Mina Apostolidis, the Chocolate Maker

What opinion does a creator who is constantly looking for raw materials for her chocolates, as well as wines for imaginative food and wine pairings, think about retsina? The Thessalonican, which makes artisanal chocolates in the "heart" of Belgium, answers.

"When we talk about retsina, two images spontaneously come to my mind. In the first one, I am with my company, all students, with appetizers on our table and the retsina in the copper jug, the somewhat cylindrical one, in the evening, in some rebetadiko. The second, again in the company of friends around the table on Clean Monday, with all the Lenten things in front of us and with the retsina in the demijohn".

HOMELAND, FAR AWAY FROM HOMELAND

It's nearly four in the afternoon when we arrive at the entrance to Mina Apostolidis' chocolate workshop/boutique at 112a Rue du Hameau in Rode-Saint-Genese, about a twenty-minute train ride from central Brussels. The sun bathes Mina's workshop in a sweet cinnamon color, giving the red bricks of its facade an almost metaphysical hue: a shade of cinnamon, like the one that infuses several of the creations of the acclaimed Thessalonican chocolatier.

And if it sounds, perhaps, strange for someone to reach the "heart" of Europe, to ask someone who has lived there since 2008 about the quintessentially Greek retsina, the reality would come to disprove him: even though the renowned chocolatier lives and has been creating outside the Greek borders for the last almost fifteen years, she has not lost touch with her birthplace. She visits Thessaloniki at least once or twice every year, not only to meet family and friends, but also to get the necessary ingredients for her chocolates: nuts from "Charilaos" in the neighborhood of Athonos square, roses, sour cherries, tahini, but also a good amount of her mother's sour cherry liqueur. Mina is, perhaps, the most authentic thing from Thessaloniki that you can find in the capital of united Europe.

"I've been living in Brussels since 2008, so retsina is not in my daily life, in my personal life..." explains Mina Apostolidis. "However, there are many times when we will choose one of the excellent new retsina either as an aperitif or to pair our main meal at one of the Greek restaurants here. As for me personally, as a Greek chocolatier abroad - and with the advice of the best sommelier in Brussels, the Greek-born Panagiotis Kokalas -, I recommend two or three of the 'new generation' retsina, rosé and amber, with different chocolates of mine".

OLD PRODUCT, NEW IMAGE

So, a restless person, who never stops looking for raw materials to enrich his chocolate creations (but also wines to suggest fresh and interesting food and wine pairings), how does she feel about retsina? What is her opinion of this quintessentially Greek wine?

"I used to snub it too – in fact, I was put off by a lot of bad retsina," admits the renowned chocolatier. "In recent years, however, some gifted winemakers have really 'taken it off'".

And Thessaloniki? In the eyes of a Thessalonican(even of the Diaspora), how is retsina connected to the city – to its neighborhoods, to its haunts, to its inhabitants? "I think thatretsina, at the end of the day, is loved by everyone, at different times" argues Mina Apostolidis. "It is the favorite of the working class, the favorite of students (especially in the past, because of the lower price), the favorite of the out-of-towners. Two images come to mind spontaneously. In the first one, I am with my company, all students, with appetizers on our table and retsina in the copper jug, the somewhat cylindrical one, in the evening, in some rebetadiko. The second, again in the company of friends around the table on Clean Monday, with all the Lenten things in front of us and with the retsina in the demijohn".

RETRO OR HYPE?

At its core, retsina is a wine. Therefore, speaking of wine, it is worth asking what role one thinks that retsina plays in our daily life, in the moments of company and solitude, joy and sadness, extroversion and introversion. We ask the Thessalonican chocolatier, distinguished for her work in the "homeland" of chocolate, Belgium: "I can see the 'old-style' retsina in incidental moments, under the sounds of a zeibekiko, or even in a time of mourning. I could see the 'new' ones being enjoyed by someone even to the sounds of classical music or jazz, paired by a quality chocolate". Why not?

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