Normally, I'd be ashamed to admit that I've been known to head to Dunks post-workout (that's Dunkin' Donuts for you people not from the Northeast) to get a Boston creme donut. I try to wait in line in an non-ironic way as I impatiently tap my running sneakers, in anticipation of indulgence. But, given that this week's seminar was about chocolate, it seemed rather topical to share with you.
A 3 hour seminar on chocolate sounds heavenly, no? Our instructor was a new grad from BU with a degree in gastronomy, so the seminar was a bit history-dense. But, the girl was a chocolate and coffee major, and I just can't hate on a woman who specializes in two of the great loves of my life. A few interesting tidbits I picked up:
-Chocolate was only drunk (not eaten) until the late 19th century. Some cultures sweetened the drink with corn. barf.
-Randolph Lindt, Swiss chocolatier, is largely responsible for this revolution with his 'conching' of chocolate; he turned the chocolate on itself for 3 days in a cylindrical container, making the chocolate ultra smooth. .Imagine having HIM on your dance card back in 1855.
-White chocolate has the highest percentage of butter cream-or the fat of the cocoa plant. No wonder I love it so much.
We tasted about 15 different chocolates that night, resulting in a rather large belly ache. The 99% chocolate tasted somewhat like clay, I definitely do not recommend it to you dark aficionados. One of the cooler demonstrations we did was on the concept of 'terroir' or 'land'-the concept being you can taste the earth from which a product is derived (used more heavily in wine). We tasted 4 chocolates made by the same company and with the same cocoa content-the results were pretty remarkable. If you are ever feeling dorky and indulgent, I'd suggest you give it a try!
One last thing: I learned about this company called Taza in Union Square, which also recently got a shout out in Daily Candy. It's an economically sustainable product that also buys directly from cocoa farmers in the DR-giving them a larger piece of the pie. Anyone want to go take a tour with me? Also, their drinking chocolate was DELICIOUS-I'd suggest giving it a try!
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| Maybe he has great grandkids? |
-Chocolate was only drunk (not eaten) until the late 19th century. Some cultures sweetened the drink with corn. barf.
-Randolph Lindt, Swiss chocolatier, is largely responsible for this revolution with his 'conching' of chocolate; he turned the chocolate on itself for 3 days in a cylindrical container, making the chocolate ultra smooth. .Imagine having HIM on your dance card back in 1855.
-White chocolate has the highest percentage of butter cream-or the fat of the cocoa plant. No wonder I love it so much.
We tasted about 15 different chocolates that night, resulting in a rather large belly ache. The 99% chocolate tasted somewhat like clay, I definitely do not recommend it to you dark aficionados. One of the cooler demonstrations we did was on the concept of 'terroir' or 'land'-the concept being you can taste the earth from which a product is derived (used more heavily in wine). We tasted 4 chocolates made by the same company and with the same cocoa content-the results were pretty remarkable. If you are ever feeling dorky and indulgent, I'd suggest you give it a try!
One last thing: I learned about this company called Taza in Union Square, which also recently got a shout out in Daily Candy. It's an economically sustainable product that also buys directly from cocoa farmers in the DR-giving them a larger piece of the pie. Anyone want to go take a tour with me? Also, their drinking chocolate was DELICIOUS-I'd suggest giving it a try!
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