As usual with most BBC programmes featuring fine chocolate, my hopes of something informative are dashed. The BBC have a misinformed policy of not naming brands in their programmes. (Unless the company is larger enough to turn their products into ‘news’, so Cadburys Creme Eggs are ok to feature in the main evening news, apparently).

This policy is understandable if we’re talking Coke or Nike or Kellogs. It doesn’t make much sense for fine chocolate though. In fact, it completely blurs the message and in this case, the point of the programme.

Take the mousse, the first recipe. Only three ingredients are needed – chocolate, sugar, eggs. Blanc tells us “It is actually the quality of the chocolate that is very, very important … if you have a great chocolate, you have a great chocolate mousse.” I absolutely agree, the difference is enormous.

Does choice of ingredients matter?

Do we get to find out what the chocolate Blanc is using is? No, of course not. (Though the sharp-eyed will have spotted ‘Valrhona’ on some of the blocks – which most of the time are childishly turned upside-down.) Raymond Blanc is clearly a Valrhona man, but we’d never find that out without recognising the chocolate or being very canny with our pause buttons.

Do we get any clue what makes the quality of chocolate or how to choose it? No, of course not. Couldn’t we have at least been told it was French?

If we were being shown a matching wine to go with the mousse, we’d be told the region, vinyard, vintage. Here, nothing. We just get the extremely patronising “There are hundreds of varieties of chocolate on the market, and for Raymond, 100% dark chocolate is irresistible”. Is it? Any 100%? Paste chocolate, as Valrhona would call it, has to be pretty good to be eaten at 100%. Manjari can just about do it. That’s not true of many others.

I feel sorry for Raymond giving his staff Dairy Milk. If you can’t win people over with Manjari 64%, then you’re definitely doing something wrong. Or was that ‘reality’ editing?

We get to the Delice. “For this, Raymond’s using a dark chocolate with seventy per cent cocoa solids” we’re told in the sexiest drama-doc voice possible, as if this is somehow a sign of quality or is going to give viewers any idea of how to create this recipe. Percentage is not a sign of quality in chocolate. (For those who do want to know, the chocolate he used is almost certainly Valrhona Guanaja.)

Brands matter

Fine chocolate IS about the brands, and it’s about the artisans behind those brands. It’s not about random bulk packaged chocolate bought from supermarkets. The taste is completely different.

So a whole programme of chocolate recipes from a great chef, with no hint at all allowed about how to choose the prime ingredient.

We’re told all the time how easy these recipes are. Well, maybe, but they’re sure not going to taste very good if you’ve just popped down to Lidl and spent £0.89p on on 100gs of unbranded 70% ‘dark’ chocolate.

By the end we’re at William Curley’s Richmond shop – great of course to see Raymond and William together. Knowing William, I am pretty sure he will have talked about the quality of chocolate he uses. (William exclusively uses Amedei). Obviously this is edited out.

We have a nice time in William’s kitchen, but no mention at all of ingredient quality, no mention of freshness. These are key to the modern chocolatier, choice of chocolate is king. No clue at all why William is one of the UKs best. Doing it ‘by hand’ is apparently enough according this programme.

It was good to see Blanc in action, but all we got was chocolate fudge.

I would like to be reassured by the BBC that next time I watch a wine programme, they’ll be no mention of the names of any vinyards or companies, no matter how prestigious. Or perhaps we could have a more grown up policy about fine chocolate?

The post Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets – BBC fudge appeared first on Seventy%.

Continuing outside the realm of convention, the chocolate tastes almost entirely like Early Grey tea infused with the floral essence of lavender. Turned ecstatically to 11, the volume of these inherently docile flavors is blistering, almost taking center stage completely if not for the piquant and spicy undertones that contribute much needed balance and contrast, until things end decidedly fruity, namely blueberries and something red.

Amano has done a good job at highlighting the intensity of the chocolate, both in terms of chocolatiness and flavor volume, making it clear they were proud of the quality and wanted everyone to take note as well. Despite this, though, the texture is noticeably grainy and slightly below par of industry standards. Although it does take the sheen off an otherwise brilliant flavor the chocolate as a whole is still a resounding success as it not only differentiates itself from everything else on the market but also strengthens the distinction and prominence of the Dominican origin. Applause goes to Amano for creating such a wonderful chocolate.

The post Amano – Dos Rios – review – Hans-Peter Rot appeared first on Seventy%.

