Desage™ Chocolatier™ celebrates the long and powerful allure of one of the world’s most perfect confections. Steeped in rich taste and an abundant history, the heritage of Desage Chocolates dates back to the era of Napoleon. A connoisseur of aristocratic delicacies, Jean Louis Desage served as one of the Emperor’s personal culinary advisors.The emperor relied upon Jean Louis for his expertise and counsel when selecting one of his most favored delicacies. Napoleon once described the chocolates created by Desage as,” sweet as honey and milk under the tongue.” From the early 1800’s, the recipe for this exquisite delicacy was coveted by all of those lucky enough to sample it. Desage claimed his secret ingredients were derived from a very special cocoa plant whose beans originated in the tropics of South America. Today, these same beans are the essence of Desage Chocolates. Hundreds of years before the cocoa plant was brought to Europe, the Mayan and Aztec Indians valued the cocoa beans to such a degree that it was used as currency. Chocolate was considered a beverage of the elite, with each pound costing 10-15 shillings. Sixteenth century, Spanish historian Oviedo noted,” None but the rich and noble could afford to drink the chocolate as it was literally (like) drinking money”.
… To reflect cocoa bean's history as a currency, today’s Desage Chocolates are wrapped in a special gold & silver foil. Desage has developed the practice of making chocolate into an art form- an extraordinary process requiring patience, time and painstaking care that has been preserved throughout the centuries. It takes a minimum of four days just to make one individual size bar. The process requires the skill and finesse of the world’s greatest chefs.Few foods evoke the passion that chocolate does. Desage Chocolatier embraces the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship. Some 200 years ago, Napoleon wrote to Jean Louis Desage expressing admiration for his chocolate creations saying ,” My Inspirations and Ingenuity ascend when I break the finest chocolate from my tongue.” The chocolate that first had its beginings amongst the family members of the House of Bourbon is now available at Neiman Marcus.