What better way to show your valentine and loved ones how special they are on Feb. 14 than by giving the gift of chocolate truffles, bean-to-bar artisan chocolate, or confections you made especially for them?
Speaking of bean-to-bar, while going up and down the aisles at the Fancy Food Show last summer, I was overwhelmed by the number of bean-to-bar chocolatiers. I predict this is the next movement in the artisanal food world. Like craft beer, specialty coffee and bread before it, this small-batch industry is growing by leaps and bounds. American craft chocolate sales are $100 million annually and growing.
Most recently, while working on 2018’s Hidden Gems of Florida feature (keep an eye out for it), I visited Castronovo Chocolate Factory in Stuart, Fla. Denise Castronovo has taken home the gold medal several times in the International Chocolate Awards for her bean-to-bar chocolate bars. One bite of the Colombia Sierra Nevada bar, and no wonder it was the gold winner of the International Chocolate Awards World Finals in 2016 and gold winner of the 2016 Academy of Chocolate Awards.
Books that Castronovo has on display caught my attention (in addition to her decadent chocolates), since it was a book I was planning to feature here for Valentine’s Day. A sample copy for visitors to peruse, complete with sticky notes, piqued my curiosity. Those highlighted pages showcased the winning bar and information about this chocolatier.
“Bean to Bar: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution, the Origins, the Makers, the Mind-Blowing Flavors,” by Megan Giller (2017, Storey Publishing, $19.95), is your primer to “everything you wanted to know about chocolate but were afraid to ask.” Her blog, “Chocolate Noise,” was a 2016 Saveur Food Blog Awards Finalist. Megan offers private chocolate tasting classes, hosts “underground Chocolate Salons,” teaches classes at shops across the U.S. and judges at chocolate competitions.
If you are curious about the bean-to-bar movement, she demystifies it and explains the process. I learned what to look for in a chocolate bar and chocolatiers to watch. Wonder how cocoa beans from Venezuela differ from beans from Madagascar, or what is dark milk chocolate, and who makes the best? Giller has you covered. Here’s a fun idea … take her suggestions on how to hold a chocolate tasting, with advice on pairing chocolate with coffee, tea, beer, spirits, bread and cheese. I enjoyed her explanation of why chocolate shouldn’t cost a dollar. Her answer?, she writes, “$14 can still seem like a big investment. However, I’d say that’s a pretty low price point to buy the best food of its kind in the world. The best wines retail for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars. Caviar? Forget about it. Spending an average of $10 on a bar that I’ll taste over the course of several days or a week seems well worth it to me.” I must agree with her “food (or should I say chocolate) for thought”; the Castronovo bars that I purchased weeks ago are still being savored. Of course the bars are works of art, but so, too, are the distinctive wrappings, many worthy of framing.
And now, what you’ve been waiting for … the recipes. Several top chefs and chocolatiers have contributed some of the recipes. You just might decide to make one for your valentine. From Champurrado drinking chocolate to olive oil sourdough truffles to Devil Dogs and the recipes below for Ceylon tea fudge sauce and Mayan chocolate mousse, these decadent treats defy expectations of what chocolate should taste like. For recipes for Balsamic Strawberries in Mini Chocolate Cups and Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies visit http://bit.ly/2DP3YnH.
Recipe from Lauren Adler, chief chocophile, and the Chocolopolis team.
To make the mousse, combine the cream and allspice berries in a small saucepan and warm over low heat until the cream around the edge of the saucepan begins to boil. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Cover the top of the pan tightly with plastic wrap to hold in the flavorful vapors of the allspice. Set aside for 30 minutes to let the flavors infuse. Then remove the plastic wrap and fish out the allspice berries.
Combine the butter and chocolate in a medium bowl and microwave at high power for 30 seconds. Check to see if they have melted. If not, microwave in intervals of 10 seconds until they are melted. Add the cream to the melted chocolate and mix well.
Separate the eggs into yolks and whites. Set the whites in the refrigerator to keep them chilled. Whip the egg yolks into the chocolate and cream mixture until they’re just incorporated. With a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the ultra-fine sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
Dish the mousse into six 4-ounce ramekins, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
Send your requests: Which restaurant recipes or other recipes would you like to have? Which food products are you having difficulty finding? Do you have cooking questions? Send them to: Stephen Fries, professor and coordinator of the Hospitality Management Programs at Gateway Community College, at gw-stephen.fries@gwcc.commnet.edu or Dept. FC, Gateway Community College, 20 Church St., 06510. Include your full name, address and phone number. Due to volume, he might not be able to publish every request. For more, go to stephenfries.com.
5th annual Febtoberfest, Feb. 8, 6-9 p.m., Mattituck Museum, 144 West Main St. Waterbury, 203-753-0381. $35 in advance, $40 at the door. In addition to local breweries, guests will have the opportunity to sample American wine from the region and beyond. Tickets at http://bit.ly/2ncHF5k.
Food & Wine Tasting, Feb. 8, 5:30 p.m., Fletcher Cameron Kitchens, 91 Orange St., New Haven, 203-777-7707. $35. Chef Anne Gallagher, owner of a farm-to-table catering company in Litchfield demonstrates how to make winter soups. An educational guided wine tasting by The Wine Thief will be offered. Info and tickets at http://bit.ly/2Dr7dWF.
Consiglio’s Cooking Demonstration and Dinner: Feb. 22, 6:30 p.m., Consiglio’s Restaurant, 165 Wooster St., New Haven, 203-865-4489 (reservations required), $65 (beverages, tax and gratuity not included). Preparation of a 4-course meal is demonstrated. Each course is shown, step-by-step, and then served. Learn how to make some of Consiglio’s trademark dishes: Oysters Rockefeller, baby spinach bacon orange pine nut vinaigrette, homemade lobster ravioli plum tomato cream sauce, white chocolate creme brulee.