The Chocolate Tasting Club News - D168

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One of our Chocolate Diploma students spends time in the development kitchen learning how our innovative chocolates are created by the chocolatiers.

Issue 1311

NewsClubThe monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club

Cocoa wins over CosmoOur Cocoa Juvenate Body Butter scoops a Beauty Award.

See page 7

sail the Stormy SeasOur new boat has an eventful first voyage to Saint Lucia.

Turn to page 6

Target:

£45,000

Current Amount:

£28,663

Ghana appeal

If you would like to contribute to the appeal to fund the Osuben Medical Clinic (ChpS).

please send a cheque for whatever amount you can give made payable to: The Cocoa Farmers’ Fund, and send to: CTC Ghana appeal, FReepOST anG10659, Royston, SG8 5YD.

If we suggested that you ‘conch some Trinitario ICS95 to make a gianduja’* – would that sentence make sense to you?

Chances are that we’ve already lost you. But the pleasures of chocolate do not end once the bar is gone; truly understanding it brings a whole new level of enjoyment.

The Chocolate Diploma is Hotel Chocolat’s own way of encouraging this new appreciation in its staff, and it’s widely popular. 52 new students have completed...

The making and history of chocolate is surprisingly complex and occasionally confusing, but it’s utterly enthralling to learn about. Hotel Chocolat opens its employees’ eyes to the magical world they’ve stepped into…

ExpLOrIng the Universe of Chocolate

2

editor

COnTEnTS

Letter from the guest

Send your letters to The Chocolate Tasting Club,

Mint house, Royston SG8 5hl, or simply email editor@ hotelchocolat.co.uk or

via our website: www.chocs.co.uk. We are waiting to hear from you!

Contributors: Iain Ball, Victoria elliott, Robert nsiah, Terry Waters

Design: andy linney, Sarah McKewan © The Chocolate Tasting Club plc 2013

t his month’s Guest Editor is Hotel Chocolat’s Senior Copywriter Iain Ball, who began writing about the Chocolate Tasting Club

and its collections earlier this year.For me, the most amazing thing I’ve discovered since I began working for the Chocolate Tasting Club is that every selction and every chocolate has a story.

Like Marcel proust’s tale of being transported back to memories of childhood after nibbling on a madeleine cake in In Search of Lost Time, every recipe in our selections has a kind of personal connection to the chocolatier who created it – from a memory of buying a homemade apple and blackcurrant jam at a jumble sale (which inspired the Jumble Truffle) to a recollection of W. Somerset Maugham’s description of the bison grass vodka – “like listening to music by moonlight” – that features in our Zubrowka Vodka Truffle.

If you look, you’ll find stories everywhere in our chocolate selections – in the provenance Cards in our Fortified collections, with their centuries-old legends about the eccentric characters who first created the spirits and wines and liqueurs we use; and in the tangled histories of the tropical regions where the rare and vintage cocoa of our rabot collections are grown.

So, for me, every time I lift up the lid on a Chocolate Tasting Club selection, I am entering a sort of library, a labyrinth of myths and tales. Knowingly or not, each bite connects all of us to a history of exploration and adventure dating back to the first European encounters with cocoa in the 15th Century, and even beyond, to stories lost in the mists of past millennia, to the time of the Aztecs and other Mesoamericans, for whom the cocoa bean was a magical gateway to the realm of the gods.

Let the stories continue!

Iain Ball

Senior Copywriter and guest Editor

gUEST EDITOrSHIp will be from a wide cross-section of people in the club’s orbit – fellow cocoa growers, eminent people in their field, leaders with a point of view, club members with an interesting angle and the occasional celebrity member. To nominate or apply for a future guest Editorship, drop us a line [email protected]

Page

1, 8-9 The Chocolate Diploma: exploring the Universe of Chocolate

3 Cocoa countries: Madagascar

4 Prize draw results

4-5 New special: Christmas hampers

6 Saint Lucia: a high Seas adventure

7 Awards: peTa & Cosmopolitan

10-11 Monthly box scores & feedback

12 New special: Christmas

13 News: Ryan Kelley letter

13 News: now, your scores mean more

14 News: The Chocolate Tasting Rules

14 Results: Summer Desserts

15 News: Beware of Dog

15 Pioneers of chocolate: François-louis Cailler

Considered by many to be the best cocoa in the world and loved for its unique fruity taste, Madagascan cocoa is one of the country’s most treasured exports, and demand for it is only increasing.

