Chocolate Archive
Posted on March 28, 2012 in Blog, Chocolate
Some of us don’t need any more incentives to consume copious amounts of chocolate. The rich bittersweetness of dark chocolate, the smoothness of milk, and the occasional crunch when you add in some wafer or nuts, are all reason enough. But for those of you looking for a little convincing, the New York Times reported this week that eating chocolate actually helps with weight loss! Though the researchers couldn’t explain precisely why, the conclusion was clear: people who regularly enjoy chocolate tend to have lower weights. So if you’re looking to drop a few pounds, allow us to suggest our favorite Good Food Award winning “diet food,” available for purchase online:
Amano Chocolate’s Guayas
Escazu Artisan Chocolate’s Goats Milk 60%
Lillie Belle Farm’s Perfect Illusion
Patric Chocolate’s Signature 70% Blend
Theo Chocolate’s Theo & Jane Goodall 70% Dark Chocolate
For the full list of 2012 GFA Chocolate Winners, click here.
Posted on September 8, 2011 in Chocolate
Alan McClure founded Patric Chocolate in 2006 and opened his bean to bar chocolate business in January of 2007. Alan decided to start his own business after graduating from college and not finding anything out there that he was sincerely interested in. He had always loved food and cooking; even as a kid he enjoyed watching the Food Network and cooking dinner for his parents. In 2003, Alan studied abroad in Lyon, France for a year. Little did he know that Lyon was the culinary capital of France and that it was the home of the longest running bean to bar chocolate maker, Bernachon. During his stay, Alan focused on learning about pastry, wine, charcuterie, and chocolate. He visited Bernachon several time during his stay which in turn inspired his love of chocolate.
Lately, Alan is focused on both promoting his chocolate bars and continuing to create new innovative products. His newest bar, named “mintOMG,” is a classic combination of mint and chocolate, but like all Patric Chocolate bars, the goal is to really take the flavors to the next level. Alan aims to make his chocolate bars with the highest quality ingredients and a perfect balance of flavors. Three of his bars, including the award-winning In-NIB-itable bar, have recently been stocked in San Francisco Bay Area Whole Foods Markets. With the growing popularity of his chocolate, one of Alan’s largest challenges is keeping up with demand.
Alan relates a challenge of his to me that many craft food producers face in managing their businesses. While Patric Chocolate is popular, there are many roadblocks in place inhibiting the business from growing: “We haven’t been able to scale up because we haven’t been able to afford machinery. And it’s not just us, it’s every craft food producer. We can’t make enough to sell with retailers who want a 50% margin. The specialty food industry in the US has grown up, the focus has been smaller, but I think in reality businesses haven’t really been small.”
Despite the challenges he faces, Alan loves working in the food industry because it allows him to think about one of his favorite things, food: “There are other things I love, I love music, I love dogs, I love my wife but I love food and it allows me to be part of events where food is really the focus.” He also enjoys bringing his love of food to consumers that have never tasted anything like his chocolate bars. As a producer in Missouri, Alan does not feel that his products are representative of his region, but instead are inspired by the travels he has done: “Part of me is more inspired by the places I have visited and lived. You’re not going to find a product like this in the Midwest, so to be able to take the sensibilities that I’ve gained from travels and transform that into the pinnacle of what chocolate can be and deliver that to my neighbors next door – it’s really great.”
Alan was pleased to receive his Good Food Awards because it gave him the encouragement and the motivation he needed to continue doing what he was doing. In addition, he has enjoyed being allied with the organization because of the support it gives small craft producers that otherwise go unrecognized: “I am really happy that the Good Food Awards is out there and that it’s going to continue. I hope that it continues to get a lot of craft food manufacturers involved in the awards and elevate their reputation, and help them eventually have successful businesses.”
Posted on June 8, 2011 in Chocolate
Born in Venezuela, Master Chef Michael Antonorsi started Chuao Chocolatier in 2002 with his brother Richard. They aim to bring their Venezuelan-sourced cacao beans to the U.S. through responsibly produced bars, bonbons and truffles using innovative and unusual flavor combinations. Based in San Diego, they now operate three chocolate Cafes and their products are sold at specialty retailers across the country. Chuao won a Good Food Award in 2011 for its Origins 77% Bar. They produce 6,000 Origins bar a year and employ approximately 40 people between the headquarters, factory and three chocolate cafes.
With several new products in the works at Chuao Chocolatier — but none that can be disclosed to the hungry public until the unwrapping in July — Chef Michael laughs when I ask him about 2012. That’s a long way off he says, and besides he still has 20 pounds to lose and plenty of goals to accomplish in 2011. But he still has a clear eye to the future. “We’re really looking to arouse people’s senses,” he said. “We want to get (our chocolate) into everyone’s hands and for them to eat it and say ‘Wow.’”
