Living cocoa trees
A tropical glasshouse explaining the raw material as no panel does.
DSParnasse — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edison McCullen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gerald England — CC BY-SA 2.0
A chocolate museum in a former biscuit factory northwest of Brussels, among the largest museums devoted to chocolate anywhere. The subject is wider than confectionery: the museum traces cocoa from its tree in West Africa and South America to the factory, and covers its history from a ritual drink among the peoples of Mesoamerica to a European commodity. It holds a tropical glasshouse with living cocoa trees — unusual, and it explains the raw material in a way no panel does. The practical part matters most: craftsmen work in front of you explaining tempering, moulding and shaping, with tastings and workshops that can be booked. The museum also addresses the uncomfortable side: the conditions of cocoa growing, child labour and fair trade in chocolate. That is not what a visitor expects and deserves mentioning. It lies outside central Brussels in Koekelberg and needs a metro or tram, about twenty minutes from the centre. A strong family option: children engage with it almost without exception.
A tropical glasshouse explaining the raw material as no panel does.
Tempering, moulding and shaping explained — with tasting.
Growing conditions, child labour and fair trade are part of the display.
Koekelberg, northwest Brussels
There are smaller sites in the centre that are closer to shops than museums. This is far larger with a serious exhibition covering history, growing and manufacture, and it has the living cocoa house. If you have time for one and the subject interests you, this is it, despite being outside the centre.
Belgium has internationally known brands with shops in the centre, but small artisans in districts like Sablon and Ixelles are often better quality and cheaper. Avoid the shops immediately around the Grand Place — those prices are for tourists. Ask for fresh pralines rather than boxed.
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