2 Chocolate Makers, Same Cocoa, Different Tastes

I was gobsmacked today, really really taken aback by a simple taste comparison between two chocolate bars made from the same batch of cocoa liquor from Jamaica.  Basically, we got cocoa liquor from a supplier who processes the beans into liquor, basically grinding it down into a paste.  This supplier from France also makes their own chocolate bars, but it will not be a brand name you will recognize, as they are quite under-the-radar.

This was the best example to date of how different processing techniques on the same cocoa liquor produces totally different results.  Though I’m still recovering from a cold and taste functions are quite muted, the marked difference made it all the more shocking.

Bar 1 = Artisan du Chocolat’s Jamaica Bar.  Bar 2 = French made Jamaican Bar.

Bar 1 had a slight acidity as the first note which ushered forth dried mango and tamarind paste sandwiched between dried banana chips (Yes, weird association, but it is a very very fond flavour memory of mine).  This brought me back to Talat Thai Wholesale market in Bangkok, where tropical fruits scented the aisles.

At the end, the flavour of civet cat poo coffee from Vietnam unveiled itself (Actually, my flavour bank’s civet cat poo coffee is from Chiang Rai in Thailand, but everyone associates it with Vietnam).  

Perhaps the cold virus was playing mind tricks on me, but it was that unmistakable flavour of coffee with a fruity/nutty bouquet and a bit of acidity without any bitterness.

Bar 2 on the other hand was lifeless and flat, no ups or downs, just the horizontal stroke of a corpse hooked up to an ECG machine.   Apparently, copious amounts of vanilla was added, but I could not really taste it clearly, other than the very familiar taste of el cheapo supermarket branded chocolate bars.  

The classical belief that long conching develops flavour and adding more fat creates beautiful mouthfeel is just old fashioned rubbish.  How many chefs still believe that you have to sear/brown your steak to seal in the juices when you are actually doing the opposite?  

2 makers, same cocoa, different results.  Making chocolate indeed is an art and a science, and I am forever indebted to my bosses at Artisan du Chocolat for sharing their knowledge whole heartedly and giving me the chance to experience REALLY making chocolate as opposed to just melting it.

Gourmet Tourist Trap Paris – Au Pied de Cochon

With a name like that, you’d be expecting a place serving dishes lovingly created from the most delectable parts of the pig.  Not to be confused with Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal, Canada, which is a foodie’s paradise, or so I heard.  This Au Pied de Cochon in Paris, a short walk from Forum Les Halles, is seriously bad.  Now, why would you want to read a blog post about bad Parisian food?

Sloe Jam – A different kind of plum…..

Fate must have aligned our paths once again as I returned to Artisan du Chocolat’s production ‘Atelier’ just in time for the Sloe Season.  These wild plums grow abundantly in the ‘bush’ behind the fences and last year, they escaped me, as it was late October when I noticed these sloes and it was the season’s end.

This year, in mid-September, they tasted awful, with a mouth puckering astringency and bitterness that laid “eat ‘em all” dares and bets around the lunch table.  Tasting them every other day, it wasn’t until now, early October that they tasted ‘right’.  The astringency was there, but tamer, the plum flavour more pronounced and most importantly, the previously starchy centre bits have now turned into plump, juicy flesh.  

40 minutes of picking during the lunch break yielded 4kgs worth of tiny sloes and probably 200g of assorted spiders, wood lice and other creepy crawlies that probably now inhabit my kitchen!  So, how do you tell a sloe from a damson from a bullace and from a plum?