Blogs

The day the health department showed up at our little chocolate factory to ask if it was really true that we were storing chocolate off-site was right in the middle of the period our employees were making each other cry.For the last four years, Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates has been situated on the second floor of my sister-in-law Joanne Currie's bustling restaurant and bakery, Splash Cafe , in San Luis Obispo, CA. We have a pretty display case downstairs and a successful online business selling organic, fair trade chocolate in as many forms as we can invent.My husband Tom is a truly great chocolatier, Joanne is a brilliant manager, and we have a crew of dedicated and creative employees. The reviews are great. We even won the SF Chronicle's Battle of the Bittersweets . So the orders keep coming: more big bags of bulk chocolate made to Tom's specifications, more co-packing contracts, more holiday business, more new items all the time.All of which equals less space.When the third employee came to Joanne's office in tears (there just wasn't enough room for that many people to do their work well) the moment she got off the phone with the health department, Joanne knew it was time to look for more space. Luckily for us, there was an empty storefront just down the street at 1445 Monterey. The economic downturn worked in our favor. We discovered we could rent a retail space for what we would have paid for warehouse space a couple years ago.So the shop is a bonus, and I am having the best time outfitting it. This blog will mostly be about that. I'm collecting chocolate books for a library (any suggestions?) and buying old chocolate molds, pots, cups and tins to sell, designing the windows and even painting the furniture, while Tom and his crew invent new delicacies for the cases.We're planning to be open in early July. I can't wait!

How do I explain this one? A sixth sense for cacao? An exquisitely attuned nose that enables me to detect almond paste from over 400 miles away? Faith that any place in France is going to have to-die-for bonbons?When I booked my trip to Biarritz, I knew rugby, pelote and thalassotherapy spa treatments were big. But I had no idea that the region had a storied chocolate history. I swear .It was only on the TGV from Paris, furiously cramming to create my two-day itinerary, that my eyes came across this info and my heart skipped a beat: a chocolate museum? Vraiment ?? And when I was searching for my hotel and passed three chocolatiers within 100 yards of each another, well, it was only then that I believed my beach weekend was taking a delicious detour (bikini be damned!).The chocolate museum, Planete Muse du Chocolat , is (no pun intended) a sweet little place. It starts you off with a film about where and how chocolate is produced and then offers a handful of galleries devoted to chocolate molds and sculptures (created by Serge Couzigou), vintage advertising and packaging, and tools and machines from around the world and through the eras. At the end of the visit, youre rewarded for your attentiveness with a cup of rich hot cocoa. And, of course, youre spit out into the museum shop, where you can buy the house chocolate bars, bonbons, cocoa and cakes.I skipped the shop to do my chocolate shopping at the local chocolatiers.Henriet and Adam are located across the street from each other, reminding me of separated loversHenriet, traditional and decorated in pretty blue. And Maison Adam, dark, sleek and contemporary. Both have similar selectionschocolate bars, bonbons and bouches; marzipan molds and bricks, and pastries including the regional specialty, Gateau Basque. The Gateau Basque comes in several variations. One, a drier, circular shortbread cake is filled with cherry preserves. The other is also made with shortbread pastry, but its a flatter, denser square slice that sandwiches a lemony custard filling. The former is from Maison Adam, the former from Henriet.At both chocolatiers, the pates damandesone of my favorite thingscame in a spectacular array of flavors and varieties: raspberry, lemon, pistachio, pine nut, vanilla, chocolate Sometimes it was sliced and packaged like a chocolate bar, sometimes smaller bite-sized pieces were rolled in sugar and sold like a bag of suckers. It was delicious both ways. And the chocolate bonbons were equally adventurous and divine: milk chocolate with passionfruit ganache, dark chocolate with African tea, praline with lemon and coriander, salty, floral, spicy really, had I known I was training straight into chocolate paradise, I would have stayed for more than a weekend. There was no time for La Maison de Kanouga or Daranatz (with those cheerily wrapped chocolate bars). But, now that I know Biarritzs sweet secrets, Ill make sure the next visit is for an entire week.

