Chocolate Show Delights
Every year in New York, The Chocolate Show spotlights the latest and greatest trends in chocolate.
This year, "Early Show" contributor Katie Lee was there to learn about the most delicious, strangest and beautiful chocolates the expo had to offer.
The Chocolate Show began 15 years ago in Paris as a way for cocoa producers, chocolate makers and chocolate lovers to come together. The event has spread to the U.S., flourishing in New York for 12 years.
But what about chocolate inspires these cooks to make such creations?
According to Oliver Kita, founder of Oliver Kita Chocolates, chocolate is like a meditation.
"With the first taste of cacao, you can actually be fully present in the moment," he said.
Lee tracked down a few strange products at show, including chocolate bacon.
Christopher Wood, founder of Christopher Michael Chocolates, said he got the idea of mixing chocolate and bacon from his childhood.
"When I was a kid I used to go to the Minnesota State Fairs, and they had chocolate dipped bacon. And so one day I was, you know, trying to think of something new and I was like, 'Hey, I had some chocolate covered bacon when I was a kid!'… You get the salty sweet, and then you also get the texture of the popping candy, which is kind of a little play on my childhood."
Lee remarked that she likes both ingredients
"I'm guessing it's got to be good," she said.
Wood said, "Its excellent, you got a little dark milk chocolate, you get a little sea salt that's smoked with alder wood, and then bacon and then popping candy of course."
After trying the candy, Lee said, "So good."
Another strange line of products found at the Chocolate Show, Lee said, are chocolate beauty products.
Vanessa "Chocolate Girl" Bard, the founder of Gnosis Chocolate Body Care, told Lee that between 60 to 80 percent of what you put on your skin goes into your bloodstream.
"What's better than putting chocolate on your skin as a way of nourishing yourself?" Bard said. "(Because) chocolate, we all know, (is) extremely high in antioxidants, and minerals, and vitamins, so it turns out you can nourish yourself with chocolate soap."
To end her day at The Chocolate Show, Lee had a chocolate massage.
Lee said on "The Early Show", "The chocolate massage was a great way to unwind."
She added Hershey's does chocolate massages with their own chocolate lotion.
"You smell delicious afterwards," she said.
Lee also presented the products below she found at The Chocolate Show.
The following product descriptions were prepared using assertions provided by the manufacturers.
GNOSIS CHOCOLATE BEAUTY BAR
The chocolate soap is made with Gnosis chocolate and the first bar being produced is a mixture of chocolate and cinnamon. The ingredients: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Cacao Butter, Cacao Powder, Spring Water, Sodium Hydroxide (what is used to make saponified oils in natural soap), and Essential Oil of Cinnamon. Raw cacao butter hydrates your skin while reducing the appearance of stretch marks, wrinkles, cellulite, and other wear and tear. The scent is supposed to indulge and invigorate you.
Chocolate Cinnamon Soap Bar 2.5oz (76g) $6.00
OLIVER KITA CHOCOLATES
Oliver Kita Fine Confections offers gorgeously exotic organic, vegan and fair trade chocolates. Using "Valrhona of France" as the start of the artisan chocolate story. These exciting creations are presented in new sustainable packaging and created entirely by hand in New York's historic Hudson Valley. His chocolates vary from coffee caramels to peaches and cream white chocolate.
CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL CHOCOLATES SIZZLING BACON CHOCOLATE BAR
Christopher Michael Chocolates is a Los Angeles area based chocolatier that uses the finest ingredients to create, by hand, some of the most innovative and delicious confections. They source their ingredients from cream and butter from an organic California dairy. They work with growers to source the finest herbs, fruits and produce. Most of their chocolate comes from single origin and fair trade sources, most of which being Venezuelan. The Sizzling Bacon Bar blends Venezuelan milk chocolate with real bacon, popping candy and smoked sea salt.