Clay Gordon helps you discover chocolate

Clay Gordon is the author of Discover Chocolate, publisher of chocophile.com, and creator of the new social network The Chocolate Life. We recently chatted, and here is what Clay had to say.

Collecting
When I came back from Ecuador I came back with a cocoa shovel. And in my office downstairs are cocoa bags from all over the world, they make my office smell like cocoa beans. So I’m more interested in that than in the boxes or labels themselves. I keep those so I can go back and compare things, check the ingredients. I only have one antique chocolate mold, it’s a very detailed turkey.

About the book
Before I got interested in chocolate, after I got my undergraduate degree in photography, I spent a lot of time in various fields of high technology. The common thread between all of that technology stuff and what it is that I’m doing in chocolate is — “How do you take complex technical subjects, and make them understandable to people?” I used to design software for artists, and then I would write user manuals for that software, and I would train artists on how to use that software. And so part of that challenge is creating analogies or creating ways of describing what it is that I’m doing, so that they can look at it and understand it from their perspective. From their perspective of an artist, not the perspective of a computer geek.

My interest is not just in chocolate tasting, and then trying to explain to people what tasting is like, or what the tastes of chocolate are like. That’s certainly an important part of it. But I’m also interested in the economics, geography, and culture, and in figuring out how all of these things relate to each other. So that when I do go and talk to people about chocolate, I can present it in a broader cultural context, such as — "What are some of the things happening in history?"

I believe that everybody in chocolate tasting classes right now has read Sophie and Michael Coe’s book, The True History of Chocolate. But I have read probably forty or fifty other books that touch on very different aspects of the history of chocolate. There is a really good one that I’m reading right now called Chocolate in Mesoamerica, a fascinating book. I’m just done with one called The Chocolate Tree, and I found a copy of one called The International Cocoa Trade. So when you pick up things here and there, what you can do is create a much more richly textured tapestry, if you will, of the story of chocolate. And that’s a lot of what it is that fascinates me.

And now that I have finished the book, sort of written the introductory guide to chocolate connoisseurship — and that’s really what it was — I saw that there were lots of books. If you were interested in wine, you could go to any store if you wanted to learn more, and pick up books about wine appreciation, or how to make wine. But if you were interested in chocolate and wanted to learn more, when you went to book stores you got cookbooks.

When I did this, I wanted to make sure that I wrote a book which said “We’re going to help you understand why you like what you like.” I’m not going to write a book where I’m going to tell you what’s good and what’s bad, and if you don’t like what I think is good, then you’re wrong — (laughs) “You don’t have a good sense of taste.” I realize that each of one us has our own sense of taste and our own sense of smell, and that some of us have very finely equipped senses of taste and smell. And some of us have very coarse — not very good — senses of taste and smell. What that means is that if we rely on people who are supertasters, and who have good memory for taste, to tell us what should be in our chocolate – then, I’m never going to have the experience that that supertaster has. There is just no way I am going to be able to taste those things, because I lack the physical capability to do so. Now while I may be able to train myself, when someone else says “You get that flavor in the wine, this is what it is.” So that if you can remember it the next time you encounter it, you say “Ah!” But if you’ve never done it before, well. If you walk into a chocolate tasting with someone who is a supertaster, they put it in your mouth and say, “Do you smell that mushroom in there, can you taste the mushroom? That’s matsutake mushroom!” (laughs.) You know, most of us will never be able to tell the difference between a shiitake and a masatake mushroom in a grocery store, with signs above them, let alone the differences in those flavors in a chocolate.

And so, a lot of it is really about exactly that. How do you make people feel comfortable and confident in their own sense of taste? And help them understand what it is about the chocolate they like, that they like. Why do you like Hershey’s, if you do like it? Why do you like Scharffen Berger chocolate, or what is it about Valrhona that you like? Not just that you like Valrhona, but what is it about Valrhona? And so I got into Discover Chocolate, and maybe there will be version two.

When I put out my shingle on the internet in 2001, when I started publishing chocophile.com, I was maybe one of five people in the world who were writing seriously about chocolate on the internet. Hardly anybody at that time was trying to treat it systematically and seriously, the way people had been doing with wine for many years. So to some extent, I think I helped define the genre of serious criticism about chocolate. I didn’t create it, but I helped define and refine it. And what has happened over the last seven years, now there are hundreds (if not thousands) of people writing about it. There are five bloggers on The Chocolate Life alone. The list of chocolate blogs that is being compiled is pretty impressive. And there is this whole generation of writers who are coming in after me, and who are doing a great job, in some respects a better job than I can do.

About The Chocolate Life social network
The interactive component has been important — I always felt there was something missing when I was blogging — that there weren’t a lot more people engaged in and contributing to the conversation. So since 2001 there is the whole new class of software, social networks. Almost everybody is either on Facebook, Myspace, both, or one of dozens of other social networks. So people are much more comfortable with the notion of just diving in and sharing. The ability to post photos and videos, have a personal page — to send messages publicly and privately – means that I am no longer 100% responsible for the content. So my new goal is rather than having the world’s best collection of chocolate reviews, which was one of my goals five years ago, right now it is really an extension of the book. This helps people understand what it is that they like about chocolate. And there are conversations, questions, personal reminiscences, just lots of really interesting stuff. That’s what’s really exciting, all the members are empowered to say anything they want about chocolate, so what’s going to happen? What will be important? And I encourage people behind the scenes to take a much more proactive role too. It’s all remarkably wonderful.

