Belgian Chocolates question
 

Does anyone know how long Belgian chocolates (from some of those really good stores in Brussels!) lasts? I want to buy some chocolates for friends while I am there, but not sure how long the "use by" date is for this type of chocolate.

Thanks!

We've kept chocolates for months with no problem, as long as they don't get too cold.

Our chocolates never last long enough to find out. :)

In my personal experience, I think that the best chocolates are best enjoyed when they're fresh. I wouldn't keep them more than a week.

The store can also advise you. When I bought some chocolates in Del Rey in Antwerp, I was steered away from buying certain chocolates which won't keep as well, since I was traveling. Talk to the store and they know their products best.

Also don't refrigerate your chocolates. Keep them in a cool place at room temperature.

By the way, make Pierre Marcolini a must on your list. They're excellent.

I've yet to try Wittamer. I really want to though.

Interesting question, I never thought of this. Chocolates in my possesion are not long for this world, so it's never been an issue for me. :-))

Well, it always depends on how much one buys, as well. A few months ago, I think that I bought more than a kilogram of chocolates (that's more than 2 pounds) and ate most of it myself. I went to (or, rather, a friend did this for me) four or five chocolatiers.

It took more than a week. :-)

<<We've kept chocolates for months with no problem>>
These were surely NOT made with fresh cream! Many Belgian chocolates have fresh cream as an ingredient. Best is to eat them within 7 days and to store them cool.

Few hours at my house! :))

I am thinking of the boxed chocolates I bought in Paris.

Last March my daughter bought chocolates in Belgium and brought them home to us in about 2 weeks.
They were really fine, good, delicious, I am so glad she is going back this Spring :D

I bought a box of Richart Petits Intense last week and the brochure said to consume within two weeks of purchase. Not a problem -- they are phenomenal! We had great fun having chocolate tasting party.

Also remember that humidity and odors are enemies of fine chocolate, so store them in a cool dry place -- and make sure to bring them up to room temperature (@ 70-76 F) before eating to bring out the flavor and bouquet.

Also be careful of heat when keeping chocolate..not just the melting but it can turn chalky..I've had the happen and it's ok to use and I have used it but you wouldn't want that to happen with really fine chocolate. Belgian is my favorite..I just don't think it can be beat.

We've never kept chocolates longer than two weeks either. However, we do have some Belgian hot chocolate mix that will last. It's Dolfin's Copeaux de Chocolat (I'm assuming it's Belgian, will have to look at the bag to be sure). Makes very rich hot chocolate.
If you want your chocolate to last a little longer, buy solid rather than filled chocolates. Keep them at a cool room temperature (no temp extremes, either cold or hot).

Just avoid the ones with the fresh cream centres and you will be ok. They taste lovely so get a few to eat yourself on the side! Btilke is right you are safer with the more "solid" ones. I used to get a box every few weeks from our Belgian office when someone came over for business....it was a great perk of that job :-).

The solid ones may be safer but the ones with (creamy) fillings, like ganache or manon, are so much better ... Anyway, in this house they don't get a chance to get bad!

The other day, at La Maison du Chocolat's London store, I asked the question about how long they would keep. The absolute *maximum* for the cream-filled chocolates is 4 weeks, when kept cool. But they suggest you keep them for far less time than that (and come back for more!).

Interesting. When I asked in Pierre Marcolini in Paris, the answer was three weeks. So I guess they keep longer than I thought they would keep.

Now, what are the other chocolatiers worth visiting in Brussels/Antwerp? Is Wittamer's good? Anything else on the must visit list? I'm expecting to pass through in February.

Wittamer is supposed to have very good chocolates, but I LOVE them for their pastries. They really are a superb patisserie, the best in Brussels, IMHO. Pierre Marcolini has a a new flagship store on the Sablon; it's no longer in the old location next to Au Vieux St. Martin.
A new restaurant you might want to try is Notos on rue Livourne (just off rue Bailli). Haute cuisine a la grecque. I ate there last month and the food was absolutely delicious, like no Greek food I've ever had before. Outstanding Greek wines, too, which really surprised me (although I know very little about Greek wine). Reservations absolutely required. BUT, and a big but, the service was very scatterbrained and I was overcharged at the end. I would like to try them again...I'm no Cassandra, but if they can get the level of service up to the level of the food, I see a Michelin star in their future. If you go there, let me know what you think--especially about the service.
www.notos.be

Thanks BT -- I know you'd know! :-)

Actually I'm doing another one of these long weekend things, so I don't know if I'm spending the night in Brussels. I'm flying into Brussels (get there around 9 in the morning) but out of Paris on Monday afternoon.