And so far, Chuao is succeeding at drawing attention to ethically and responsibly produced chocolate through that wow-factor. They specialize in a variety of chocolate and candy products, including small-batch bars and 32 flavors of truffles and bonbons. Of their many products, one of Michael ‘s favorites is the Firecracker truffle, which is also available as a bar. A combination of premium dark chocolate, chipotle, salt and popping candy, the truffle bursts and pops with unexpected flavor and texture — and of course the requisite homemade pop rocks. Michael said he loves the way people react to the bar. “They start giggling,” he said.
Then he launches into a familiar mother-son story. “My mom’s German,” he said. “She’s very traditional, eats her meals at certain times of the day, mid-70s.” But he gave her a Firecracker truffle once and now “she’s popping it in every mouth. It’s fun to see people become like children again.”
Michael himself doesn’t have a definite favorite product, as Chuao has so many products that he can’t eat them all every week. “I have a favorite one every week,” he said. While he loves the Firecracker for the way people react to it, he likes the Good Food Award winner Origins 77% bar for different reasons. To eat this bar you really have to slow down. It has “long-lasting flavor, with notes of fruit and tobacco, and is the purest representation of what chocolate should be,” he said.
Michael loves the freedom of creation he finds producing in California. “Nobody has really invented anything new,” he said. But at the same time, it’s the new approach that chocolatiers are taking that keeps the product interesting. “Everything is new here [in California],” he said. It’s great to be able to merge “flavor profiles of the South, East, Far West.” California is very appreciative of high quality products with innovative flavor combinations. But, he said, the cost of producing a high quality product is a concern. Making an ethical, responsible and pure product comes with a price tag and eventually “there’s resistance.” Which is why one of the main goals for the next few years is to raise awareness across the country about the Chuao brand.
For Michael, producing chocolate in California was a natural move in 2002. He spent 14 years in the telecommunications industry but always wanted to be a chef. He moved to France on sabbatical, which ended up being a stay of 2 years in which he became a chef in Paris, specializing in pastry and chocolate. Then he came back to San Diego with his family, where he had spent his college years at UCSD, and started up production. Today, Chuao Chocolatier has three Cafés in California and is sold at retailers across the country.
Posted on May 18, 2011 in Chocolate
David Briggs is the owner and chocolatier of Xocolatl de David. He started Xocolatl de David informally in 2005, experimenting with flavor combinations while working as a sous-chef at Park Kitchen. A trained chef, he now makes chocolate full-time using a single origin criollo bean from Ecuador and sources many of his add-in ingredients locally.
David Briggs from Xocolatl de David loves the different ones — the chocolate-rhubarb spread that he describes as an inverse truffle and admits doesn’t sell nearly as well as his award-winning Salted Caramel bar, the broken shards of his Almond and Pimenton Bar which he keeps for himself, and, his new experiment, Parmigiano-Reggiano, which he plans to grate and fold into a bar to be released soon.
It’s not often that you hear chocolate described as “approachable” and conversely, non-approachable, but coming from a one-man chocolate business with a webpage devoted entirely to chocolate and pig, it’s not too surprising. “I got into [chocolate-making] kind of by accident,” David said. While working at a restaurant in Portland, David began experimenting with different food crafts on the side; chocolate-making stuck and before long “it got to a point where I either had to go with it full time or forget about it.”
One guess as to which path he chose. A few years later, he is still a one-man business, though he attributes much of his growth to the community around him. “Portland is a small city and being a part of the food community here for almost 7 years makes it even smaller,” he said. “The people here in Portland are dedicated locavores … and I would not be where I am today if it were not for chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, and fellow artisans here offering help in anyway that they can.” He credits the Good Food Awards for bringing together different communities from around the country while doing his part to support his own local community.
He sources many of the products used in his chocolates and confections from the area around Portland. “I have a handful of farms that I work with for specialty products and others whose products seemingly don’t work well with chocolate but I use them,” he said. “Especially around spring, when people are getting excited about the produce — the peas, rhubarb, tomatoes — sometimes chocolatiers are like ‘eh’ but I try to get excited.” He also sources specialty products from abroad, such as ground black truffle from Italy to be used a new bar and a variety of olive oils from different growing regions — California, Italy, Greece and Austria — for a line of boxed truffles. The liquid state of olive oil lowers the melting temperature of the vegan truffle, making for a very soft texture when eating despite its solid appearance.
Most of David’s creations veer on the side of savory, rather than sweet. “I’m a savory cook,” he said. “I come from the cooking side, not the pastry world.” As a self-taught chocolatier, he teaches classes on making caramel sauce and caramels to the general public and does chocolate tastings. While he has been operating as a one-man production out of a very small kitchen, he does think about bringing another person into his team, but is looking for a “good working relationship” where they can learn from each other. “It’s an ever learning process, hopefully I can bring people in,” he said.