What do rising cacao prices say for the fine chocolate world?
or I think that true chocophiles will always go out and buy chocolate. They are not likely to say "I’ve been eating Cluizel for five years, but now it’s too expensive so I’m going to start buying Hershey Cacao Reserve." It’s just not going to happen (laughs.) This is where chocolate really works - chocolate is one of the least expensive gourmet foods in the world. Even when chocolate might be $100/lb. Let’s look at it in a different light. I can walk into the New York store of La Maison du Chocolat, and Robert Linxe is arguably one of the masters of ganache in the world, and even though that chocolate is way out at $90-95/lb., I can go in and buy four pieces of it, and walk out having spent less than $10. Name another gourmet food, other than maybe cheese or beer, where you could afford to buy the best in the world – almost every day! You can’t do that with wine, balsamic vinegar, spirits – a bottle of Louis Treize coganc, even before the Euro went crazy was five thousand bucks. But I can buy a bar of Amadei Porcelana or Bonnat Chuao for under $20 – the same chocolate that the stars eat!

So I think that people will give up a lot of other things. They’ll stop buying $80 bottles of wine, and buy $30 bottles of wine, and cut back in restaurants. But I think because chocolate is so affordable, I don’t think that’s one of the things they are going to give up. However I think the people who spend all day long eating Hershey or Mars, they will cut back. I think this is something that can be addressed in most people’s minds. It really is all about thinking about chocolate from a quality perspective, rather than thinking about it from a quantity perspective. You can actually feel better eating two squares of a much more expensive chocolate than eating ten squares of a cheap chocolate.

The next book?
I’ve started going to chocolate, beer and cheese tastings. And over the past five years I’ve done a lot of savory cooking with interesting pairings. Like a white chocolate hollandaise, and a bittersweet chocolate beurre blanc, it’s no longer beurre blanc, of course! So the book would deal with ways of thinking about chocolate outside of the box. Giving it a little more respect, as something that can be incorporated into your daily menu, and not something that you need to reserve as a special treat. It might not be a cookbook per se, there may be no specific recipes — but something to make people think about taste, and to get ideas and to be creative, rather than saying, "Here’s what I found, and now you can make exactly what I learned to make," which I don’t think is all that interesting. Another idea for a book is to examine the connection between chocolate and the libido. The title of that would be Love, Sex, and Chocolate. And then there is room for doing a book on making chocolate from scratch. That one is the most interesting to me right now. Writing the first handbook on how to make chocolate is intriguing to me.

Chocolate and four daughters, ages 11-25
Their friends think I have one of the coolest jobs there is. But we don’t really sit around doing tastings per se, the last thing they want is me sitting there teaching or lecturing them! But they do have, from a very young age, a fine appreciation for really good chocolate! They can pick something up, and say “That’s not as good as the stuff you give me!” And I’m often asked to speak on career day!

Cocoaroma

Cocoaroma is currently the main print magazine devoted to fine chocolate in all its forms. Amid the onslaught of writing online about fine chocolate, Alexander Morozoff, grandson of a chocolatier from Japan, has taken over the print domain of chocolate periodicals.

Alexander is the founding editor and also choco globe trotter extraordinaire/regular feature contributor and photographer. Alexander and his staff travel the globe and turn up nuggets of chocolate gossip and information you might not hear of elsewhere.

Each issue features about 100 pages of interesting stories from the world of chocolate, normally accompanied by many color photos. The latest issue features a fascinating article on the new wave of cacao farming in Vietnam, in depth reporting on the famed Bolivian Cru Sauvage – the only wild cacao produced in quantity, and the story of a French chocolatier in Singapore, to name a few. Cocoaroma attempts to feature stories for everyone from the beginner to the advanced choco head. From chocolate tasting parties, to recipes, cacao farm visits, in depth looks at origins, and more.

At $10 an issue, the price is a bit steep. Though it is printed on very durable quality glossy paper, meant to last as a part of a chocolate connoisseur's library. Clearly production and travel costs merit this expense for the die hard chocolate lover. Word is they are working on an enviro-friendly PDF subscription format, and hope to present this to subscribers by the end of the year. If I were to subscribe it will be when that option is available, as I've stated my feelings about these recycling issues many a time. Under that circumstance and for a lower price it would make a very worthy addition to my regular chocolate reading.

Check out article excerpts and more information on the Cocoaroma website.

It Takes Two — Patric Sambirano

Patric Chocolate has released the second bar, and this one is the same origin — the Sambirano region of Madagascar — and with only 3% difference from the first. So this It Takes Two examines the difference between two chocolates of the same region, and both made by the same maker, with only a slight difference in processing. One chocolate is 70%, and one is 67%. Before we begin our tasting, Patric chocolate maker Alan McClure has explored for us a few points about the two chocolates.

The 70% bar consists of 70% cacao and 30% sugar. The 67% bar consists of 63.25% cacao and 3.75% cocoa butter (pressed at the Patric Chocolate workshop from the same Madagascar cacao), and 33% sugar. Interestingly, though there is a 3% difference in cacao product content, there is a much larger 6.75% difference in the amount of cacao itself. When this is combined with the extra 3% sugar in the 67%, well…I’ll let you be the judge.

Also, let me note that the 70% has a very slightly darker roast than the 67%. With the extra sugar in the 67%, the fruit tones are even more prevalent, so the acidity in the cacao is really right at home. In the 70% the higher roast drives off a bit more of the volatile acidity for balance with less sugar. You’ll note that I have used different tasting notes on the front of the bars as well. That speaks to what I perceive as the most prominent flavor notes. All of this stems from my desire to show that a seemingly small difference in percentage can actually have a substantial impact on flavor balance in a chocolate. As I have noted before on my blog, the point of what I do is to elevate cacao and chocolate as foods by helping to express their beauty and complexity. This is one interesting way of doing that as these two bars, together, become a delicious teaching tool.

Two final notes: Since my focus is on the flavor of cacao, I don’t add vanilla or other flavorings to the chocolate. This is also why I don’t add cocoa butter to the 70% (i.e. it weakens the cacao flavor), and that I add just enough cocoa butter, and far less than most manufacturers, for texture in the 67% due to the added non-fat solids — sugar — that necessitate this addition.


