From Cacao to Craft Chocolate, Sept 9 @ 10 am

Culinary Historians of Chicago presents:

From Cacao to Craft Chocolate
Stories from the past, Sustainability for the Future

Presented by Valerie Beck,
Founder, Chocolate Uplift, and Valerie’s Original Chocolate Tours

Saturday, September 9, 2017
10 a.m. to noon
At Kendall College School of Culinary Arts
900 N. North Branch Street, Chicago
(Located just north of W. Chicago Ave. at N. Halsted St.)
FREE PARKING IN LOT ON NORTH SIDE OF SCHOOL

According to Chicago native Valerie Beck, “chocolate can change everything, from our mood, to the world.” So passionate is Valerie about chocolate, that after graduating from Harvard Law school, and practicing in the United States and Europe, she followed her heart and founded Chicago Chocolate Tours in 2005, to introduce chocolate lovers to small-batch chocolate shops and bakeries. Please join us as Valerie shows videos on how chocolate goes from bean to bar. She will also enlighten us on how chocolate went from artisan specialty to industrial commodity through history. In addition, she’ll tell us how the current artisan movement developed in chocolate. And, she’ll educate us in knowing if our chocolate is from a sustainable source. For a finale, Valerie will have us sample craft chocolate brands.

Biography: A pioneer in the business of chocolate tourism, Valerie Beck, is founder of Chocolate Uplift and of Valerie's Original Chocolate Tours. She is a cheerful chocolate expert on TV and radio and in print, and has been profiled in multiple media outlets. Her chocolate consulting work ranges from helping brands create and launch new chocolate bars, to helping cacao growing nations promote their products. Valerie is also a popular judge at chocolate competitions such as the annual World of Chocolate event in Chicago. Valerie is currently exploring and creating projects such as her Chocolate Freedom Walk to help children forced into slave labor on the West African cacao farms. And she promotes fair trade and socially responsible chocolate.

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Cost of the lecture program is $5, $3 for students and no charge for CHC members and Kendall students and faculty.

To reserve, please e-mail your reservation: Culinary.Historians@gmail.com

http://culinaryhistorians.org/cacao-craft-chocolate-stories-past-sustainability-future/