A CORNER OF BELGIUM IN MILAN

Between chocolate bars and pralines

FEBRUARY 2024 - TASTE

Chocolate is an aphrodisiac, divine, an authentic elixir of happiness. The origins of this tropical fruit are uncertain, because chocolate is surrounded by legends and myths among ancient gods and predestined men. Even if it’s all about chemistry. It has been proven that chocolate, especially dark chocolate (>85% cocoa) stimulates endorphins and increases the production of serotonin, the famous hormone of happiness.

And to start the morning in a good mood, the Charlotte Dusart chocolate shop in Via Eustachi invited us to taste its most delicious recipes, before the closure of its workshop during the summer months. In fact, the Milanese weather in July and August doesn’t help at all.

I tasted chocolate when I was only a few months old. I never forgot it. I tasted chocolate when I was only a few months old. I never forgot it.

Charlotte Dusart has literally changed her life. She started by attending evening classes to learn how to work with chocolate, an ingredient that has always been part of her reality, because she is originally from Belgium, then she put her studies into practice by starting to work in a chocolate shop. Then, almost by chance, his destiny and that of an old Milanese chocolate shop in Via Eustache intersected. Charlotte personally decided to build her business on the ashes of the previous one, because she liked that there was already the soul of chocolate in that place. “I liked the idea of living in Italy, but I came here mainly for my husband’s work. Foreigners immediately think of Italy as the place of pasta and pizza, and that’s fine, but there’s so much more to it than that. And, in fact, now that I know it, I like Milan, even if I have to close from the end of June, while in Belgium chocolate is eaten all year round, even in summer.”

Belgium is the European home of chocolate. In Brussels, you can walk into any chocolate shop and choose the tastiest pralines to carry around in a convenient transparent walking bag. The same concept of an Italian-style “bar”. You can find one on every corner and you can enjoy a good coffee. In Belgium, on the other hand, there is a chocolate shop in every neighborhood. And people come in not only to give gifts, but also to give themselves a gift, choosing a praline.

Charlotte confesses to me that in Milan people are shy, they don’t taste. I’m always on a diet.

The passion for this work took root in Charlotte’s heart when she was only a few months old. It sounds like a fake story but it’s the truth. “My dad started putting pieces of chocolate under my tongue, unbeknownst to my mother, because it’s not ideal for a small child. The first word I learned to pronounce was “coco,” not “mom” or “dad.” » Waking up every morning to the smell of chocolate intoxicates your senses and makes your day better. “I said to myself: I want to wake up every morning with this scent. And that’s where I started. » The chocolate she prefers is that of pralines because they are a real explosion of taste. Among the flavors, those that are a little more acidic, that make you dream. Some take you directly to the Caribbean, because they are made with exotic fruits. Or the Tarte Tatin recipe that tastes like caramelized apple pie with spices.

I ask her to share with us a memory related to chocolate: “I remember when I was working in the company and I hadn’t started my business yet. I used to go every day to Neuhaus Maitre Chocolatier, a very popular chocolate shop in Belgium, which was located right below my office. He accompanied me every morning. When I went to Tanzania and discovered that there was no chocolate, this surprised me deeply, because for me it was the norm. »

Her inspirations for the research are Melissa Coppel, a Venezuelan guru who lives in America in Las Vegas from whom she got the idea of turning sweets into chocolates. In addition, Charlotte has been following a community of women chocolatiers for many years, scattered all over the world, especially England and America. In every field you have to keep up-to-date, but you also need to remain humble and Socratic “know you don’t know”. This thought is not shared by many chefs, especially men. “They pretend to be experts in everything.” The wonder for Charlotte is expressed through chocolate, which is a product suspended between heaven and earth.