Every child (and Homer Simpson) dreams of a land where everything is chocolate as far as the eye can see. Spending a day at the 9th Annual Chocolate Show is damn close to that land of chocolatey goodness. As soon as we walked through the door, we were hit with the scent of chocolate wafting through the air. Breathing it in, we worked our way through the crowds to sample the wares of some of the more than 65 purveyors from the US, Asia, Europe and Africa. While we worked our way through the crowds, we admired the sculptures created by Le Cirque and the Institute for Culinary Education and feasted our eyes (no tasting this time) on the chocolate fashions.

The Cocoa Land booth, sponsored by the Cote d'Ivoire (the world's leading producer of cocoa), proved to be an informative resource for learning more about the chocolate making process. We were able to take a close look at chocolate in the many forms it takes along the way to becoming a delectable treat, from the cacao pod, containing cacao beans, which are fermented, dried and roasted, and later blended with sugar, cocoa butter, and cocoa liquor.

We stopped by and visited the gang from Sweetriot, who had created a special, cinnamon infused flavor just for the event (visit our post on Sweetriot to learn more), and were in full "riot" mode. Conspicuously absent were Jacques Torres, who has been there in the past, and Max Brenner Chocolate by the Bald Man, who might have been too busy opening up his new East Village location.

We're still recovering from the sugar high, but we certainly appreciated the chance to get a taste of our childhood fantasy.

Gothamist on Max Brenner and past Chocolate Show coverage.

Photos by Matthew Krautheim