Michael Lowe is Head Chocolatier at Paul A Young’s Wardour Street shop. We caught up with him at Chocolate Unwrapped to find out about a typical day in the life of a chocolatier in one of London’s most famous chocolate shops.
Claire Burnet is one of the founders of Chococo, The Purbeck Chocolate Company. We caught up with her at Chocolate Unwrapped to talk about her chocolate cookbook and some exciting new chocolates Chococo have coming for Christmas!
The Chococo Chocolate Cookbook is available to buy on Amazon, RRP £16.99.
Gay Paris, how I love thee. This was my sixth visit to the gorgeous city which I love desperately for its incredible pastries and chocolate and general food as well, and for the stunning architecture, though equally get frustrated by the busyness, compounded by people who seem unable to queue or even walk in a straight line, and the tendency for Parisian men to believe the world is their toilet. When the stench of urine overwhelms the freshly baked bread smell that pervades most of Paris, it’s less than pleasant.
**I’ve just arrived again for Salon du Chocolate and thought I might finally post this write-up I began in May!**
On my first visit to Paris, around six years ago, I was on a date. The poor guy was practically dragged from one chocolate shop to another. He was perhaps a little too exuberant in his early participation because he became green within a few hours and was then only able to wait outside the boutiques for me to make my purchases to take away. We did manage to climb the Eiffel Tower and a few other touristy visits too. My next visit was with an equally chocolate obsessed friend and we walked eleven miles trying to get to as many chocolate shops as possible. I’ve been back with more chocolate obsessed friends since and each time I come there are new shops opened and old ones to revisit. Franck Kestner – the maker of my favourite filled chocolate bar that I first tasted last April on my way back from Madagascar – I discovered opened his first Parisian shop around the time of Salon du Chocolat last year. I sought it out and picked up two bars, one for me and one for Dom, and his apparent trademark “Canelle” that is not actually a pastry but a chocolate cake confection. I wasn’t enormously fond of this, a little too sweet for me, but cute.
The most significant chocolate arrival since my last visit was Un Dimanche a Paris (A Sunday in Paris), a chocolate concept store that opened a few months ago, the vision of Pierre Cluizel, one of Michel’s sons. It is huge. Ten times larger than most chocolate boutiques. But this is more than a boutique, it’s a restaurant and a teaching kitchen and a gorgeous lounge bar. Everything is done in immaculate detail to feel truly high class and luxurious. The restaurant is definitely aiming for Michelin, with its attentive service, excellent bread and butter (oh, that butter!) and perfectly plated dishes. Oh, and the high prices. The chocolates and pastries are similarly priced with other fine chocolatiers in the city, and well worth it. All of the options on the restaurant menu feature chocolate in some way. As you can imagine, it’s not the most extensive menu. My choice was a little too experimental for my taste but the food was cooked and presented perfectly. Dessert, also experimental, hit the mark completely. I wasn’t sure if it was a language issue when the waitress was describing the dessert special as “le ouf” but she mentioned passionfruit and I decided whatever it was, I wanted to try it. One of the finest desserts I have had in a long time. A perfect ten for presentation, inventiveness and taste, too. The yolk of the egg was a passionfruit coulis and below it a layer of banana ice cream (to call it an ice cream seems so unjust, perhaps a parfait?) layered on a milk chocolate crunchy praline circle. The meringue added extra texture and complemented the other flavours perfectly as well.
In Madagascar last April I met my Swedish twin, a chocolate-obsessed woman named Jenny, who runs chocolate tastings and sells chocolate in Northern Sweden. This year I met my French twin, a woman called Lauranie who runs Esprit Chocolat. Tastings and tours in Paris. She took me to Pierre Marcolini and introduced me to the amazing Hugo et Victor.
Pictures below! I’d write more but there are croissants and chocolate calling! (& I’m off to meet Lauranie again at Salon du Chocolat.) Au revoir, mon cheries!
My friend Kate has started a phenomena. She actually started it years ago, but this year #chocolateweek started trending worldwide on Twitter and all around the world people were talking about the Hershey bar they just had to have or how they planned to celebrate Chocolate Week by making a chocolate cake. The most common comment seemed to be “isn’t every week Chocolate Week?”. It is for me! What’s special about this week is in the UK at least, and especially in London, all of the best chocolatiers are putting on extra special chocolate events. Chocolate dinners and pairings of chocolate with whisky or cheese. My own Chocolate Week Chocolate Tours included a demonstration of chocolate candle making and a chocolate afternoon tea (complete with Choc-chip scones and the most divine chocolate cheesecake).
