Throughout the month of July, Belgian chocolate maker Callebaut is partnering with professional chef and culinary network Chef’s Roll for a unique cooking contest that will showcase the beauty and versatility of chocolate.

The “Think Outside The Box” chocolate cooking contest asks chefs in the United States to compete in ten categories, with the winner in each category being flown to Mexico City (the birthplace of chocolate) for a culinary adventure.

In the first round of competition, each will submit a recipe before Wednesday, July 25 that creatively uses Callebaut chocolate in one of ten categories, along with a hi-res, hi-quality photo of the dish. A judging panel will select the best entries to move on to the second round of judging, in which contestants will explain why they deserve to win in a Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube video.

After the August 8 video posting deadline, the judges will take a few days to select a winner in each category, which will be announced on Wednesday, August 15. These winners will be invited to participate in an exclusive 5-day, 4-night excursion to Mexico City in the fall of 2018. The privately-guided trip will include fine dining and the best street food in the city, a tour of a cacao plantation, a journey into the heart of a local “mercado”, and much more.

The ten categories in the contest are:

  1. Plated Dessert
  2. Entremets / Specialty cakes
  3. Pastry “To-Go” (petit gâteau, gâteau de voyage, tarts, etc)
  4. Confectionery (bonbons, tablets, truffles, etc)
  5. Bakery (cookies, muffins, scones, brownies, cupcakes, etc)
  6. Breakfast Breads (breads, viennoiseries , waffles, crepes, pancakes, etc)
  7. Verrines
  8. Ice Cream (ice cream, sorbet, gelato, milk shakes, etc)
  9. Savory Applications
  10. Mixology

Full contest information can be found at Chef’s Roll’s website.