Chocolate Note It Takes Two review

I was in complete agreement with the tasting notes on the front of the box when I did my first review of the 70%. This time I found the fruitiness far less intense, where last time it was a veritable explosion of berries and champagne, yet with balanced darker notes also. This time it was for me more leathery, it was darker. This brings up another point, which is that any time you are eating a bar of fine chocolate, unless you get another from the same batch — and even then in many cases — you are not going to have the same experience. And this is one of the wonderful things about exploring fine chocolate, that each chocolate will be unique.

I am sort of missing that very first Patric Sambirano, I gave it an 8.9, and though I would not change that now, it had a certain haunting quality which has stuck with me longer than any other chocolate I have so far tasted. Found myself thinking of it weeks and months later, in a certain more vivid way than so many others. And I find these latest two, the second 70% and the new 67%, do also have this haunting, lingering quality. There is something there that resonates and sticks with you long after you've had the chocolate.

In a way I'll have to disagree with Mr. McClure, I find the fruitiness to be just a bit stronger in the 70%, even if in this it is batch less so. The 67% has a very earthy quality, fruity yes, but earth seems to dominate. And certainly if I were to compare the fruitiness of the first 70% I tried and this 67% , there would be no contest, the 70% would win.

These are both memorable chocolates and highly recommend to all. My notes and ratings follow. Fans of the Sambirano region and of Madagascar in general must put these chocolates at the top of their shopping list. Ordering through the Patric Chocolate website.




67%
rating: 9
Here again as with my first experience with Patric Chocolate, my first impression is to keep smelling this aroma! It is a killer aroma which also has a soothing quality. The flavor is stunning and full of flavors, names for many of which for once escape me. An overall earthy tone.

aroma: cognac, whiskey, vanilla, cardamom, raspberry, rye, soy, coconut, cigarette, leather, orange

flavor: caramel, orange, honeydew, cantaloupe, earth, olive, turpentine, peach, raspberry, grape

finish:
raspberry, cigar, leather, coffee, margarine, cantaloupe, raisin, olive, dirt, feather, champagne


70%
rating: 9.2

This 70% is bit more feminine than the 67%, I'd say, and fruitier, though more masculine and punchier than the other 70% I have had. The berries are there as before but they don't come on right away as they did with that one, but after the first impressions they are then noticed. More floral than the previous 70%.

aroma: almond, cherry, coffee, leather, caramel, caraway, metal, peanut, mango, floral, raisin, berries

flavor: melon, tangerine, olive oil, leather, rust, strawberry, wood smoked salmon, orange, champagne, orchid

finish: raspberry, strawberry, leather, champagne, green vegetable, olive, onion, dirt, cantaloupe, cherry wood smoked fire, pear, tamale

Chocolate bark with candied citrus peel

This month's recipe is really three recipes! Having plenty of candied citrus peel around from my winter candying experiments has been making for some great chocolate bark, and bark is one of my favorite things to make anyway. Here I share with you some of the highlights from a veritable bevvy of citrus peel barks made this winter and spring. Each recipe states the particular chocolates I used, substitute any you may wish.


Lemon blueberry Valrhona Manjari

Manjari! I will be posting a full review later on, but let's just say now that it is widely reputed to be among the very best baking chocolates and it is many people's favorite eating chocolate too. I may not totally agree with all of that, though it is excellent, and I will detail my opinions a bit later. But in this batch of bark, oh my – absolute perfection!


Cherry orange almond Dagoba 59%

For this I chose a more middle of the road percentage. It went down easy. Gotta love that Dagoba, and certified organic to boot.

If you've never made chocolate bark before, the process is simple. Just melt the chocolate, and mix in the amount of chopped dried ingredients that you would like. Some like chunkier and some less so. Experiment around to find your preference. Pour on some wax paper and allow the chocolate to cool. You may refrigerate, this will not take long. If you are like me and don't care that much about tempering, then it's just that simple and tastes every bit as delicious. If you would like to temper your chocolate, here are some instructions. I just melt the chocolate in my toaster oven in a heat proof bowl, it does not take long – don't leave it too long or it may burn, have a thermometer on hand and try for under 120F to be on the safe side.



Cranberry mango orange El Rey Icoa

I use El Rey for much of my white chocolate baking. It is easily available in bulk couverture form at my local Whole Foods Market, and what's more important, its is the best white chocolate in the world in my opinion. I wrote about it earlier.

Taza Chocolate

One of the new generation of American bean to bar makers, Taza Chocolate emerges onto the scene with a brand new kind of chocolate, and this new chocolate is centuries old.

Taza chocolate maker Alex Whitmore had a lifelong interest in chocolate, and taught himself confectionery as a hobby. He discovered the Mexican style on a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, and was struck by the amazing and different chocolate he encountered there, one steeped in centuries of tradition. This fueled a vision to create the "new" chocolate that Taza makes today, which is stone ground using some of the traditional Mexican methods with a few additions, and not conched.

In addition to being a bit different, the chocolate from this Somerville, Massachusets maker is certified organic. And you know how I always like to emphasize greenness, well this one's green, about as much as one can be with chocolate. They even make deliveries by bike when possible. More info about their environmental policies on the Taza website.

During my recent chat with Alex, he shared some insights on the challenges of being an organic certified small bean to bar maker and on cacao politics, and he shed some light on the difference between conched and non-conched, or European and Mexican style chocolates for us. My review of the chocolates can be found at the bottom.

On being organic
It’s very difficult to both source good quality beans and then figure out a way to ship them to yourself, dealing with all of the customs and immigration, the FDA import requirements, it’s a lot of leg work. Most people, after they try it for a little while, they bow out because it’s so much effort, they don’t think it’s worth it. But there are a few of us that have soldiered on and tried to make it happen, and actually been successful.