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Taste of Chocolate

Taste of Chocolate is our new series of tasting events bringing a whole new approach to the art of chocolate appreciation.

Fine chocolate is fast becoming as sophisticated as wine, yet we are conditioned to eat chocolate as a sweet snack with little chance of noticing its finer points.

These new events will help to unravel all those years of chocolate snacking by working through each of our chocolate senses one by one.

Rather than tell you what chocolate you should like, Taste of Chocolate gives you the tools to start you on your own journey towards becoming a chocolate connoisseur.

Through our courses and workshops we explore the gastranomic senses with a series of interactive modules, awakening and educating our palates along the way.

Two hour starter course

Our two hour starter course is suitable for beginners and connoisseurs alike. Using fun and engaging games and taste experiments we will awaken your chocolate senses.

We’ll take you through the basics of tasting chocolate and leave you with some simple steps that will allow you to quickly tell a good chocolate from a bad one and set you well on the way to becoming a connoisseur.

Info

Book your tickets through PayPal – no account needed, all major cards accepted.

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7.30pm-9.30pm, Thurs 16 Mar 2010
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
London Members’ Rooms
19 Greville Street
London
EC1N 8SQ

The post Taste of Chocolate workshop – 16 March appeared first on Seventy%.

Taste of Chocolate

Special date as part of The Chocolate Festival, Brighton and Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival.

Taste of Chocolate is our new series of tasting events bringing a whole new approach to the art of chocolate appreciation.

Fine chocolate is fast becoming as sophisticated as wine, yet we are conditioned to eat chocolate as a sweet snack with little chance of noticing its finer points. These new events will help to unravel all those years of chocolate snacking by working through each of our chocolate senses one by one.

Rather than tell you what chocolate you should like, Taste of Chocolate gives you the tools to start you on your own journey towards becoming a chocolate connoisseur.

Through our courses and workshops we explore the gastranomic senses with a series of interactive modules, awakening and educating our palates along the way.

Three hour starter course

Our extended three hour starter course is suitable for beginners and connoisseurs alike.  Using fun and engaging games and taste experiments we will awaken your chocolate senses.

We’ll take you through the basics of tasting chocolate and leave you with some simple steps that will allow you to quickly tell a good chocolate from a bad one and set you well on the way to becoming a connoisseur.

Info

Book your tickets through PayPal – no account needed, all major cards accepted.

.

7.30pm-9.30pm, Sun 21 Mar 2010
myhotel brighton
17 Jubilee Street
Brighton
BN1 1GE
EC1N 8SQ

The post Taste of Chocolate workshop – Brighton, 21 March appeared first on Seventy%.

Chocolate making stages

The Connoisseurs Club is our new series of fine chocolate appreciation sessions for more advanced chocolate enthusiasts. These new events will give you a chance to share your passion for fine and origin chocolate with fellow enthusiasts and guests such as our official reviewers or industry specialists.

The event will be led by Seventypercent, the format though will be more informal than our regular tastings. We will be providing a selection of the best and most interesting chocolate at each event, but you will also be welcome to bring along any samples you have found for group discussion and tasting – no matter the quality.

Connoisseurs Club tastings will be a chance to try some of the latest samples from new and established chocolate makers – including works in progress, source ingredients like cacao, and will be an opportunity to experience the weird and wonderful in fine chocolate.

This month’s featured topics will include:

• New US artisans – samples from new ‘micro-batch’  US chocolate makers
• Green & Black’s 70% – has it got better?
• Madagascar field trip – Jennifer Earle of Chocolate Ecstasy Tours gives us an update
• Early preview of bean samples soon to be made into chocolate by a top maker

While beginners are welcome, we will be giving only the briefest of introductions into how to taste chocolate and will be going straight into tasting and comparing this month’s samples. As usual, there will also be a chance for a whisky and chocolate match at the end of the event.

(Please note: if you are bringing your own samples along for the event, please ensure they are fit for retail consumption and commercially available, unless otherwise agreed in advance. In general, unflavoured dark bars will be of the most interest).

Info

Book your tickets through PayPal – no account needed, all major cards accepted.

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7.30pm-9.30pm, Thurs 20 Apr 2010
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
London Members’ Rooms
19 Greville Street
London
EC1N 8SQ

The post The Connoisseurs Club – advanced tasting session 20 April 2010 appeared first on Seventy%.