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Belgian Chocolate Foodways

Specialised

The PRALINE — a filled chocolate shell — was created by Jean Neuhaus II in Brussels in 1912, and his wife Louise Agostini devised the ballotin box for it; Belgian chocolate’s reputation rests on that filled-chocolate craft, on a high cocoa content and fine conching, and on Antwerp’s position as a cacao port. ⚠ AND IT RESTS ON COLONIAL EXTRACTION. Cacao, palm oil and sugar reached this industry through the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. ⚠ ALSO: most cacao is West African today, child and forced labour in that supply chain is documented and current, and "Belgian chocolate" is a manufacturing description, not an indication that anything grew in Belgium.

Atlas — where and when

What is recorded

  • The filled praline was created by Jean Neuhaus II in Brussels in 1912 and the ballotin box by Louise Agostini. "Belgian chocolate" denotes manufacturing practice, not origin of the cacao, which today is predominantly West African; documented child and forced labour in that supply chain is stated rather than omitted. documented
  • Jean Neuhaus II creates the filled praline in Brussels; Louise Agostini devises the ballotin box. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • related to Belgian Colonial Food History documented

    Cacao, palm oil and sugar reached this industry through colonial extraction; the connection is stated rather than omitted.

Recipes

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