Just a short 65 million years ago, the landmass we now know as Madagascar became one of

the largest islands in the world; as big as France, Belgium, the netherlands and Luxembourg put together. The rainforests of the north are flourishing due to demand for the delicious cocoa grown here, with the rare Criollo bean being particularly prevalent.

The beans we use are from the Somia plantation in the Sambirano district, where the mineral-rich red soil and rain floods flowing down from the Tsaratanana mountain ranges provide the ideal growing cocoa conditions.

Many growers insist that the fruit trees found previously on the land, with the prominence of vanilla, pepper and bay rose nearby, have superbly enhanced the flavour of the native cacao. Unfortunately, this high quality comes with its drawbacks. The small, family-run farms are increasingly under threat from armed thieves stealing cocoa pods from the trees. Some villages have reported thefts worth up to £630 – a fortune to them – and are calling for the government to provide them with the same level of protection as vanilla farmers.

But the flavours in the beans will explain more about this unique island than words ever could. To experience this coveted cocoa, try our rabot 1745 Somia plantation 72% Dark, with its warming roasted notes, a flourish of raspberries and cherries, and an encore of roasted nibs and a whisper of coffee.

The unique fruity notes in Madagascan cocoa have made it highly popular with chefs and chocolate-lovers around the world. Try our Somia Plantation 72% Dark to experience it.

Madagascar

What does cocoa mean to…

Madagascar

4

Reserve your collection now AT www.ChoCS.Co.uk/ChRISTMAS oR CALL 08444 933 933

Let us have your scores online or by post and you’ll automatically be entered into this Prize Draw every month to win Hotel Chocolat goodies!

classic selectioNOur prize draw winner is Mr John Winkle from Beadle who wins a Sleekster Everything Selection. Next month’s prize is a Nutty Selection.

Purist selectioNOur prize draw winner is Ms Caroline Hunter from glasgow wins a Selection of Bars from Trinidad Cocoa Association. Next month’s prize is a selection of Saint Lucia Bars.

all Milk selectioNOur prize draw winner is Mrs Lesley Bennett from Berkeley who wins a Sleekster Milk Selection. Next month’s prize is a Milk Adventure Peepster Box.

eleMeNts selectioNOur prize draw winner is Mr Stuart Dunn from romsey wins a Mississippi Mud pie giant Slab. Next month’s prize is a Triple Chocolate Wham Bam Giant Slab.

dark selectioNOur prize draw winner is Miss Carol Bullett from South Croydon who wins a Dark Signature Selection. Next month’s prize is a Dark Chocolate Dipping Adventure.

scoriNg is easY & FuN – do it online at www.chocs.co.uk or pop your scorecard in your payment envelope!

Each of our special Christmas hampers showcases a selection of products from Hotel Chocolat’s unique Cocoa Cuisine range. From perfect alcoholic pairings, to nibbly snacks and indulgent new spreads, it’s a cocoa pantry to delight and surprise every innovative chef.

The 70% dark chocolate buttons are ideal for baking into cakes or cookies – or for snacking on when in need of a quick chocolate fix. If you’re in search of an exotic escape, the Cocoa Growers biscuits are delicately warmed by Caribbean spices and flecked with pure roasted cocoa nibs, so you can shut your eyes and pretend you’re relaxing on our Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia.

Three cheers Prize Draw CHOCOLATE sCOrErs’

Reserve your collection now AT www.ChoCS.Co.uk/ChRISTMAS oR CALL 08444 933 933

FOr CHrISTMASThree cheers

The christmas Treasure chest – Our Christmas collection with a bottle of Special Reserve Ruby port 375ml, two Rabot 1745 rare

and vintage chocolate bars, a superb recipe book and a stylish apron, moreish hazelnuts & nibs, and delicious praline spread! £100

The chef’s christmas Hamper – Specially made for being creative in the kitchen: Winter puddings with special dessert recipe cards, 70% cocoa dark chocolate buttons

for baking and snacking, special Spiced Drinking Chocolate, and a Cocoa Cuisine Tea Towel. £50

The cocoa Tea & Biscuits collection – enjoy delicious shortbread Cocoa Grower Biscuits and Verandah Biscuits with cup of steaming Cocoa

Shell Infusion Tea. £28

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

West Indies

Gulf of Mexico

North Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea

Louisiana

Cape Coral MiamiThe Bahamas

Dominican Republic

Puerto Rico

Saint Lucia

Fort LauderdaleLake Okeechobee

Saint Martin

Martinique

news

6

“i’ve lost all contact with the Captain,” is not something you’d want to hear about a voyage across the Caribbean Sea, but

that’s precisely the news that Hotel Chocolat’s co-founders Angus and peter received about the fate of our brand new boat, Boucanier II, in the middle of its journey to our Boucan Hotel.

