Wine and Chocolate - 7pm, Friday 21st May, University of Belize roof terrace
Tickets BZ$50 at the door, or "early bird special" of just BZ$40 if bought by Monday 17th May!
The Festival's signature opening event will again be held on the rooftop terrace of the University of Belize, with its views over Punta Gorda town and the seafront, and a great position to see the Festival fireworks at the end of the evening!
There'll be a selection of international and Belizean wines along with savoury hors d'oeuvres, including chicken skewers with a chocolate barbeque sauce, shrimp dippers with Mexican mole, and hummus with cassava bread chips. The chocolate dessert table features Cotton Tree chocolate, don't miss out on the delicious chocolate treats specially prepared for the Festival by Lin and Kerry Goss, of Goss Chocolate, be sure to try Kakaw's fabulous dark chocolate created in San Pedro on La Isla Bonita, Ambergris Caye., and sample Cyrila's intense chocolate flavoured with all-spice and wild Toledo vanilla You can read more about our chocolate sponsors further down the page.
Photo by kind permission of www.karelkuranphotography.com - copyright applies
With live music from Pablo Collado, as well as a specially commissioned opening performance by the Belize Dance Company, it promises to be an evening of good food, fine wine, and great company!
Buy your tickets now to get the special "early bird" price! Call Sulma Hernandez at the Festival office on 722-2531.
Photo album by kind permission of www.karelkuranphotography.com - copyright applies
Chris Beaumont and Jo Sayer, Kakaw chocolate from the Belize Chocolate Company
The
Belize Chocolate Company is a small (very small) artisan microbatch
chocolate making company based in Belize. We think we may be one of a
kind in the world, as our 'factory' is directly on the beach on an
island in Belize, where the Maya arguably created 'chocolate'. Another
unique quality is that we make our chocolate in the country where the
beans come from. Many of the other microbatch companies in the US and
UK import their beans from abroad. We use 100% Belizean ingredents:
cocoa beans from the Toledo District, sugar from Orange Walk, and we
don't add lecithin or vanilla, unlike most other chocolate makers,
which makes for a much purer, finer chocolate.
We make a signature 70% dark chocolate, and add other Belizean ingredients to make different bars - including orange, cacao nibs, chili, and shapes with pineapple, coconut, ginger, and mango.
Our
product is called "kakaw", pronounced Ka ka wa, which is the Maya word
for cacao, and you can find it in all fine food and wine stores, and
top hotels in Ambergris Caye and throughout mainland Belize.
Linn Wilson and Kerry Goss, Goss Chocolate
Goss Chocolate was founded in 2007 - the same year as the CacaoFest. Linn and I attended the Festival, and we were hooked! Wine and chocolate under the stars, along with live music. If not paradise,then close enough.
Belize may well be the cradle of chocolate, and many people believe cacao was first used in this area. The Maya kings were the first to tax chocolate, but not the last. Only 1-3% of chocolate beans grown worldwide are flavour beans, those most valued by chocolate makers. Here in Belize, the vast majority of beans are flavour beans, and this helps make Goss Chocolate some of the best in the world!
We would like to thank the farmers who work very hard to grow world-class beans - growing organically is not easy, and we appreciate the excellent quality. We thank the TCGA for the work they do every day to ensure a great product. We thank the CacaoFest Committee and all the many volunteers who work to make the Festival a reality. And we thank our many customers who make Goss Chocolate the success that it is!