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Post:Hanh Kim
There are around 2,000 chocolate shops in this country of only 10 million people. Most of the world famous chocolate brands are produced in Bruges such as: Hans Burie, Guylian, Neuhaus, Galler and Chocolatier Manon. Every few meters, visitors will come across a candy store filled with chocolates of all flavors, shapes and sizes. Chocolate factories, chocolate shops and chocolate museums are all part of the itinerary to visit this lovely city.
Choco-story is the name of the most famous museum in Bruges. Coming here, visitors will have the opportunity to learn everything about chocolate: cocoa bean samples, chocolate making tools, statues of the Maya (the first people to discover the cocoa tree), chocolate sculptures, the legend of the chocolate goddess,... Besides, visitors can also learn and make chocolate themselves under the guidance of museum staff.
At Choco-story, the development of chocolate is recreated in a fascinating way. The cacao tree was discovered by the Mayans around 4000 BC. At that time, they knew how to mix cacao beans in hot water with pepper and salt to create a drink called “Xocoatl” (meaning bitter water). The importance of cacao increased when the Mayans and Aztecs discovered that cacao butter had the ability to treat burns, cure stomach ailments and neutralize snake bites. Many surviving documents show that cacao beans were an important currency for the Mayans and Aztecs at that time. Ten beans could buy a rabbit, two beans could buy a chicken egg.
When explorer Columbus discovered America, the Spanish quickly saw a new source of profit in trading cocoa beans from America to Europe. They replaced pepper with sugar, making chocolate - a drink made from cocoa beans - sweeter and enjoying it became a fashionable trend among European aristocrats. Chocolate was introduced to Belgium in the mid-17th century, this is also where its flavor was turned to a new page, delicious, seductive and enjoying it was elevated to an art. The Belgians have their own secrets to always make the chocolate they produce stand alone in quality. They use premium cocoa butter, along with special additives and strict standards in the production process to make the best chocolate bars.
Not only famous for chocolate, Bruges is also known for its ancient architecture that has been recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. It is also known as the “Venice of the North” because of its intricate canal system. According to statistics, the number of tourists in Bruges is always twice as large as its population, making it the most attractive and important destination in the country of Chocolate.
