In the first room we walked into, the doors shut themselves behind us and the floor started lowering while we were inside. When the floor finally stopped moving, one of the walls fell open to reveal the next room. The museum was a series of eight rooms with similar gimmicks like this. We were told not to lean against any of the walls beforehand because the walls may move or disappear. The rooms described the history of chocolate production and the founding of the Cailler brand before it was bought by Nestlē corp. They also went through the history of how chocolate was brought to Europe from Mesoamerica by conquistadors. At the end of the maze, we were able to watch people work in the actual chocolate factory and see all the chocolate pass through the machines. The machines methodically worked through “correct” chocolate and discarded all pieces that were not up to standard -- meaning that the shape or texture was not identical to the rest of the grocery store packaged chocolate. Of course, at the end we were allowed to eat the chocolate. There was a selection of white, milk and dark chocolate, with my favorite being milk chocolate with a coffee infusion. According to the museum, milk chocolate is widely preferred by Swiss consumers and perfecting milk chocolate is what Cailler is known for. In the chocolate tasting room, I did see a few kids in Halloween costumes. And, in the park outside, almost everyone was in costume. Back in Geneva, I saw one family trick or treating, though I’m not sure how many houses in the neighborhood were participating.
After the Maison Cailler, we went to Gruyère, known for Gruyère cheese and fondue. I ate a quiche made with Gruyère cheese that had a very interesting texture -- less like a quiche, more like melted cheese.