On cacao and politics
We’re thrilled to have found a group of farmers that have formed a cooperative and who are trying to make a change to the way that they are farming in the industry, selling their beans, and standing up for themselves. And the beans themselves – it’s very difficult to find a certified organic bean that actually is really good quality as well. Most of the organic beans are of lower quality than some of the other beans from the same area, just because they know that they are guaranteed a certain set price – so they don’t really spend that much time on the post-harvest process, the fermentation and all of that. But these guys – because they’re new, they’re young, and they really want to succeed – they are very committed to quality, and that’s made a huge difference. They really want to become a more stable enterprise, because they are basically surrounded by these really big cooperatives that want to keep them from succeeding. The big cooperatives that are down there want to stay in control of the industry, and be able to buy really inexpensive beans. And these farmers just put their foot down and they said "No. We don’t like how this is going, we’re going to start our own cooperative." The challenge there is finding buyers. These co-ops pop up because they feel the current buying structure is not benefiting them. And so they say "Maybe we have to make up our own system so that we can sell the beans for the price we know they are worth." But it’s really just about maintaining a healthy livelihood for themselves.

All about the conche
Conching is like kneading the chocolate, if you want to take a baking term. What it does is it emulsifies the chocolate solids in nice stable emulsification with the oils – the cocoa butter. And it also takes all of the particulates and softens the edges a little bit, because it’s kneading, mixing intensively. So all the little edges that might have existed from when you were grinding and shattering the bean apart – these corners get rounded, and the entire particle gets coated with a layer of oil, cocoa butter, fat. And that softens the mouthfeel. All that the melangeur does is crush the particles down. If you were patient enough, a melangeur could make chocolate from bean to bar for you. If you put in the roasted, winnowed nibs, the sugar, and just left it in the melangeur for two weeks, you’d get chocolate. Basically the conching process is just a more high shear version of that. It doesn’t do any particle size reduction, like the melangeur does – that’s definitely shattering particles. The conching is basically an intensive mixing.

The Taza style
A very important part of the conching process is the flavor development aspect. It releases a lot of the more volatile acids, a lot of the more bright flavors. It gives the chocolate a much more deep, mellow flavor. And it exposes some of the deeper flavor profiles, like some of the more rich chocolaty notes. And we don’t conche because we’re making a very rustic, minimally processed chocolate. We’re capturing the flavor of the cocoa bean from its most basic perspective. So we just minimally grind it, mix it with sugar, grind the sugar down just to reduce the sugar particle size a little bit. And that’s how we mold and sell our chocolate. We don’t age it, we don’t conche it, so we’re keeping all of these really bright, fruity, acidic flavor notes. Which is one of the things that really distinguishes our chocolate from most chocolate on the market. You can get quite fruity chocolate with conching but you have to seal it to keep all of the acids in the chocolate, you basically don’t expose it to airflow. You can conche and keep the fruitiness, but you’ll end up with a very different flavor. And there are people out there like Steve DeVries who is doing very interesting things with conching – keeping an extremely fruity profile in the chocolate. But for the most part conching will mellow down the flavor. And it’s just a lot more processing. But don’t get me wrong, I love European style chocolate, but that’s not what we’re going for here.

We’re in the hundred micron range. I don’t have micrometer, but we have a pretty big particle size. For some people the smoothness of the chocolate is a sign of quality. We are positing that this is not necessarily the case, it really just depends on what kind of chocolate you are looking for. If you are looking for couverture, a very fine European style chocolate, then absolutely, particle size is very important. And then there are some people who think that 20 microns across the board is too fine. It has a waxy mouthfeel that is unpleasant. And there are some people who think that somewhere in the 30s, as a median micron size, is ideal. Everyone is going to have different tastes and a different attitude towards particle size. There are definitely days of the week when I want to eat an extremely fine European style chocolate. But then there are many days also that I really want a Mexican style. I think what we’re making is going to help educate people about what chocolate can be, where chocolate comes from, and expands some of the taste possibilities.

I’m not inventing anything here, I’m making chocolate that has been made for centuries, I’m just the one doing it up here. I’m doing it in a unique way that’s all my own, but I’m not staking any claim to anything new. I’m just introducing a different product to a market hat hasn’t seen it before. There is always going to be a place for Valrhona in my heart and in the world around me. It’s so great to have such a diversity of chocolate around, all of these people, I wouldn’t say any of them are any better than any other. Everyone just has their own tastes, their own preferences. And I wanted to introduce this kind of chocolate at home in the United States, bring it back home. I don’t think many people here have had this kind of chocolate before, and that’s my goal, to get them to try it, and see what they think.

And what do they think?
Some people absolutely go crazy for it, they love it, they can’t get enough of it. And some people – if you try to give this to a sixth grader in Washington D. C., they’ll spit it out. That’s just the nature of the product. So we’re excited to see how it goes and get feedback.


Taza currently offers three percentages of the Dominican Republic stone ground chocolate bars, as well as drinking chocolate tablets and cacao nibs. I sampled the 70% bar and the drinking tablet with cinnamon, also from Dominican Republic. Up next for Taza is a limited edition Chiappan chocolate, stay tuned to the Taza blog for announcements. All were obtained from Taza. More info and product ordering on the Taza Chocolate website.



Reviews
The drinking chocolate (above) gets a 9, but as it's a flavored bar with added cinnamon I won't do flavor notes. Quite fantastic, and also good for eating.

70% chocolate bar (top left)
rating: 9.2

I personally rather like the qualities brought about, or rather left to be, from the minimal processing. As Alex told us, this is going to be a very fruity chocolate, but I can attest that this fruitiness is different than the European chocolates. I enjoy the rustic qualities, have no problem with the texture, and overall find this a remarkable chocolate! A delicious and heady orange blossom/leather/coffee/chocolate aroma comes on strong, and then an overall dominant champagne/berry/caramel character remains throughout the flavor and finish and with plenty of orange, leather, and chocolaty notes still hanging around. I had in my notes "bright fruity" before I spoke with Alex who used this same phrase – the flavor really is a barrage of fruity juices, champagnes, and vinegar.

