Food

The history of chocolate goes back at least as far as the ancient Aztec people of what is now Mexico. However the praline came on the scene much more recently than that. It seems that in 1671 the Duke of Plessis-Pralin was having a lot of trouble with rebels in the Bordelais area of France. What it was that was so upsetting these people is not really relevant to our story. What matters is that they were causing the Duke a great deal of aggravation that frankly he could have done without. He gave the matter a good deal of thought and then, wily old fox that he was, he hit upon the idea of inventing a candy that would be so tempting it would distract the rebels from their cause, whatever that was!

He got together with his chef and between them they came up with a recipe for coating almonds with a crust based on sugar. They had invented the basic praline, named of course after His Grace.

No doubt numerous variations and refinements were introduced over the next two hundred odd years but then in 1912, the year of the Titanic disaster an event of truly titanic proportions in the world of chocolate took place in Belgium. A chocolatier by the name of Jean Neuhaus perfected a shell made of fine chocolate that he could fill with flavoured cream or nut paste. The Belgian chocolate as we know it today, the praline, had arrived. Jean Neuhaus was the founder of the world famous Neuhaus brand of Belgian chocolate whose products delight us to this day.

Of course once the concept of the filled chocolate became practical there was no stopping Neuhaus and others who soon copied the idea. More and more flavoured fillings were invented to create the range of flavours we know today.

In the early days Belgian pralines were wrapped in small cone shaped paper bags as their only protection from damage. However the chocolates are easily broken so they really needed better protection. Besides, these were not just any old sweets they were Belgian pralines, chic and elegant. They needed packaging not just to protect them but to show them off to their best advantage and show everyone they were something special.

Once again it was Jean Neuhaus, the father of the Belgian chocolate who came up with the solution. It was in 1920, a time of innovation in so many fields, that Neuhaus designed the rectangular box, the ballotin, that is still used to this day to display and protect Belgian chocolates the world over.