Chocolate Experience

In Brugge, can't remember the name of the place, it's the one that Rick recommends. I've had lots of good chocolate in Europe, but the sounds that came out of my mouth while eating Belgian chocolate actually made my husband jealous.

Not necessarily the best chocolate but one of the most unique chocolate treats is the "Schokokuss / Mohrenkopf / Negerkuss" (different names for the same thing) which can be found all over Germany in any supermarket and in many bakeries. They are made of sweetened egg white foam on top of a wafer and then covered with chocolate. They are very hard to transport over longer distances as they don't like temperature changes which makes them hard to find in Northamerica and if you do find them they don't taste that good. In the past, visitors from Germany brought me some as well but because of their foamy core they don't pass security checks anymore and wouldn't survive in checked in luggage :-( Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Schaumkuss-1.jpg/220px-Schaumkuss-1.jpg

Of course Dickmanns are THE BEST. However, my kids are especially fond of the minis found at Aldi ;-) And yes, they are the perfect kids treat! When I was a child, all my birthday parties included a game where the kids had to speed eat one of them - with hands tied behind their back .... Which reminds me, chocolate themed party games are very popular in Germany. The other favourite is speed eating a small chocolate bar that is wrapped in newspaper while the child has to wear mittens and use knife and fork to unwrap and eat the chocolate ;-) The wikipedia site has a good discussion on the name: They were first only known under the names Mohrenkopf ("Moor's Head") or Negerkuss ("Negro's Kiss"), but most companies changed the official product-name in the 1980s to the more neutral Schokokuss ("Chocolate Kiss"), Schaumkuss ("Foam Kiss") or to brand-specific names (the most famous brand being Dickmann's). In the South and the West of Germany they are still commonly known as Mohrenkopf. In Austria they are referred to as Schwedenbomben ("Swedish bombs").

My favorite is Moeder Babelutte. They have a shop in Brugge, two on the coast, and one in Brussels that, for some reason, doesn't sell their own products. Best pralines ever, by far! This is an issue on which my Belgian wife and I have agreed to disagree. She swears by Leonidas.

Leonidas! Expensive but oh so yummy. They have a couple of shops in London.

Lavendar chocolate at a little place in St. Remy. Don't know the name, but locally made and we were told that you could not keep chocolate over a week.... talk about perfection!

My best chocolate experiences involved going into small grocery / convenience stores in Belgium and Germany and choosing from the huge chocolate ion. My favorite chocolate from Belgium, which they don't seem to sell in the U.S., is called Jacques which makes this unbelievable dark chocolate bar filled with raspberry cream. In Germany my choice is Ritter Sport, of course, and they are much cheaper than in the U.S. - only 89 or 99 eurocents each.

Everything I had from Dumon's in Bruges was magnificent!

In a small village in La Clayette. in France there is a chocolatier by the name of Bernard DUFOUX. He also sells in Lyon and on line. He has this cake Le Conquistador that is to die for, seriously. His chocolates are just amazing and he is a real artisan and all around great guy. If you are anywhere near him and love chocolate-just go. I can tel you that we spent more on his chocolates than we did on Burgundy's wine.
http://www.chocolatsdufoux.com/chocolat.php

Galler. In Brussels at the Grand Place. No question.

The place in St. Remy is Joel Durand on rue Victor Hugo. Besides lavender chocolate, he has an "alphabet des saveurs" with flavors and scents of Provence. You can also get his chocolates at La Grande Epicerie de Paris, but in St. Remy we were waited on by the choclatier himself!

My favorite chocolate store is in Ostende, Belgium. Quite small, but good ion and their hand-made dark chocolates with chocolate cream filling are the best I have had anywhere. Wish I could remember the name of it, even though I bought chocolates there 5 years in a row.

No one has mentioned Italian chocolate yet. Has anyone visited Perugia and tasted Perugina chocolates? We'll be there later this summer and are hoping to do some sampling.

@Scout... Yes, that was definitely the place! I am so bad at keeping records of exactly where I have been, but I usually remember enough and then someone else knows what I am talking about....We went there numerous times for the wonderful samples...what an incredible memory

AKF,
I'm with you. I have gone to a grocery store in Brussels (I think on Rue Ansbach) and loaded my basket with $84 worth of Galler, mostly the basic 70% tablet. My BF and fellow chocolate lover agrees with me, Galler is the best. We buy it in Belgium, we buy it in Paris, we even order it now and then from a company here in the US.

Madame Dumon in Bruges but I do suggest watching the Seinfield episode "soup nazi" so you will know how to act in the shop Cheers Mike
DC

My recommendations, slightly off the tourist trail, but very good: Frederic Blondeel, quai aux Briques, Brussels Jacques Genin, 133 rue de Turenne, Paris Richart, 258 boulevard St-Germain or 27 rue Bonaparte, Paris, also branches in Lyon (especially their "Hesperides" citrus assortment)
Paul A Young, 33 Camden Passage or 20 Royal Exchange, London

Not exactly the best chocolate, but the best chocolate experience I have had was in Barcelona. They have an amazing chocolate museum where you get to learn about the history of chocolate, try samples, and see works of of art made out of chocolate! I think it would be a big hit with kids! Also, while you are in Barcelona, make sure to have their churros con chocolad...yummy!!!