aroma: black pepper, cardamom, vinegar, vanilla, orange blossom, carrots, chocolate candy, champagne, sourdough bread, anise, cream, dried blueberry, grape must, fig, satchel, green seeds, floral, mint, almond, caramel, coffee, pomegranate, coconut, caraway, orange peel

flavor: honey, caramel, milk, mint, malted milk balls, banana, bees, nougat, cherry orchard, champagne grapes, sugar, plum, blueberry, champagne vinegar, nut, mango

finish: strawberry! (left the exclamation point from my notes,) marshmallow, cherry wood, resin, straw hat, pumpkin seed, semi-dry fig, ocean, salt, pineapple, gingerbread, honeysuckle, cranberry, rose, grapeseed, newsprint, turpentine, oak, olive oil, balsamic, white wine mustard, half and half, butter, slightly burnt creamy buttery caramel

B. T. McElrath

B. T. McElrath is currently the most widely known of the Twin Cities artisan chocolatiers. His award winning chocolates are carried not only at over twenty metro locations, but also at dozens of shops across 18 US states. Brian is known for using nontraditional flavor combinations and pushing the boundary of what is possible in chocolate. Brian grew up in the small Minnesota town of Northfield, and found his love of cuisine "in grandma's kitchen" while others were out tending the farm. The story goes that at the age of five Brian wanted to make his own fried potatoes, and the rest was history. He later trained not as a pastry chef or chocolatier but as a chef at the California Culinary Academy during the 1980s. A Swiss master chocolatier named Denis Martig, who was a professor at the Academy, became Brian's mentor and encouraged him to take an elective course on chocolates.

“And that’s when things really started for me, that’s where I was really intrigued.” Up until then Brian “didn’t understand chocolate. I liked chocolate, and I thought it was really great, but I didn’t have a ripping passion for it like I have developed over the past fifteen years or so. But I was intrigued, and I eventually ended up making chocolates as gifts, and as little spiffs, and that sort of thing with some of the jobs that I had. Started doing it on the side."

By the mid 90s Brian had already racked up impressive credentials in his career as a chef. He was appointed executive chef early on and was able to land top jobs at several locally and nationally reputed restaurants, including two Minneapolis institutions of the 80s and 90s — Faegre's and the New French Café, both of which have now closed. Brian continues, "However, by about 1995 or 1996 I’d been in the hospitality business for going on twenty years, and I was looking to make a change in lifestyle, and I wanted to pursue different interests, and I had always wanted to have my own business. And I never wanted to have my own restaurant. So what I saw was an opportunity here in the specialty food trade.”


“So we started out by exploring everything, reading everything, buying all of the chocolates that were available at the time.” Brian and his partner in life and in business Christine Walthour began attending Fancy Food shows and there gained insight into what it takes in the specialty food trade. “And we could see at that point that chocolates were really emerging. We could see that there was and opportunity to use the skills that I had as a saucier, as a sous chef, chef de cuisine creating entrees and recipes and that sort of thing. And I began to see the use of these ingredients and flavor profiles in ganache, in truffles, in the confectionery side of things. And that’s kind of where the second light bulb came on for me."

“The thing that really launched the company was that we did the Twin Cities Food & Wine Experience. And the second year that we exhibited there we caught the attention of the executive pastry chef of Lund’s and Byerly’s and he asked us if we would put the product in all of their stores. And we’ve been in that admirable position ever since.”

Brian still uses some of the original formulas presented to him by his old mentor Denis, he still has his notebooks from the academy. Some are used as the basis for his formulas.
“I basically took my notebook from school, which I still refer to from time time, and used that as a foundation. Basic formulas for milk and dark ganache. One of the favorites that I have is something called the Zurichspitzen which is a Kirschwasser ganache. And I use these as the foundation. And then I embellished that with more training that I got through the Callebaut center in about 1997. And that exposed me to really contemporary techniques for decorating, using transfer sheets, shell molding. Prior to that all of our ganaches had been formed in advance, and then shaped and rolled."

Brian's chocolates show a preference for decorated shell molded pieces. Rather than traditional rounds or hand rolled truffles, ganaches are presented in such shapes as turtles, butterflies, flowers and fish, all with surface design. The nontraditional flavor pairings were present right from the beginning. “Our first flavor repertoire included our lavender black peppercorn, and Zinfandel balsamic vinegar, which was a rendition of the salad dressing that we had at the New French Café, which was my last full time chef’s position.”

“That was the thing that kind of drove me on, that this is a new application for the passion that I have about flavor. About harmonizing and about making ingredients work together. The best experiences for me in the kitchen were soups, sauces, things that were a little bit of a process – things that were an assembly, things that might have more than one recipe involved, that sort of thing. And I could see that in the industry and in the candy business a lot of it was all about flavor compounds, real basic masses that would have a little flavor glugged in here or there, and that was kind of a model, and I wanted to go outside of that. And I wanted something beautiful, and I wanted something that followed my own values in terms of the ingredients. Natural ingredients, no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives.”

Brian and Christine are committed to using local products such as Hope Creamery, Pride of Main Street, and Mrs. Kelly's Tea. “I’m using as many local ingredients as a confectioner can really get their hands on. My main ingredient of course has to come from elsewhere, but my criteria for those is offsetting the commercial products that I use by purchasing chocolate and cocoa ingredients from companies that have socially responsible business practices such as Vintage Plantations and E. Guittard. So these are the things that I can do to offer a wholesome, clear conscience chocolate product.”

When the Christine and Brian leased their first space in 1997, space was limited to 420 square feet. And it was right here where they are now, at 2010 E. Hennepin, the old General Mills research labs, where as cutesy industry legend has it Betty Crocker was "conceived." In any event it is certain that Wheaties were born here. In the beginning it was just Brian and Christine and a few musicians practicing in the other spaces. Christine still had another full time job and helped with wrapping and bookkeeping in the evenings. Now she is full time business manager for the company, and helps with anything and everything, as do most of the employees. The workshop is now an expanse of 2200 sq feet, occupying the entire basement floor of the building. Plus an office upstairs. It was just the two of them doing everything on a small scale for about the first four years. Now the duo have help and can turn out up to 15,000 pieces on a high production day, with up to 1200 pounds of chocolate going through the tempering machines each day. And directly across from the modestly sized McElrath office upstairs is the small factory of Rogue chocolatier Colin Gasko, of about the same size. We've been here before, remember?


