The Splendour Of Excellent Belgian Chocolate -
November 24th

Chocolate.It's a many splendoured thing. Vancouver is home to many artisan chocolatiers.

We have tasted many of their fine items.

But imagine when we discovered another artisan chocolatier that we had never heard of before.

It happened on Granville Island.

In the middle of the aisle right beside Siegel's Bagels.

It was a kiosk done in black wood and various glass display cases full of chocolate.

The name?

Chocola Tas - The True Belgian Chocolate.

We checked it out, we tasted a sample and we were hooked.

Chocolate with flavours bursting all over. And most important of all it did not have that sweet cloying taste to it, often so prominent among a lot of artisan chocolates.

No, here the flavour of the dark chocolate was strong, rich and smooth and earthy and then there was the taste of fresh raspberries.

Wow.

So we ended buying six pieces ($1.50 each) of handcrafted, artisan chocolate - all with flavours and combinations of other ingredients that just blew us away.

After that we did some research on Chocola Tas.

We discovered it is owned by a young Belgian couple and they started out making these fine chocolates in their home in Abbotsford, eventually moving out of their home and opening a retail outlet in the area.

About eight weeks ago they opened their second location on Granville Island.

We discovered Belgium is one of the premier gourmet-making chocolate countries in the world.

And Wim Tas, one of the owners of Chocola Tas, came to Canada in 2002 from Belgium.

It was there that he excelled at the art and craft of making fine chocolate at Maison Wittamer, exclusive chocolate supplier to the Belgium royal family.

Tas is a Maitre Chocolatier, which means he has a Masters degree in chocolate making.

Making great chocolate is an art to say the least.

Consider this - chocolate has more than 500 flavor components, more than twice the amount found in strawberry and vanilla.

Chocolate, like wine, comes in many many different variations and styles.

It is up to the chocolatier to bring them all together for a symphony of flavours and tastes.

And that Wim Tas has done with perfection.

Article published in : daily Savvy Insider http://www.savvyinsider.ca