I've not decided where I'm spending Saturday night, but I'm expecting to spend Sunday night in Paris. Initially I was thinking about spending the night in Bruges, but I think that I'd prefer something with a vibrant nightlife. So I'm still thinking about it.

I guess it won't be a trip for the faint of heart. :-)

@ 111op ... something with a vibrant nightlife ... Antwerp is your place to be! Lots of clubs, cafés, bars and pubs.
As far as chocolatiers in Antwerp are concerned, try Burie (Korte Gasthuisstraat), Del Rey (Appelmansstraat), Goossens (Isabellalei), Bastin (Paardenmarkt and Blauwmoezelstraat). Also the classical chocolatiers like Godiva, Marcolini, Leonidas, etc.

Thanks Myriam. What would be your top pick in terms of chocolatiers in Antwerp? I stayed in a hotel very close to Del Rey the last time so I tried that. Which ones are close to the train station?

I've the crazy idea of spending the night in Rotterdam, as I've never been, but I've not investigated the train schedule. Also I don't know how vibrant the nightlife there is.

I'm thinking of squeezing in the art museums in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges on Saturday (and I guess, Sunday morning) -- we'll see how successful I am. :-) I've been to Brussels and Antwerp but not to the art museums, and I've not been to Ghent or Bruges. I'm not planning much in Ghent beyond a visit to the Cathedral to see the "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" (and I guess I'll see the Bosch holdings if I can find the time). Bruges I'll spend more time in. I suspect I'll have about 10 hours to sightsee in total in Belgium. Maybe an hour per museum? :-)

If there're chocolatiers in Ghent or Bruges I should not miss, do let me know.

Thanks.

Del Rey is the only chocolatier close to the train station. Leonidas and Godiva are everywhere in the city.
Sorry, can't help with chocolatiers in Brugge or Gent.

Don't know about Rotterdam's nightlife. Many Dutch come to Antwerp to party (and eat well).

Thanks Myriam. I'll investigate more.

111op: Antwerp, Brussels, Bruges and Ghent all in a day and a half? Is this the last time you expect to be in Belgium?

With one hour per museum, you sound like a candidate for Art Buchwald's six minute tour of the Louvre.

Why the rush?

lavendrye, have you seen the Jean-Luc Godard movie "Bande a Part"? (Band of Outsiders?) The protagonists race through the Louvre in 9 minutes and 43 seconds. I hope to conduct a similarly rushed tour of the Belgian museums.

No, I'm just joking.

Who's Art Buchwald?

I do expect to be in Belgium again, but I'm especially motivated to see art by the Flemish primitives. For a few weeks I was reading up on them and looking at reproductions in books, so I'm interested in seeing the real thing.

Of course, I didn't buy a ticket to fly to Belgium to see art. It was just that this ticket was the cheapest I could find. So now that I've paid for it, I decided that a trip like this would be fun to do.

As I mentioned I've been to Brussels and Antwerp, albeit very briefly, but not to the art museums at all -- so that's what I plan to remedy on this trip. And I think that it'd give me a more complete picture if I could see the "Lamb" in Ghent, the Bosches in Ghent and also the Groeninge Museum in Bruges. Since I'm passing through Paris, I'm thinking of seeing the Flemish holdings in the Louvre. The Louvre has one Brueghel and one Bosch and one famous Jan van Ecyk. Obviously the Dutch school is also very well represented.

Anyway, Ghent is halfway between Brussels and Bruges, based on what I gathered, and I'm not going to spend that much time there. I expect to spend a little more time in Bruges as I've never been there. Ideally I should spend the evening there, but then I'm not sure I want to.

And it won't be all in a day, strictly. I'll have Sunday morning too, as I plan to arrive early afternoon in Paris (the train is only 1.5 hours) -- so I can take a noon train or something.

Hope this helps.

Who's Art Buchwald? A great journalist and humorist, well known to my generation.

Here's his Louvre piece:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...256/ai_3453390

You might want also to look for his explanation of Thanksgiving to the French " Le jour du Merci Donnant"

That's very funny. This question is going to sound stupid -- was that a complete satire? I fear I'm a very literal person. :-)

Here's the Godard version:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/collections/re...a-z/a-z.html#L

By the way, this is copied by the recent Bertolucci movie, but I've not seen that.

Indeed it was a complete satire. Buchwald, who still has a regular syndicated column in the Washington Post, can be very droll. The only U.S. writer today who can compare, in my opinion, is Christopher Buckley.

Thanks for the Godard reference.

Now, I'm wondering where Godard took his inspiration. If I remember right, such a race was done by an earlier movie, but I've not dug out the proper reference.