- performance
performance & tasting: madame de sévigné’s hot chocolate
With:
Katherine Khodorowsky
Date:
13th december 2025
Maison Saint Joseph invites you to a sensory experience where history, gastronomy and performance come together in the tranquillity of this exceptional location.
In the afternoon, Katherine reveals the ritual of preparing the elixir that stirred the senses at Versailles in the 17th century. Faithful to the secrets of the era, this precious nectar is made from water, amber honey and spices from faraway lands, with no added milk or sugar. A taste journey to the edge of mystery.
The experience unfolds during a chocolate tasting where time seems to stand still. In the warm atmosphere of Maison Saint Joseph, you will share with Katherine Khodorowsky and the other guests the secrets revealed and the flavours rediscovered. An exceptional moment where sweet memories, the senses and the magic of encounters come together.
katherine khodorowsky
Katherine Khodorowsky is a French historian and sociologist specialising in food and the evolution of taste. She is the author of some thirty books, including thirteen devoted to chocolate. She has also taken an interest in spices, notably with a book offering one hundred simple, healthy and tasty recipes.
In 1999, she was elected to the French Academy of Chocolate and Confectionery, which she has chaired since 2018. A recognised figure in the world of gastronomy, she is a regular speaker at symposiums and conferences, particularly on products such as tea.
Her work combines a rigorous academic approach with a genuine passion for culinary pleasures, making her both an intellectual and a tastemaker.
details
What if chocolate could reveal the hidden codes of desire and power? In a society where the intimate and the political are intertwined as never before, this performance questions the rituals of seduction, prestige and addiction that shape our relationship with pleasure.
Katherine Khodorowsky, food historian and sociologist, transports us to the heart of the 17th century for a sensory, theatrical and gustatory journey around chocolate at the Court of Versailles. At the Château, hot chocolate is not just a delicacy: it is a privilege reserved for the elite, an exotic and expensive commodity that fascinates as much as it delights. While the drink warms the body, it is above all rich in legends and has a scandalous reputation that bewitches the alcoves of love.
After a captivating introduction to the epic story of cocoa, the Aztec spice that would conquer Europe, Katherine immerses us in the delightful letters of the Marquise de Sévigné to her daughter. With as much humour as conviction, these excerpts reveal the fascinating role of chocolate in court life and the passions it aroused.
Part theatrical reading, part historical narrative and part sensory awakening, with the bewitching aroma of roasted cocoa, the comforting warmth of the cup and the bitterness of rare spices, this performance engages all your senses in a dialogue between past and present, where chocolate becomes the key to decoding our own contemporary rituals.
price
Full price: €20 / person
Child price (-12 years old) : €5 / person
By participating in this event, you are directly contributing to the funding of the 2026 artist and writer residencies. Your presence helps to support creativity and welcome creators, performers and researchers to this exceptional venue dedicated to artistic experimentation.
date and time
Saturday 13th december 2025
at 3pm
place
Maison Saint Joseph
13 rue Alphonse Cardin
60800 Crépy-en-Valois