The French know how to make good chocolate, the delicious praline comes from Belgium, but only Switzerland has a special relationship with its chocolate products.
A group of chocolate lovers gather on a cold morning in the Müensterplatz square, in Basel. Stephie, the tour guide, distributes the famous Leckerli gingerbread, a specialty of Basel covered with a layer of chocolate to satisfy the mood of the group.
On the Rhine banks, she got a piece of white chocolate with cocoa liquor from her handbag, and another one that combines dark and milk chocolate with cocoa butter, cocoa, sugar and milk.
“It is the bitter, savory and sweet taste that chocolate gives,” says Stephie.
A moment of anticipation precedes the first bite: the piece melts instantly thanks to the Swiss creativity. According to the tour guide, cocoa was sold in pharmacies during the 18th century. “It was a medical syrup mixed with herbs,” she explains.
When it arrived in Europe, it saw a swift transition, first with the sugar, and then, with the Swiss creative manufacturers. The first chocolate bar was made in England, in 1847, when British Joseph Fry developed a method to mix cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa butter to make a soft piece. Yet, the first edible chocolate piece was somehow fragile and hard to chew.
According to the German news agency, Switzerland discovered chocolate production in the 19th century. In 1819, François-Louis Cailler established the first chocolate factory on the Geneva Lake. The Cailler brand (today known as Nestle) is one of the oldest brands that are still alive in Switzerland.
But the real revolution was led by Daniel Peter, Cailler’s step son, 50 years later. In 1975, he created the first mass produced milk chocolate product. After several attempts using milk powder, Peter created the first successful chocolate product combining cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, sugar and condensed cow milk. “He was the first to serve chocolate to tourists,” Stephie says.
The next step to perfection was the use of the conche to mix the chocolate. Conching is a process invented by Rodolphe Lindt, from Berne, in 1879. He heated chocolate at 90C, stirred it for a long period and finally had a chocolate that melts in the mouth with a nicer smell.
Stephie notes that Basel is famed for a wide variety of sweets, which made it a destination for locals and visitors alike.
Schwyz, 35 kilometers from Lucerne, embraces the Max Felchlin firm, specialized in making flavored chocolate.
Cocoa beans from Latin America, Ghana and Madagascar are processed at the Felchlin factory until they become a shiny, mellow block.
The group visited the Max Felchlin store in Lucerne. The tasting there starts with low-intensity chocolate pieces, followed by peppery white chocolate with a sweet and chilly taste. Then, the tourists enjoy a piece of milk chocolate mixed with balsamic vinegar that tastes like gingerbread and chilly crackers, and the tour ends with a dark, sugarless piece of chocolate.
The tasting experience was fun, boosted everyone’s mood and emphasized, once again, the identity of the Swiss chocolate.
