Mina Apostolidis talks about chocolate aesthetics. She was born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece. At the end of 2003, Mina resigned from her communications job, to go to Dubai. There, she followed her dream: to make chocolates. She returned to Greece for some years. After that, in 2013 she opened her first atelier in Brussels and since 2016 she has her shop and atelier on Rue du Hameau 112a / www.minachocolate.com , in a suburb of Brussels.
Hello Mina, it’s a pleasure to approach the world of chocolate by your help! What made you gravitate towards chocolate as opposed to other specializations?
Passion for creating and making people happy made me changed careers and become a full-time chocolatier; I am a communicator by profession and for the last 11 years, I communicate via my chocolate creations.
How do you come up with flavor combinations for your creations? Where does your inspiration about chocolate aesthetics come from?
A new creation might be inspired by an actual chocolate that I love its flavor and want to use it in a recipe; or another ingredient which I find special in taste and I want to make a chocolate with it, or a special occasion that asks for a new chocolate.
How would you like customers to view or experience your chocolate? Why people combine chocolate with special occasions, such as Christmas or other celebrations?
When people who taste my chocolates smile and have shiny eyes out of pleasure is a gift. This is what I get, so I feel blessed. Chocolate has always been a luxury and a gift, to others or to oneself. I think its connection to all festive periods of the year makes total sense!
Can you suggest any favorite food/drink to pair with chocolate, creating a unique food experience?
Wine is an excellent pairing to chocolate; some types of cheese, like goat cheese. I personally use 100% to my tomato meat sauce or pasta sauce or eggplant salad.
I discovered Everyday Aesthetics theory by a Japanese philosopher. Your chocolates have also been recently discovered by Japanese people, with success. How could you describe their chocolate aesthetics and taste?
Japanese understand and expect perfection and insistence on detail; so, they chose the most exquisite of my collections, the ganaches; hand rolled and hand painted, one by one. They love and highly appreciate anything western and they offer chocolates during the 45days of Valentine’s celebration in their country;
They also wanted some of the chocolates inspired by my country, Greece, so I was represented by Pavlina, Sofia and Athena (three truffles with dark ganache aromatised with sour cherry liquer, bio olive oil and orange, mavrodafni wine and fig. I haven’t changed my chocolates, but I was inspired by their sweets and afterwards created my MarshMelis!
Do you have estimations for any future trends?
The new trends are go for better quality, less sugar, Vegan and Gluten- Free; the good thing is that being mainly inspired by the Greek diet, I don’t use extra sugar, I have quite a few Vegan and Gluten- Free recipes.