It even raised a few eyebrows with some members of the Belgium Group. But wow, it was worth solving this puzzle !

On arrival, we each received a tiny cup with a chocolate drink, which had the consistency of tea. It was covered in rose petals. Our host, Mina Apostolidis, explained to us that she uses this drink every day instead of coffee, as it has similar properties, including theobromine.

Mina is a softly spoken woman with a big presence. She is very elegant with short cropped hair, baroque pearl earrings, bright red lipstick and her chocolatier’s outfit. We looked at her and at the wonderful chocolates stacked on tables behind her, while waiting for her to start to speak. When she did, with soft music playing in the background, it was a bit like the beginning of a yoga or meditation class. She made us stand up, relax, dance and move. She thus prepared our mind for a sublime experience.

And indeed, chocolate was used originally for spiritual purposes, as the olive oil from her native Greece still is today. In fact, the Greek word for the chocolate plant is Theobroma, which means food for the gods. Its cocoa fruit and particularly its purple seeds are the basis for making chocolate, after having undergone a complex set of processing steps. Mina gave us fermented dried chocolate beans to taste : they taste nothing like the end product we so enjoy !

Mina explained to us the 5000 year history of chocolate, which originated in what is now Ecuador. When Cortés came to South America he was quite puzzled why the Aztecs venerated chocolate. He considered it an acquired taste ! Due to its high value, chocolate was reserved for royalty and the clergy and used in spiritual ceremonies or as medicine. Chocolate beans were currency : one bean for a rabbit and 100 beans for a slave ! In spite of Cortés’ distaste, chocolate found its way to Spain, where the elites quickly learned to appreciate it. When the French king Louis XIV. married the Spanish infanta Maria Theresia, she brought an immense amount of chocolate to France as part of her dowry. The French aristocracy immediately took to it ! The French Queen Marie-Antoinette loved it so much that she asked her apothecary to make it into a paste which she could carry around with her in her purse. With industrialisation in the 19th century, chocolate became cheaper and available to a larger part of the population. The chocolate bar, milk chocolate and the praline as we know them today, were invented.

Mina came to Belgium for personal reasons. She had been a highly qualified communications specialist, but found that this profession literally was not to her taste. She trained as a chocolatier in Greece and discovered this to be her calling. After having made her mark with her unique approach to chocolate making in Greece, she met a Greek man who lived in Brussels. She moved here to join him. Professionally this was a courageous move to come to a country, famous for its chocolate, which was not really waiting for a Greek woman to join the competition. But with her skills, she has been recognised by the Gault&Millau gastronomy guide for the third year in 2025 as one of Belgium’s finest chocolatiers.

Mina relies on her Greek heritage to create her special recipes. Her palette of aromas consists largely of products of designated origin : figs from Evia Island, pistachios from Egina Island, tahini, organic olive oil from the Peloponnese, honey and kumquat from Corfu Island. She also incorporates ingredients from the rarest gardens of the world, such as cinnamon from Sri Lanka and rosewater from Iran.

After having had all these mouthwatering explanations, we were keen to start tasting all these delights. Mina had set up the chocolates in such a way that we would start with pralines with the highest chocolate content, finishing up with milk chocolate. I normally prefer milk chocolate, but it did not quite make the grade after having tasted all the wonderful concoctions with a higher chocolate content. Between different pralines, we were advised to clean the palate with water, but there was also Greek white and red wine.

It is difficult to describe all the variations of chocolate and all the different combinations of flavours that Mina provided for us. There was a praline called Evanthia, made from dark chocolate with a taste of coffee, rosewater and a gold fuchsia finish. The praline is inspired by a famous Greek composer Evanthia Reboutsika who had become Mina’s friend. We had been listening to her music all evening. There was chocolate served with tahini and aubergine, little sesame bars covered with dark chocolate and there were lasures, fine, thin pieces of dark chocolate with almonds and pistachios painted in gold. We tasted almond paste pralines which compared surprisingly favourably with Lübecker Marzipan. With her dark chocolate sauce, Mina served French camembert, a wonderful combination. Mina uses chocolate with more than 85% even to spice her pasta sauce ! In order to cater for the Belgian taste for chocolate with caramel and salt, which she does not really appreciate, Mina devised a new recipe with salted almonds and tahini.

While tasting this wonderful chocolate we also had the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company in a relaxed atmosphere. We did not need any more dinner and went home thoroughly happy and satisfied. Many of us are sure to plan a trip to Rhode-Saint-Genèse for more of Mina’s treats.

Gudrun Schmidt
German Group