Chefs showcase chocolate dishes

Spread Friday Feb. 15/08

Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho

About 75 chefs from Accra who prepared more than 200 chocolate dishes showcased their products at a special National Chocolate Day celebration held yesterday.
The dishes included chocolate turn-overs, chocolate and apple pie, fruit chocolate cookies, chocolate cup surprise, chocolate rolls and chocolate doughnut.
The day, which also coincided with the celebration of St Valentine’s Day, was dedicated to the promotion of made-in- Ghana chocolate by the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations.
The chefs were from the Koala Shopping Mall (Pastries Section), the Airport View Hotel, Shushu Catering Services, the Ghana Prisons Service, Sticky Fingers Customised Food Service, Deansdel Catering, Airport West Hotel, La Diplomate Conference Centre, among others.
The Deputy Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mr Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, who launched the day, commended the chefs for their effort in promoting Ghana’s chocolate.
He called on them to ensure that they served the dishes in their various restaurants and hotels so that both local people and tourists could patronise it, adding that Valentine’s Day was dedicated to Ghana’s chocolate to ensure that people patronised it for the country to earn more income from the sale of chocolate.
He said dedicating the day to promoting and projecting chocolate would also serve as a morale booster for cocoa farmers in the country so that they would produce more cocoa for both the local and international markets.
The deputy minister, who sampled all the varieties of dishes on display, told the Daily Graphic that the preparation of local desserts from chocolate must be promoted in all the districts of the country.
The National President of the Ghana Chefs Association, Mr Stephen Cofie Dzilah, said the association came together last year to partner the ministry to help in projecting the National Chocolate Day.
To that end, he said, a chocolatier from France was invited into the country to train 80 of the chefs on ways of preparing different chocolate dishes for dessert.
He said the association had the aim of promoting Ghanaian dishes, adding that it was on record for being the first to project the government’s initiative on cassava through its preparation of different dishes of cassava for an exhibition.
Earlier, the chefs had presented varieties of chocolate dishes to the First Family, which were received by the First Lady, Mrs Theresa Kufuor.
They also presented assorted chocolate dishes to HelpAge Ghana, a home for the aged.