As our tour progresses Brian points out that “Basically we’re using a combination of antiquated 19th and 20th century technology and 21st century technology.” Of which his prized possession is the 1985 Sollich enrober, which he tells us is the Mercedes Benz, the Rolls Royce of small scale confectionery. Above photo: Brian and Christine explain how it all works as Lan Vu and Stephanie Pappas busy themselves with chocolate.

Brian reports that his best selling chocolates are the passion fruit (which has won several awards,) signature dark truffle, toasted almond toffee, milk coated English toffee, and the salted butter caramel. While they use several white chocolate ganache centers, Christine explains that they have chosen not to enrobe any chocolates in white chocolate, they prefer the look of the darker chocolates.

When asked which are his current favorites, Brian's response is “My favorite pieces are always the new ones.” And what’s new? “I love the peanut butter pavé, and I’m really excited about the caramelized raspberry ganache. It’s an old, old recipe that we’ve revived, and we’ve reformatted it a little bit, and we sprinkled dried raspberries on the top, it’s very exciting. Very colorful, lots of texture, and the ganache itself has a very intricate flavor to it. We caramelize a little bit of sugar, we add some hazelnut puree, we add a little bit of raspberry sauce, and then milk and dark chocolate.” What’s in the works right now that has yet to be unveiled? A spiced pomegranate ganache, right now he is working with cardamom.

At any one time B. T. McElrath offers about 15 flavors. Nine regular flavors and 4-5 seasonal ones. And a few “fun flavors floating around” for only a little while, and right now that’s tomato and basil. Tomato & basil? You heard right, and that's one of the highlights of the tasting for me. A tomato ganache, topped with a basil mint meltaway, and enrobed in dark chocolate. Currently these are only available at the Golden Fig in St. Paul, I recommend heading over there while this fun flavor is still floating around.

Whose chocolates does Brian enjoy eating other than his own? Fran’s, he says with a huge grin, and adds, “Locally I think River Chocolate Company does a really great job, and I also like Just Truffles. They are fluffy, light, buttercream fillings. It’s a refrigerator truffle, there is so much butter in those!"

And his favorite place for a chocolate dessert in the Twin Cities? "Crema Café, as far as ice cream goes to me that’s the pinnacle." Brian also mentions restaurant Alma, and says that they among other local restaurants buy their chocolate couverture from him. He mentions that at one time Sonny’s Ice Cream and McElrath teamed up to make a toffee ice cream. Christine highly recommends the bittersweet chocolate cookie at Rustica Bakery.

As to where the chocolate renaissance is heading here in the Twin Cities, Brian foresees a dropping off for awhile, rather than a pushing forward. He is afraid that due to the economy some of the great aspiring chocolatiers out there may be discouraged or have trouble starting up.

Even though Brian draws most of his inspirations for his chocolates from his passion for flavor combinations in savory cooking, he finds the door doesn’t quite swing both ways for him. Brian does not often find himself creating savory dishes using chocolate as an ingredient. He makes the occasional mole, he says, and he does have one particular favorite recipe — a cacao nib rub for lamb or chicken — which he shares with Chocolate Note readers below.


I sampled the salted butter caramel, peanut butter, tomato and basil, lemon blossom, signature milk, signature dark, chile limón, orange caramel, lemon supreme, passion fruit, caramelized raspberry, lime and ginger, spiced pomegranate, and the macadamia toffee. (photo: nine piece sampler)

My rating for all of these chocolates is 8 to 9. Highlights for me were the chile limón, tomato basil, toffee, peanut butter, lime and ginger, caramelized raspberry, and lemon blossom. I find the flavor combinations and proportions to be excellent. As to the toffee, I never was much of a toffee person. After the macadamia toffee, I'll have to rethink my position, it's quite addicting. And the tomato basil was really great and memorable, and certainly something you are sure not find elsewhere. The lemon blossom was perhaps the best lemon and chocolate confection I've tasted.

The chocolates are cute, attractively packaged, and just have an element of fun. Willy Wonka would be proud, because like Brian he knows that the purpose of a confection is to bring a smile to the face, a moment of joy. And these chocolates certainly succeed. I found myself smiling, each time I ate them I just smiled. Both Arden and I even found ourselves laughing at times, saying "what did they put in these?" It's like the people who are making them are having fun, and you can taste that fun.

There are however a couple of reservations about a few ingredients. While the peanut butter pavé is great, the use of a peanut butter that contains added palm oil seems off point. With a great, natural peanut butter, this could become the crème de la crème of all peanut butter cups. And there are a few other ingredients used occasionally which I question, even though I know that I am in the minority here, as many top level chocolatiers and pastry chefs do use them from time to time. But nonetheless, I'll state my opinion for the record, which is that corn syrup and confectioner's sugar are both against my culinary religion.

Brian does not rely heavily on either one, and is forgiven. And he is forgiven for not using the highest quality couvertures available. Brian uses Callebaut, Guittard, and Plantations. Now none of these are exactly no-no's and each company does produce some very fine chocolates, but strictly speaking this is not the connoisseur's chocolate. But even though Callebaut uses the artificial flavor vanillin in some of their chocolates, Brian assures me that he does not use any of those. All of his chocolates are free of adulterants, preservatives, and artificial flavors. Everything has natural vanilla, and not only that but Brian goes the extra mile by purchasing colors for his cocoa butter work that meet his high standards for natural products, costing four times the amount of the usual FD&C colors. Even so, Callebaut is not that exciting. Once you've had enough of the world's top chocolate, it will be difficult to be blown away by anything by Callebaut, and even much of the Guittard line, for example. So the more heavily these chocolates rely on the chocolate itself, the less they shine. Here chocolate is playing second fiddle in a larger scheme. As confectionery these chocolates are top notch, and Brian's talent as a chocolatier and ability with flavor remain unquestioned. But of course, the chocolate snob must speak her peace.

