- Title: BELGIUM: EASTER IS BIG BUSINESS FOR CHOCOLATE-MAKERS OF BRUSSELS
- Date: 13th April 2001
- Summary: (W5) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (APRIL 13 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV AXEL SACHEM PREPARING MOULD FOR EASTER EGG (2 SHOTS) 0.12 2. CU CHOCOLATE BEING POURED IN AND BEING SPREAD WITH PAINTBRUSH 0.24 3. MCU (French) SACHEM SAYING: "The technique is one that needs to be learnt. You don't get the knack immediately. The only technique to make the egg is to spread a thin layer of chocolate with a brush. Afterwards you pour in some chocolate to leave a film of chocolate in the mould. That will make the egg at the end." 0.52 4. CU SURPLUS CHOCOLATE BEING POURED OUT OF EGG 1.05 5. MCU (French)SACHEM SAYING: "After it has been chilled, the chocolate shrinks and the egg comes out of the mould on its own. See, the surface is very shiny. That shows that the chocolate was at the exact right temperature." 1.24 6. SV/CU OF EASTER BUNNY BEING PREPARED (8 SHOTS) 2.08 7. LAS DOORS BEING OPENED, EASTER BUNNY BEING CARRIED OUT 2.18 8. SV/CU BUNNY PUT ON TABLE (2 SHOTS) 2.34 9. SV CHILDREN LOOKING AT EASTER BUNNY 2.41 10. MCU (FRENCH) SACHEM SAYING: "You have to do it with love. And if you do it with love, anyone can do it. It's a passion. A real passion. That's certain. A passion." 2.54 11. CU VARIOUS OF EASTER CAKES AND BUNNIES (5 SHOTS) 3.19 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 28th April 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Reuters ID: LVA3OYGGOOD96WIXUSOSDE94MUX7
- Story Text: It is Easter and in the world's capital of chocolates -
Belgium - it is time for chocolate makers to unleash their
creative talents, producing handmade eggs that are the envy of
the rest of Europe.
Easter is big business for the chocolate-makers of
Brussels. While in many other countries the festival is marked
by millions of mass-produced eggs rolling off factory lines
months ahead of time, the Belgians mainly buy the handmade
version.
The chocolate eggs that will be eaten on Easter Sunday are
freshly made, some will only have been produced two days ahead
of time.
For Axel Sachem, the owner of a Brussels patisserie,
Easter is a time to unleash his creative spirit.
Making eggs, he says, is a labour of love. He uses skills
cultivated over years of working with chocolate and says the
work feels more like a hobby than a business.
He says that the crucial step in the process of making the
egg is getting the chocolate to the right temperature. Rich
chocolate is melted at about 50 degrees centigrade and then
poured into a mould.
Sachem then waits for the chocolate to cool to about 30
degrees, before spreading the now viscous mixture around the
mould.
If the chocolate is not spread at exactly the right
temperature, the egg will not come out of its mould with the
distinctive gloss that catches the client's eye.
As a child, Sachem recalls having spent hours standing
outside bakeries and cake shops looking at the Easter eggs. He
says that he now makes eggs mainly for children.
The eggs on sale in Brussels can cost hundreds of dollars.
But some are works of art, which will probably never be eaten.
He call the egg-making process a labour of love: "It's a
passion. A real passion. That's certain. A passion."
Sachem's piece de resistance this year is a giant Easter
bunny adorning the shop window - it is mainly there for
decoration and he is unsure whether or not he will sell it. If
he does, it will be for a very, very large amount of money. So
large that he is coy about putting a price on it.
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