So , I have finally been dragged kicking and screaming into this brave new digital world where everything is all a Twitter and Facebook has replaced Facetime, but here I am ready to Blog..So what do I blog about? Well, Chocolate of course! I am a chocolatier for lack of a better title. It's a pretty good title I think, and I am in very good company. I haven't always been a chocolatier and that is something I can blog about at a later date. , but I am one now. What that means is I get to create new treats and eat chocolate all day and nobody can stop me! Not a bad gig at all!I guess I will start off by asking does anyone out there find blogging helpful to their career? I have been hearing much lately about how if you are not blogging, you are not viable in today's world. Is that true? Comments? Questions? Let's discuss.....

Denise Acabo. The name doesnt mean much to 99.9% of the worlds population, but those who do know it are fanatical about the woman, her Parisian chocolate parlor and her devotion to Frances best chocolatiers and candy makers. With a daily uniform of long blonde braids, a tartan plaid skirt, and the sexy-schoolmarmish blend of bifocals and Chanel No 5 that only a middle-aged Frenchwoman can pull off, Acabo is a cult character here in Paris. But for more important reasons than her signature look, or even her choco-knowledge. Its her irresistible charm and infectious enthusiasm that reels them in. Everyone who walks through the doors of her SoPi (South of Pigalle) boutique is treated like the most important person in the world. She grabs you by the arm and gushes about her products: that theyre the best of the best and that shes the exclusive carrier in the city. Shell tell you how the cab drivers come in and clean her out of Le Roux caramels and that Japanese tourists fax her magazine articles in which shes appeared. She talks a mile a minute and is as much an entertainer and theatrice as a chocolate connoisseur. She could prattle on about pralines for hoursand she will if youre not careful. I looked at my watch when she paused for a breath and was shocked to see 30 minutes had passed. Its a shame I could understand only a fraction of what she was saying.But, importantly, what I did understand is that, outside of Lyon, she is the sole carrier of Bernachon chocolates . This famed chocolatier, Maurice, and his son, Jean-Jacques, operate a bean-to-bar factory that churns out dozens of flavors of delicate bonbons and hunky tablettes. So how do you choose between so many amazing flavorsespresso, orange, hazelnut, rum raisinwhen youre in that enviable position? For me it was simple: I let Denise do it. And thank goodness. When I unwrapped my Pte dAmande Pistache at home, I was suddenly inhaling vats of fresh chocolate in a factory. Delicious without even taking a bite. Between the richness of the 62% cacao and the sweet grittiness of Sicilian pistachio paste, I thought I had ascended to chocolate heaven. Its one of the most brilliant things Ive ever eaten.She was equally pointed and strong-willed with my bonbon selection. After careful consideration, I had selected six from the case, but she shot two of them down. She wanted to make sure I had the best of the best so I wound up with a selection from all over the country (Gevrey-Chambertin, Bourges, Lorraine) from masters including Henri Le Roux (salted caramel), Bernard Dufoux (balsamic vinegar truffle) and more from Bernachon (a praline noisette). There were so many exquisite sweets that I didnt get (this time), including the Breton caramels. But I was happy to see she also carries Jacques Genin s caramelsmore proof that Acabo only carries the best of the best.30 rue Pierre Fontaine9eme

I will be attending a lecture by the founders of Taza Chocolates tomorrow, May 13. Please let me know if you have any questions you would like me to ask. Taza is a 2-year old start up outside of Boston doing stone-ground bean-to-bar.

Thought the Chocolate Life people would want to know about this Ben and Jerry's contest with one prize being a trip to the Dominican Republic to visit cacao farmers! It ends May 26, 2009.