Order all products and get more info on the company website.
Here is a video from Chocolate Television, a great place to check out chocolate internet video, in which a California chocolate boutique owner raves about her selection of McElrath chocolates. She also enthuses about the toffee and the chile limón truffle. See, I wouldn't steer you wrong, would I? And notice how each time Patti describes one of Brian's chocolates, she smiles, and even laughs. What do they put in those? Is it something about sprinkling it with love and making the world taste good? You know how it is... The candyman can...

Brian McElrath's Cacao nib rub for lamb or chicken with sauce

For the nib rub:
1/2 cup cacao nibs
1T freshly cracked black pepper (Tellecherry are the best)
1T white pepper
1T hot paprika
1T tapioca or corn starch
olive oil
clarified butter
salt

With a food processor or mortar and pestle gently break nibs down to the size/texture of semolina. Be careful to avoid making a paste. The nibs are rather fatty and do not need much effort to size them down.

Add spices and tapioca or corn starch. Blend ingredients together and apply generously to lamb loin, rack or skin-on chicken breast to form a crust.
Preheat a thick bottomed pan to med-high heat, add olive oil/clarified butter blend (1 to 1) and sear/brown all sides of the meat.

Remove from the pan, season with Redmond Real Salt, Kosher, or sea salt to taste, and roast in an 375˚ F oven to desired temperature.

Remove from oven and allow to rest in a warm place for 10-12 minutes for loin or breast, 15-18 for lamb racks, before serving.

For the sauce:
Deglaze pan with dry white wine, add brown stock or demi-glace. Reduce slightly, when the reduction will coat a spoon whisk in fresh butter to taste and finish with a dab of cognac or port wine, add any juice that wept from the meat whilst resting. Serve with soft polenta or rice and a fresh vegetable.
Options for the sauce:
Fresh lemon zest
Dried cherries (soak in port wine or cognac)
Fresh herbes such as chervil, mint, or parsley

Chocolate Connoisseur

Chloé Doutre-Roussel's Chocolate Connoisseur: for everyone with a passion for chocolate was published in 2005. The book is an attempt to guide the novice through the chocolate revolution landscape. And the book itself presents a couple of very good indicators of just how quickly this revolution is progressing. In the final chapter of the book Chloé makes a few predictions, some have already come to pass, such as cacao plantation tourism. And a couple of other points are already dated, such as the statement that you will have to go out of your way to find truly fine chocolate, and can't find it in your local supermarket — already not true! However, this book remains an excellent resource for those looking for a fine chocolate 101 guidebook, and contains a treasure trove of information.

Chloé spent three years as the chocolate buyer at London department store Fortnum & Mason. She won out over 3,000 applicants for that job when in 2003 the company was attempting to jump on the fine chocolate bandwagon and upgrade some of their products. When the new chocolates were unveiled she was initially shocked at how much people still wanted to buy their old standbys, and quickly learned that the real job was more one of educating the public. Now she spends her time doing just that and works as a freelance consultant to the world's top chocolate houses, and offers fine chocolate training and seminars.

Chloé grew up in Mexico and France and always had a fondness for chocolate — though until moving to France at age 14 her access to real quality chocolate was quite limited, and during her youth she became quite a Nutella nut. After the move to France she began to really immerse herself in fine chocolate, and later joined The Chocolate Society when she moved to London. It was based on her own experiences with and passion about chocolate that Chloé earned the position of buyer at Fortnum with her impassioned letter, she had had no work experience in the chocolate field up until that time.

Around the same time when Chloé was writing her own book, another book was being being written about chocolate by Mort Rosenblum — Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light. This was written from the perspective of an investigative journalist who does not know much about the world of chocolate, and who travels the "chocolate trail" all around the world to discover the story of chocolate, past and present. Mort's personal guide on this journey was the "chocolate angel" Chloé Doutre-Roussel. In Bittersweet we find an amusing chapter on Valrhona and their self-mystifying tactics — they have historically had a bad reputation for snubbing food writers, journalists, and even other chocolate makers and chocolatiers, whom they would often flat out insult and/or just plain ignore. They shrouded themselves in an impenetrable fortress and would not let anyone in, not even Chloé, and note even if she already had an appointment! In the chapter we learn that Chloé had had enough one day when she showed up for an appointment and the staff was acting like they didn't know what she was talking about, and she went back outside and climbed the fortress wall, gaining access to the building, bypassing security, and maintaining her appointment! And Mort also finally did get in there, and his book is another that is worth a a read, though maybe a little later after your chocolate 101 library has been checked out.

Chloé has gained a reputation as an eccentric, mainly based on anecdotes about her impassioned relationship to chocolate. Her preferred time for a tasting is 5:30 in the morning, she only tastes up to four chocolates at one sitting. A few of these anecdotes also appear in Bittersweet, such as the time when chocolate maker John Scharffenberger had gone to Chloé's house and was made nervous by the fact that she was pulling chocolate out of every nook and cranny of her apartment, even from under the bed. According to Bittersweet Chloé keeps her bedroom at 56F to preserve the goods, saying "If it's a choice between the chocolate and getting pneumonia, well, I have my priorities."

In her book Chloé offers a brief chocolate history, how it is made from bean to bar, and a guide to tasting. She helps you build your own chocolate profile, distinguish between fine and poor chocolate, and learn to read chocolate labels. This small 200 page book also has many illustrations, charts, maps, a chocolate glossary, and even a few recipes.

Excerpts:
Chloé gives many interesting graphs and statistics which serve to enlighten about chocolate, for instance:

The world's top ten chocolates:
1. Mars Bar 2. Twix Twin 3. Snickers 4. Maltesers 5. Kit Kat (four-finger) 6. Cadbury Dairy Milk 7. Kit Kat Crunch
8. Crunchie 9. Bounty Milk 10. Twirl

Once you’ve checked out the list above, it’s hardly surprising when chocolate lovers come to my workshops and explain what they like to eat and why they like to eat it, most are still into candy, rather than 'real' chocolate. They eat it because it makes them feel good, it cheers up a bad day and it's a form of indulgence. What we choose to eat is also often dictated by where we come from, as countries seem to have their own chocolate identities:

-Belgium is the country of big moulded chocolates, with creamy, soft fillings, and milk chocolate bars.

