A Chocolate Trend

A chocolate bar isn't just chocolate anymore. A recent trend is the pairing of chocolate with another ingredient. I remember when I first realized this: I was in Fog City News in San Francisco, on my way to work at Bong Su. My eyes widened at the rows and rows of chocolate bars. My head was in a tizzy trying to decide between a the brands: Vosges, El Rey, E. Guittard... I grabbed a handful of Dolfin squares, each paired with earl grey, cumin, or cardamom. Mmmm. Something for the Bart ride home later.

Some chocolate makers focus primary on these pairing. Dagoba is one, pairing chai with milk chocolate or lemon ginger with dark. My sister loves their Roseberry, a dark chocolate with dried raspberries and rose hips. Not a bad experience for $3 a bar. (Yes, it is expensive, but where are you going to get flavors like that?) If you are into putting some heat into your chocolate, I recommend Xocolatl, a 74 % chocolate with chili powder.

Vosges is one of the companies that have paired chocolate bars. I mentioned them because of a recent culinary adventure with my mom: Mo's Bacon Bar. Yes, it is a combination of milk chocolate, smoked salt, and bits of bacon in it. $7 a bar, even at Cost Plus. My mom loves bacon, so we decided to try it. Well, salt and chocolate work for me, but the bacon didn't. They have a flying chocolate pig available on their website.

Another flavor that doesn't work for me is lavender. I feel like I am getting a mouthful if potpourri. (Sorry, Dagoba, the lavender and blueberry was too much.)

A few other companies of paired chocolate bars worth a try: Dolfin, Green and Black's Organic Chocolate, and Lindt. What do you like paired with chocolate?

The Last Day

Today is the last day of the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Factory. It is a sad day in so many ways. The tours have been long gone, leaving the tour room empty. No longer will the intoxicating smell of chocolate swarm the brick building.

Production moves to Illinois where Scharrffen Berger products will still be made. But will it be the same? I went into the store and picked up a few of my favorites: the milk chocolate with the sea salted almonds and the 70% bittersweet. The retail store in the Ferry Building and Joseph Schmidt's will stay open for a while longer. But, girls in the retail store at the factory all decided to wear their "(extra) bitter" shirts today, a final statement on the situation.

The cafe has an event in a couple of weeks as John Scharrfenberger will host a dinner for all those who have helped along the way. I plan to make desserts from "The Essence of Chocolate" cookbook as a tribute, especially Robert Steinberg's brownies since he past away last year.

The (Extra) Bitter End

Today marks a sad day for Scharffen Berger Chocolate fans as it was publicly announced in the San Francisco Chronicle that the factory here in Berkeley will be closing.

I already knew this before today since I work right next to the factory and the restaurant exclusively uses Scharffen Berger Chocolate.

Chocolate is a luxury, and we are reminded of it during these difficult economic times. Another example is during World War II when chocolate was a rare sight in Europe. I was reading some of the comments on sfgate.com regarding the article and there is every opinion under the sun about this factory closing. (Note that there will still be Scharffen Berger Chocolate, but will be produced in a factory in Illinois. )

I keep thinking about all the accounts of artisan chocolate makers that I've read or listened to. It's not about the money. It's about creating something that you are proud to call your own. It's about doing something that you are passionate about. Anything made in its purest form doesn't always come cheap.

I am glad I had a chance to work here and learn so much more about chocolate. It took me a while, but I think I finally learned how to really taste it.

How I will miss the smell of chocolate as I walk in to work, the flocks of people passing by our cafe as they go for a tour, but most of all, I will miss the people: I will miss my brief chats with the folks in the retail store as I pop into buy a few bars. I will miss talking with the employees as they come by for coffee or a chocolate scone.

As for me, who knows what direction the cafe will go. Wherever it goes, I will continue what I am doing and continue doing it well.

Milk Chocolate

I often get the duty of bringing dessert when it comes to visiting friends. I guess that is part of the contract when baking is your profession.

Unfortunately, baking is the last thing I want to do when I am off work. Tell me to make potato salad or my mom's seven layer dip. Dessert? I'll do it, but with some reluctance. Don't get me wrong. I love what I do, but when you do it all day, five days a week for work, there is a stopping point.

Sigh. So, Monday was one of those days where I was commissioned to bring dessert. It was short notice. But when I saw how eager our hosts where when they had asked me, I had to say yes. I didn't want to disappoint them.

So I brought chocolate. You can't go wrong with chocolate. (I also brought some cookies that I baked off at work.)

Our friends happen to love Scharffen Berger Chocolate. I picked up two bars: the semisweet and the milk chocolate with cocoa nibs. (They have a ten year old son, so I figure something on the sweeter side would do.) My family loves bittersweet, so that is naturally the one I gravitate toward. I rarely ate milk chocolate growing up only because we never really kept it around the house. I've only recently gone beyond my bittersweet boundaries.

