Last Saturday at the Fenario Gallery, chocolate lovers from around Eugene gathered not only to celebrate milk, white and dark deliciousness, but also to fundraise for the Cascades Raptor Center, a wildlife rescue service.
At the third annual edition of what has become known as the Chocolate Challenge, ten local chocolatiers brought their hand-made chocolate creations to be enjoyed by the general public. Of the ten, five companies competed. Regular, organic, vegan and fair-trade chocolates were presented in a fine-art form by the chocolatiers themselves.
“It’s been a great success, although we’ve only had five competition entries this year, compared to the twenty-five last year,” said Candy Moffett, the event’s director. “We would love to see more participation!”
The competition was held at the very beginning of the event, in the early morning, and the winner was designated soon thereafter. The golden chocolate eagle centerpiece creation of KeKau Chocolatier’s Shane Tracey brought the local, family-owned KeKau business not just a cash prize, but also praise and recognition. KeKau Chocolatier is a chocolate provider for the Sweet Life Patisserie and also makes its chocolates available for order online at www.kekau.com.
In the late afternoon, the award-winning chocolate eagle collapsed unexpectedly from the table and broke down into pieces, but Tracey found no reason to be upset.
“We weren’t going to save it anyway, but melt it and turn the chocolate into something new,” he said.
Some other chocolatiers who presented at the Chocolate Challenge were Euphoria Chocolate Co., Theo Chocolate, Green Goddess Chocolate, and the Silly Rabbit Chocolate Company. All the chocolatiers concurred that quality chocolate is all about the quality ingredients.
“We use herbs and essential oils, but we also have some traditional chocolate, nuts and fruits as well,” said Rick Boughton co-owner of Green Goddess Chocolate.
Throughout the day, chocolate enthusiasts visited the art gallery to admire and sample the chocolates. A one-dollar ticket could pay for a bite off of most chocolates, although the more exquisite ones required two tickets. The participants paid for the tickets at the door, and inside the gallery they traded their tickets to the chocolatiers in exchange for the sweet treats. Some opted for entering their tickets in a raffle with two chocolate prizes that were drawn at the end of the day.
At one of the two entrances into the art gallery, the Cascades Raptor Center had a small booth where they brought two of their birds that have previously suffered injuries and can no longer fly.
“Eugene is our home, and the only way it’s going to be better is if we do our part as a local business to help support the things we think are important, and what the Cascade Raptor Center does is really important – it’s a great cause,” Tracey said.
In the past two years, the Chocolate Challenge was held at the Alder Art Gallery in Coburg, and has benefited the Relief Nursery and the St. Vincent DePaul Hospital.
Moffett says preparations for the 2008 Annual Chocolate Challenge are expected to start at the very beginning of next year. For more information on the event, visit www.alderart.com.