Regular diary and
gossip from our editor, Martin Christy.
The Blog is Created (mostly) on the
London Underground using an average Smartphone,
T9 text input and Word Pad, so expect
inaccuracies, confused references and
grammar induced by shaking!
Paul A. Young25 May 2006So good to see that friend of Seventypercent, Paul Young, finally opened his own chocolatier shop in the middle of one of London’s well known antiques areas, at 33 Camden Passage, Islington, London, N1 8EA – just off Upper Street and a few minutes walk from Angel tube. Though the 38 or 19 buses from the centre of town might be easier. Almost anyone who’s a budding chocolatier in the UK seems to have been on one of Paul’s courses, and of course there’s his regular appearances on the UK Food channel. Paul even managed to win awards for his chocolates when the shop was just a twinkle in the eye, so that’s got to be good going.
You often hear this kind of thing in marketing hype - ‘all homemade on the premises’ and that kind of stuff. The basement of the shop really is the kitchen though (ask nicely and you might get a peek), where ALL the products are made (apart from the maker's bars, from Valrhona, Amedei, etc.) Most are made by Paul, who works away tempering the chocolate on a surprisingly small marble slab. It’s not that hard to choose the best ingredients and only make fresh produce, but not many people seem to be able to do it. Economies of scale I guess. It’s all real and fresh in Paul’s kitchen, fresh cream, no preservatives and only made with a top selection of chocolate – the Valrhona Crus or Amedei.
The shop itself is an elegant delight, drawing in the influence of its surroundings (check out the haberdashery cabinet!), simple yet with an old feel, but not too chintzy.
We recently held the Academy of Chocolate monthly meeting in the shop. We were treated to a session with Alessio Tesserio (founder of Amedei), who was pretty excited about the shop and what’s going on in the UK at the moment - he told us that in Italy they simply don’t have this kind of shop dedicated purely to chocolate.
Most of all, it’s great to see a fine chocolate shop open outside of the Chelsea area or the West End. As a North Londoner, great to finally have something closer to home. Put the shop on your chocolate tour list if you can, or if you’re a local and haven’t found it yet, better sort yourself out!
See Paul's website for more details and directions www.payoung.net.
Melt23 March 2006Londonites should check out the new Notting Hill based chocolatier 'Melt'. A wonderful, designed venue more like a trendy bar, boasting an in shop kitchen where chocolate supremo Damian Allsop creates beautiful fresh chocolates before your very eyes. The twist is Damian's preference for a water based ganache, with little cream in sight, though Manor House milk is sometimes used. The result is very light and appealing, though these really are fresh, preservative free chocolates, so best eaten fast!
For their address and a few more details, check out their website at www.meltchocolates.com. Melt are obviously devoting more time to creating fantastic chocolates than to websites though!
On the agenda18 November 2005In a bout of selfish promotion here, I would like to point UK readers in the direction of this month's She magazine, December 2005 edition, now on the stands. The magazine, currently celebrating 50 years as one of the leading women's magazines in the UK, features a six page spread on origin chocolate, written by yours truly.
My thanks go to Josa Young and her colleagues at She for giving space to fine chocolate, and I think this is a real indication of how the whole movement is going forward. A few years ago you might have seen something about some oversweet candy or worse, now fine chocolate begins to be treated more like wine.
Another step in this positive direction comes from the publication of Chloé Doutre-Roussel’s new book, 'The Chocolate Connoisseur'. Chloe is a fellow founder of the Academy of Chocolate and is well known as one of the most outspoken critics of 'lesser' chocolate. She makes this point very publicly in her book, especially in the special edition where you get to try 'mass market' bars along side the good stuff! You can find out more about Chloe and her book at her new website www.chloechocolat.com.
New British wave13 November 2005As regulars will have seen, the blog's been a little slack of late. This hasn't been because of lack of interest - just too much has been going on recently in the fine chocolate world. All good though, as this week sees us recovering from the Chocolate Festival here in the UK.
A main feature of the week was the announcement of the first 'World Chocolate Awards' from the Academy of Chocolate - the Academy's first major public event. The press were very busy with the rather over simplified message of 'the world's best chocolate bar', referring to Amedei Chuao, winner of 3 golds. (One as the base of a filled chocolate). Actually though a number of bars did rather well - though surprisingly Cluizel didn't perform on the day.
The really pleasant surprise though was the success of upcoming British chocolatiers in the truffle and filled chocolate categories. Entry was not restricted to the UK and internationally recognised masters of the art such as La Maison du Chocolat received due commendation. A large number of awards though were presented to British chocolatiers in the filled chocolate and truffle categories. Chococo of Swanage and William Curley and Paul A Young based in London both achieved gold, while L'artisan du chocolat where named best UK chocolatier. That the entries had a definite British slant is not really surprising given this is the first year of a UK based competition, that the British did so well is certainly good news and provides hope for the many aspiring chocolatiers we met during the Chocolate Festival.
In contrast some big name high street brands like Godiva were disqualified for the use of preservatives and other artificial ingredients. And 'Bean to Bar' was another matter altogether, as there are no UK based fine chocolate makers producing their own chocolate from the bean, despite the claims of some.
So all in all an excellent start with substantial press interest, giving us some real hope of moving forward with the fine chocolate cause in the UK.
For full details of the winners of the Awards, see the Academy of Chocolate website.
Academy of Chocolate website launch28 September 2005I know there's been a lot of talk about the Academy of Chocolate for sometime, and some of you might wonder if things are going to happen or if it's all just a lot of hot air. Well the Academy finally has a website - all-be-it a little basic - and the first World Chocolate awards are now officially announced. I really believe the Academy will be a long lasting institution and make a serious contribution to the quality of chocolate and knowledge in the UK and around the world, and we’ll all be working hard to try and make this happen.
It's a long process though and the wheels have rather turned slowly, but to good effect. Look on it like a cocoa tree planted two years ago during the first London Chocolate Week. We know it's a good variety, but we have to wait a few more years to really appreciate the results - though let's not take this analogy too far and wait another five years! I know there will be many of you out there eager to get involved, and we'll be keen to bring together all those interested together in the near future, just as soon as we can sort out membership administration.
