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Belgium has been at the center of Europe's chocolate trade since the 1690s. Belgians invented the chocolate praline (a hard chocolate shell with a filling, not to be confused with the French praline, which is roasted whole nuts encased in caramelized sugar); Jean Neuhaus opened the world's first chocolate shop in Brussels in 1857. Today there are an estimated 2000 chocolate shops in Belgium for a population of some 10 million. So proud are the Belgians of their sweet heritage that they have defied European directives to allow up to 5% vegetable fat other than cocoa butter. Belgian chocolates are 100% pure cocao. Brands such as Neuhaus, Leonidas, and Wittamer are to chocolates what Rolls Royce and Benteleys are to automobiles. Eat a box of their pralines and you will have trouble with a Snickers bar thereafter.