I often find milk chocolate a bit sweet. But it pairs with some ingredients better than bittersweet because of its sweeter, carmel-like nature. If you pay attention to Scharffen Berger's milk chocolate you can taste the butterscotch notes. I can see it going well in a chocolate chunk cookie with pecans, or mixed with some heat.

Some pastry chefs have mentioned El Rey as a good brand when it comes to milk. So I will give it a go next time. So sorry, Mom and Dad, I can't stick just to bittersweet.

Slow Food Nation

I made the mistakes of not buying my tickets early. I think for the most part because I was unsure if I would be able to make it.

Slow Food Nation was a celebration of food that took place this past Labor Day weekend in San Francisco. There were opportunities to taste samples from different farmers and producers, to learn about food-related issues, and see cooking demonstrations.

What is Slow Food? Well, what is fast food? Fast food, much of the time, is junky, unwholesome, and unsocial in this speed-of-light time that we live in. Slow Food USA is a movement that focuses on good wholesome food, linking the environment and the community. It’s about getting food back to be being good for us, not just the consumer, but for every component along the way: whether it is the soil that our produce comes from or the workers in the field.

I was disappointed for not jumping on the opportunity earlier. But, I received word of one event that was happening today: a US Artisanal Chocolate Makers Roundtable. Basically, it was a discussion between five chocolate producers in the United States. I made my way to Fort Mason to learn more about what it means to be "artisanal." What was the difference between their chocolate and companies such as Hershey's and Ghirardhelli?

The panel included representative from Taza Chocolate, Amano Chocolate, Askinosie Chocolate, Patric Chocolate, and DeVries Chocolate. I definitely learned a lot about the art of chocolate making: about production, about single origin beans vs. blending, and about issues regarding larger chocolate makers.

I think what really struck me the most was how much each person really valued keeping the purity of the cacao beans: bean to bar. This means not having extra additives in their chocolates, but protecting the flavors of the beans. The flavors of the beans depend on variables such as where they are grown, how they are fermented, and even how they are roasted.

Shawn Askinoisie of Askinoise Chocolate focused on his strong belief on building the relationships with the providers of the beans, with having fair net profit share with them. (He once was a criminal defense lawyer who pursued his new passion.) Steve DeVries, of DeVries Chocolate, spoke about how he would fly out to Costa Rica for the harvesting of the cacao beans to insure quality.

Perhaps that is why these chocolate are expensive: the care that goes into the production and the purity of the ingredients. I must note that artisanal chocolate making is fairly new in the US. (Scharffen Berger being perhaps one of the earlier pioneers that paved the way.) And though I have yet to try the brands represented in the panel, I am not likely to use their chocolate for baking purposes. (For $8 a bar?) These chocolates are meant to stand alone, not melted to make a mousse or chopped up for cookies. That would go against the principles of these artisanal chocolates.

All Things Chocolate: Valrhona

I remember my first taste of a piece of Valrhona chocolate. I was just starting my third year working in the pastry kitchen, working at a high end Vietnamese restaurant. There were two bags of Valrhona 82% cacao and 70% cacao in the kitchen which was used to make the chocolate praline mousse. I pulled out an oval button from the 82%. I don't remember when was the last time that I ate a piece of chocolate by itself: unadorned and unaccompanied. Just by itself.

But I remember my eyes lighting up: the immediate bitterness followed by a sweet wave of evolving flavor. But I found that I enjoyed the 70% so much more. Because it has a less cacao than the 82%, it was a bit sweeter. I definately enjoyed the fruity notes in Valrhona.

I recently started trying different brands of chocolate, just to taste, to experience the different flavors, to figure out my own preferences. My latest bar of chocolate is Valrhona's Palmira 2007. Valrhona has a line of vintage bars, which like wine, is label according the year it was made. The cacao beans are from Venezuela, and the chocolate is mildly fruity with some acidity. (I think that is why it reminded me of wine.)

All Things Chocolate...

I have decided to write a series on different aspects of chocolate. And though I am not a huge fan of chocolate, there are so many things about this ingredient that intrigues me and, I feel, demands closer observation and attention.

So every few weeks or so, I will post something that I've learned or experienced about chocolate whether it is a new brand that I've tasted or a recipe that I have been working with...

Chocolate is complex. It has been a culinary luxury, historically, and it has been as rare as gold during times of war. It has delighted many from children, to foodies, to friends sharing a hot fudge sundae. It is one of the toughest ingredients to work with, giving you no mercy if you fight against it. But it can be your friend as it awakens the sense and tickles your palate.

Chocolate is choice. One may buy only bittersweet chocolate while others indulge in milk chocolate. One person will have it in any way shape or form while another prefers it as a simple bar of chocolate. Some like it as an indulgence as they order double chocolate cakes or fudgy brownies for their dessert. Others prefer chocolate in moderation like a chocolate chip cookies., once in a while.

Chocolate is diverse. It comes in the form of bars, powder, and nibs to name a few. It comes in hot drinks, cold drinks. It can be cheap, mix with unpronounceable ingredients. Or it can come expensive at almost eight dollars for a three ounces.

Chocolate is curiosity.