-Austria and Germany both favour chocolates filled with marzipan or hazelnut paste, and milk chocolate bars.

-Scandinavians are entrenched in their milk chocolate culture and also eat a lot of white chocolate.

-France is a mainly dark chocolate nation (in fact, dark chocolate is so popular in France that it's the only country in the world where Lindt's entire range of dark chocolate is sold!)

-Spaniards, true to their history, still prefer their chocolate in a mug.

-Italians love gianduja, a hazelnut and chocolate paste — Ferrero Rocher or Nutella are its most successful versions.

-English-speaking countries prefer above all milk chocolate (such is the legacy of Cadbury), white chocolate, and big, round truffles.

-The Japanese also love milk and white exclusive chocolate, importing French chocolates in large quantities.

Chloé gives some chocolate tasting games for you and your friends to play as you learn all about fine chocolate. Here is one:

GAME I: The MYSTERY GAME

-Give each participant their own plate with four squares of chocolate. Three are in their original wrapping, or three different colours of paper; one is a mystery square in neutral packaging.

-Cut each square into two pieces. The participants should be instructed to eat half of each of the non-mystery chocolates and then half of the fourth. (The fourth chocolate is identical to one of three others, but which one? Can your friends work it out?)

-Now, participants should cut each left-over half into two pieces, so that they have two quarters of each on the plate.

-If they have found out or are not sure which of the two chocolates are identical, start the tasting again, respecting the same order, but this time using only a quarter.

-If they still don't know, you should now reveal the answer and ask the participants to confirm it by tasting the last quarters.

-If they find the answer after the first half, they should use the first quarters to confirm the intuition and keep the last quarters to check the revelation. If they are right, they should just enjoy the last quarter without analysing anything. The aim is to let yourself go with the pleasure and enjoy the boost to your self esteem.

Here is a sample of Chloé's help in developing your own chocolate profile, from the chapter on tasting. Fine chocolate selections are suggested based on the chocolates that you already know you like. She gives many suggestions, but only one or two for each category are listed below.

When planning your first chocolate tasting session, be completely honest, and pick out the profile from those outlined below that most accurately describes you:

1. You love creamy milk chocolate — Cadubry, Lindt, Toblerone, Galaxy, and so on.
Tasting suggestion: Valrhona Jivara
Look for: Intensity of sweetness, and taste evolution over time.
Taking it further: Discover the latest trends (Lindt milk with cocoa nibs.)

2. You have developed a taste for 'the good stuff, but generally buy the same bar.
Tasting suggestion: Compare Green & Black's 70%, Amadei Porcelana, and any supermarket label dark bar.
Look for: Which ones smell of vanilla flavouring and/or sugar?
Taking it further: Claudio Corallo with nibs

3. You only like dark chocolate, and sample a wide range of bars, but never milk.
Tasting suggestion: In this tasting, you'll be sampling the worst end of the dark chocolate market with the most divine milk chocolate.
Look for: Pleasure.
Taking it further: Taste more slowly and compare the quality of the milk powders.

4. You prefer filled chocolates, and when someone mentions the word chocolate you immediately think of a truffle.
Tasting suggestion: You have a sweet tooth — but there's no shame in that. Try the crème de la crème of truffles, made with top quality chocolate and no added flavors. Find a good quality chocolate shop and ask for advice.
Look for: Does your pleasure mainly come from the sugar, or the flavours?
Taking it further: As for number 1, above.

5. You don't actually like chocolate — at least, you have never found a bar you can enjoy. I assume that if you are reading this book, you are not a chocophobe, but believe me, I have met them! If the reason is you have more of a savory rather than a sweet tooth, let me take you straight to some of my favorite plantation bars.
Tasting suggestion: Pralus Java
Look for: Flavours, as you would do for wine. Concentrate on the complexity and evolution of mouth-feel and flavour over time. Don't look for pleasure in your first tasting (but maybe in your second one!)
Taking it further: Taste together all Venezuela bars from different brands.


Visit Chloé's website from more info and book excerpts.
Listen to this American Public Radio segment in which Chloé explains how her job works and gives a little 411 on fine chocolate. And another interesting NPR audio interview here.

Easy ways to be green.
You know I have a green agenda, and as such will offer tips from time time on easy ways to be green. Since I am initiating book reviews with this post, today's tip is about books. I rarely ever buy books, only if they are very hard to obtain through my library and I need it for some special purpose. Otherwise most books, if they are not already in your library's catalog, may easily be obtained through interlibrary loan, usually for a shorter loan period than standard library books, which can often be renewed for a total of up to several months. All of your regular and interlibrary loan books may be searched for and checked out on the internet using your libray's catalog. If your library does not have the book you want, check Worldcat to see what other libaries do carry the book, usually there will be several. Send the citation to your library with the link on Worldcat and request the book. Or many online catalogs have built in interlibrary loan request forms.

There is still one further way that you can get your book from the library even if no lending library is found (not all libraries will send all items in their catalog via interlibrary loan.) This other method is to request your library to purchase the item. I have successfully done this many times, and this includes several chocolate titles. Look for a purchase suggestion form on your library's website, or email your library. It takes from a few weeks to a few months to aquire new items. You can also suggest DVDs and CDs for purchase.

I'd like to add that I am not against the existence of books, most everyone should have a few, and libraries should always be maintained. There is something very special and sensual about books that can never be duplicated by an electronic resource. However, my stance is that we could all greatly reduce the amount of books that we own. Many people sharing books through libraries is one very simple way to conserve trees — and how many books on our shelves do we read again and again anyway? At least paring down to those essentials is a good way to start. So that's today's green tip.