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Chocolate Tasting

PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:52 pm
by Eve Lejeune
Last week I was invited to a wonderful chocolate tasting taking place at the French Senate in Paris. We were welcomed by the President of the Chocolate Club of Paris, Danielle Monteaux, a charming lady who shares her passion for chocolate with a few hundred privileged members of this prestigious club.

The club invited 4 of the most famous chocolate masters: Pierre Hermé, Jean-Paul Hévin, Michel Richart, Gérard Mulot. To be quite honest I had never tasted the creations of Pierre Hermé (I'm too lazy to stand in line for 1 hr outside to buy a piece of chocolate!). And my laziness was rewarded as I had a huge table where the best creations were offered for me to taste: the fabulous macaroons and the 90% chocolate bars. Well... disappointment: it's too fat and rich.

Let's move to Gérard Mulot who is also a baker, a traiteur and a pastry maker. His most interesting products are the chocolates filled with various flavors like ginger or orange. They're fine but not quite light enough for my taste.

Jean-Paul Hévin had a rather discreet and selective selection of chocolates. I tasted a fine milk chocolate with salted butter caramel. An original creation but also a little too rich.

Last stop but not the least, the chocolates of Michel Richart. They are wonderful! Very fine, very light, they're based on the best cocoa from Madagascar, Venezuala, Ecuador and Papouasia. They're divided in aromatic "families": balsamic, grilled, citrus, fruity, herbal, floral, spicy . They're packaged in elegant square white boxes and they're so good. I tasted the geranium and ylang ylang dark chocolate as well as a chocolate filled with a creamy salted caramel. There is just the perfect balance between the sugar, the flavor and the cocoa. Try them with a glass of older Maury and you'll be in heaven. If you want more details go to their site : http://richart-chocolates.com

Enjoy!

Re: Chocolate Tasting

PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 2:07 pm
by ChefCarey
Trying hard to imagine something more decadent than "The Chocolate Club of Paris"...not succeeding, I'm afraid.

Re: Chocolate Tasting

PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:25 am
by tsunami

Re: Chocolate Tasting

PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 12:34 pm
by Paul Winalski
Are "geranium" and "ylang ylang" varieties of cocoa, or are they things added to the chocolate?

Wow! That tasting sounds like a wonderful experience.

I suppose that there must be differences in cocoa grown in various parts of the world, just as there are differences in coffee, tea, and wine, but few other than chocolatiers are aware of them. Is there a formal or informal AOC or other classification scheme for cocoa?

-Paul W.