The highlight of Chocolate Week is Chocolate Unwrapped, an exhibition of chocolate held this weekend at Vinopolis near London Bridge. This is Kate’s main baby and this year it was a truly impressive event, filling two gorgeous, high-arched brick rooms, teeming with chocolatiers and chocolate makers and members of the public keen to taste, and to spend. It’s £10 to get in and the exhibitors were generous with their samples. So much so that some had sold all the stock they brought with them for the weekend by 5pm yesterday.
There were evens brands there that I had never heard of, or some that I had but had not yet been able to taste. I’m heading off to my Belgravia Chocolate Tour now but if you’re on your way to Chocolate Unwrapped make sure you check out Benoit’s bean to bar chocolate bars in the corner, and Abanico in almost the diagonal opposite corner of the two rooms, and Idilio bean-to-bar on the far back wall and Rasmus Bojesaan’s single bean-to-bar bar near the Chocolate & Love stand. These are all ones you won’t find anywhere else in London. Every single stand has something delicious to taste though. Have fun! Later we’ll put another post with some interviews we took on the day.
Chocolate Week starts tomorrow. The busiest week in any chocoholic’s calendar. I have already resigned myself to the fact that I will not be able to do as much as I would like to.
Two great chocolate makers got in their main events in advance of Chocolate Week, yet still managed to run these events – their book launches - on the same Thursday evening. Luckily the times were staggered so I was fortunate enough to be able to make it to both. I would have hated to miss either.
First up was William Curley, many-times-winner of the UK’s Best Chocolatier. William, along with his wife, fellow patissier, Suze, is a consummate professional and perfectionist. His chocolate and patisserie always look like pieces of art, polished and gorgeous, every single one. As William said on the evening, this is as much to his credit, as that of his team, a lovely group of people who always look after the Chocolate Tour guests beautifully. Yesterday I was chatting with Lucie, one of his top chefs who has been with him for four and a half years, and she said that the best thing about working for William is that there is always more to learn.
William’s book was released earlier in the year in Japanese (Suze is Japanese) and now we can all share in its detail and incredible photography in the English version. I don’t actually have the book (yet!), but having a quick flick through on the night it appears he has revealed all the secrets of his award-winning desserts. I don’t think it’ll stop people coming to his boutique when they see how many steps go into creating each one. I hope that there are enough recipes for lesser-talented home cooks to make deliciousness too! Certainly each step is very detailed should you want to have an attempt at something more elaborate (the tart below, perhaps?).
I tasted almost all of the desserts there (four, I think?) and was transported to heaven by this particular salted caramel, praline, raspberry and chocolate tart (all of my favourite things together and it WORKED).
Too soon, we had to excuse ourselves to get across town to the Valrhona book launch.
I describe Valrhona as the largest of the truly fine chocolate makers (not to say that some of the larger chocolate companies don’t also make some fine chocolate). The distinguishing factor is that everything Valrhona makes is of superior quality, and you’ll see it on many a Michelin menu. It is also the brand that made me truly fall in love with fine chocolate. I could eat Manjari (a 64% dark chocolate using a blend of beans, including ones from Madagascar) every single day of my life and be a very happy girl.
The rooms at Claridge’s devoted to this launch were mostly filled with what looked like male patisserie chefs, enjoying what is probably a rare night off from their 13-15 hour days. There was certainly some talent in this room, including the incredible Pierre Herme, who makes the best Mille Feuille I have ever tasted. (Unfortunately only available in Paris and Tokyo.)
Valrhona’s book is also dedicated to cooking with chocolate. I couldn’t even get my hands on one of these but I saw it tucked under the arms of some lucky folk and it is a hefty-looking tome. They are referring to it as an Encyclopedia and it has been contributed to by some outstanding pastry chefs, so this is another one I would like to collect for the shelves of my new flat.
Around the edge of the second room were some of the Claridge’s patisserie chefs (there are 15 in total), standing guard behind tables of chocolate desserts, all recipes taken from the book. My favourite was one that a guest referred to as a “posh Twix”: shortbread biscuit, chewy, slightly salted caramel, enrobed in chocolate and decorated with slivered almonds.
I’m not sure how Chocolate Week is going to top these two events filled with incredible chocolate desserts, but I’m looking forward to finding out! I’m running two special Belgravia Tours & Teas this week (one on Friday afternoon at 2pm and one on Sunday 16th at 11am). We start at William Curley and visit Peggy Porschen for cakes, Pierre Herme for macarons, Rococo for more chocolate and finish with a Chocolate Afternoon tea at a Knightsbridge hotel. Five joyful hours of total indulgence. There are a few tickets left here. I hope to see you!
Whether you make it on a tour or not, I wish you a wonderful Chocolate Week!
Jen xx
A uniquely branded Hotel Chocolat shop in Borough Market, the heart of London's foodie district.
