looking for -Omni, vegan, lactose-intolerant, raw, free-from, gluten-free and perfect for some Easter gifts for friends.

Later on that afternoon the Noble Harvest wine and Rose Hill came out for their pairings too and from what I saw and heard afterwards from friends the day was a massive success, with a huge number of visitors all day and a lot of the chocolatiers selling out.

Oxted Chocolate Fair - Saturday 19th March 2016 10am - 4.30pm

Now the Oxted Chocolate Fair was a very different event to Denbies and I am afraid the Community Centre is not quite as beautiful as the Wine Estate, but it was free entry on the day and 10 mins down the road from home, so I was not going to miss it for the world! I also worked in the kitchen cafe on the day making fresh sandwiches and rolls to order and serving tea, coffee and a lot of Kokoa Collection hot chocolates.

The charity raffle, with proceeds of £115 going to Wallace & Gromit's Children’s Charity had a beautiful first prize of a chocolate filled basket and runner up prizes kindly donated by Jaques of London Games Emporium. I did hear the lady who won first prize at about 4pm, as she screamed so loudly and was so very excited. What a treat!

With over 500 people through the door on Saturday, and again a lot of the chocolatiers selling out, friends commented to me that they had really enjoyed tasting and learning about 'proper' chocolate, additionally commenting as to why the local chocolate shops don't stock some of these fantastic brands they had met.

No wine pairings at Oxted for this chocolate fair but as I say lots of tastings of award-winning chocolates from:Fifth Dimension Chocolates, Cocoa Runners, Solkiki, Sylvia and Terry's Fine Kentish Chocolates, Karen's Cupcake Creations, Roxie's Raw Chocolate Cakes, Appetitus, Patisserie Lingaud, Lucocoa Chocolate, Temper Temper and Sloe Seduction (an exquisite selection of Sloe Gin chocolate products).

I thought the event was well advertised with great colourful banners on the roads round Oxted and I feel the feedback was good, so let's do it again Oxted and get real chocolate introduced to our local friends and families.

More information on chocolate events can be found at www.discovercacao.com