Hi All,If you need any advice on tempering and tempering units, please do no hesitate to contact me as I am the responsable person for the export sales of Selmi in Italy. We produce very reliable tempering units easy to use. Many flexible options can be put on the machinery which machines life a lot easier.Looking forward to help you with any questionTom Bauweraerts

Im sure that most of the planet is aware of the great combination of pears and blue cheese (roquefort, stilton, gorgonzola). What is it about this pairing works so well?In describing the flavors associated with the blue flavors of these cheeses, common descriptors are sweet caramel, spicy, peppery, nutty, fruity. Detecting these flavors in a cheese is the joy of eating it. Missing that element of taste would defeat the purpose of buying blue cheese! With these flavors in mind, it seems logical, that those flavors themselves, without the cheese, should work well together. And we see that, pears, nuts and caramel find themselves in countless recipes together-usually accompanied with another partner...duh, you knew it was going to be chocolate!Heston Blumenthal, chef/owner of the fat duck, demonstrated how he makes a blue cheese chocolate molten cake in the Kitchen Chemistry series from the BBC (also available as a kids science textbook). He also explains why and how blue cheese and chocolate pair well together.It becomes clear that if tasting 2 or more distinct foods together, we should taste the individual components and know them well. Then see how they interplay.This process is part of how we craft chocolate. We taste the chocolate-one of the benefits- and pay attention to the flavors as they manifest. We try and describe the beginning, middle, and end. We then modify our processes to hone in on the final flavors in the bar. We give a general description of the flavors of the bar as a guide. When you taste chocolate with a guide or map, you are able to pay attention to different flavors in the spectrum.On a deeper level, how often do you pay attention to the actual food in your mouth?When I pay attention, I eat slower- maybe one of the definitions of tasting. I focus on aroma before I put the chocolate in my mouth, chew a few times, then let it start to melt (the chocolate should be room temperature (about 21C, if it is too cold, it will take longer to melt). A thicker bar may require more chewing. When the chocolate is broken up, it creates more surface area, and the heat of your mouth melts the cocoa butter faster. This increases the amount of cocoa solids (primary flavors) to be perceived. By allowing a slower melt, the flavors are introduced more sequentially. During the conching process the cocoa butter in liquid phase, were in close proximity to the freshly roasted cocoa solids. The cocoa butter picks up aroma and flavor, and as the time increases, the flavor is more pronounced. Thus as the chocolate melts (what is its texture? temperature? viscosity? etc.), the flavors gradually become more robust and up front. As the flavors become more intense, are they fruity, nutty, chocolatey, roasted coffee, caramel, etc? How does the flavor end (finish, aftertaste)? All of theses elements and their perception are part of what makes chocolate so wonderful and complex.The same is true with cheeses, wines, coffees, bread, and bread. How do all of these complex flavor items pair with each other and chocolate? What flavor components do they share? By re-examining the individual components of flavor, we find that the sum is truly greater than its parts.Homework: Taste some good chocolate, looking for individual flavors, (dont worry about what you come up with, there are over 800 distinct flavor components in chocolate, its probably in there somewhere). Next try eating chocolate with that flavor together-a Ratatatouille moment.

It's fascinating hearing how someone from California can uproot and run a plantation and chocolate making in a solar powered space in Panama. Dave Cerutti and his wife are doing an amazing job with ecotourism and chocolate making and have a lot to say. Check out the interview for more info www.buckscountychocolateshow.com on 'The Journey of The Pod tab'.

Its been sixteen years since Ive seen my friend Bessies cousin, Bessie, but I had the chance to catch up with her this weekend at Jean-Paul Hevin's salon de th.We were modest and French enough with our mealsquiche for Bessie, salad for me, wine for us both. Less so with dessert. Its a chocolatier, after allmy favorite one at that. We had to have chocolate cake.For all its poshness, the salon has these weird oversized, laminated menus with pictures and descriptions of the cakes on itlike something youd see at a carnival. But they were admittedly helpful in narrowing down the selection. From the 30+ varieties of cakesmost of them chocolate-basedBes chose the Choco Passion, and I went classic with a Chocolat Framboise.My chocolate-raspberry cake was gorgeous. Layers of fluffy chocolate mousse and dense chocolate cake rested atop a cacao biscuit and beneath a layer of raspberry preserves. But for all its beauty, it lacked that famous je ne sais quoi. It had nothing on Bessies Choco Passion. The Choco Passion was rich and complex, nutty and fruity. A flakey praline base and dark chocolate ganache made for a thick, savory base that was offset with chocolate mousse whipped with tart passionfruit. It had so much depth and was so irresistible, I just wanted to keep sneaking bites of Bessies cake. But I figured that wasnt very French of me.231, rue Saint-Honor1eme