Fortunately, there were no guests aboard – yet. Our old hotel boat, Boucanier I, had served us very well, taking our guests on exciting sunset cruises around the piton mountains, or out exploring the island’s West Coast. But we decided it was time to invest in something even better, tailor-made for us in Louisiana, new Orleans. The route was simply laid out from Louisiana, past puerto rico and finally to home. But the weather had other plans for Captain Curt and his crew.

At first it was plain sailing and spirits were high. Soup was cooked on top of still-hot engine manifolds in place of a stove; ham and cheese sandwiches were served with authentic Trinidadian relish; beer was plentiful… but the gods – ironically enough – deserted them just past the island of Les Saintes.

From there the crew battled huge seas and

strong winds, constantly fighting against the pull of the open sea. For hour upon hour they battled the storm, the crew taking turns at the helm to lessen the pain of such intense physical exertion, but for some time it seemed as though they would never reach land.

Eventually they reached the calmer waters of Dominica; a destination that had never been on their original route, but provided some much needed relief. The crew were beaten black and blue by the squall, but our Boucanier II had more than proved her sea-worthiness, allowing the Captain to run hard for the coast of Martinique – the last stop before Saint Lucia.

The going was tough once again, but thankfully a smooth sea awaited them on their last course to Saint Lucia, so Captain Curt opened the throttles to home, 16 days after first leaving new Orleans.

The last beer, enjoyed in the shadow of the pitons at sunset, tasted as good as any champagne as they steered the Boucanier II into port by the lights of pigeon Island. Still in fine shape, she’s now free to carry out her duties: to take our guests on – slightly less eventful – adventures of their own.

Boucanier II

Our Boucan Hotel in Saint Lucia was treated to a new boat this summer; but the journey getting it there turned out to be more adventurous than we’d imagined…

a high seas Adventure

7

over the years our chocolates have made us proud. We’ve won so many great Taste

Awards and Academy of Chocolate Awards that we’ve almost run out of room on the mantelpiece. But perhaps the most unexpected award we’ve received recently has come from the international animal rights organisation pETA – people For the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who have honoured our Hazelnut Bûche Chocolate Log with their Best Vegan Confectionary Award 2013.

Yvonne Taylor, who had the enviable job of judging all the confectionary entries, told us: “More than any other product, the staff at pETA went absolutely crazy about it. We couldn’t believe it was really vegan!”

It’s not just our chocolate winning awards this month – our Cocoa Juvenate Body Butter has also been lucky enough to receive Best Body Moisturiser in the Cosmopolitan Beauty Awards 2013.

It’s high praise indeed, for such an iconic magazine to place our moisturiser amongst

And who can blame them? It’s an exceptionally soft, smooth chocolate, made with dark gianduja and studded with hazelnuts and pistachios. It was also awarded two gold stars at the great Taste Awards earlier this year, so it’s clearly just as delicious for vegans and carnivores alike!

some of the world’s best beauty brands, but we’re more than happy to rub shoulders with the likes of Christian Dior, Lancôme and Estée Lauder. The comments were almost enough to make us blush too:

“I loved this! It looks gorgeous and smells divine – fresh, citrusy and exotic… (I was expecting it to smell of chocolate but it doesn’t). It contains argan oil, which made my skin amazingly smooth. This would make a great gift.”

Cocoa can do so much more than produce incredible chocolate, and our Cocoa Juvenate range draws upon the true essence of the bean to create products that soothe the skin and revitalise the mind. You just need to sink back, relax and let your imagination transport you to the exotic home of Cocoa Juvenate – our rabot Estate in Saint Lucia – and the rest of the world will slowly fade away… Find out more at www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/cocoa-juvenate

BeST In ShOWWe’ve received another award to add to our collection, but this one’s a little different…

a Beautiful wiN

awards

99

cover story – continued

...the course just since August 2013 and 45 store managers and assistant managers from across the country are about to start. Students move through five modules, each focusing on an area of chocolate knowledge: the history of cacao; chocolate as food; the journey from tree to bar; engaged ethics and the international chocolate market.

Along their way, students pick up a host of information to enrich the chocolate experience for our customers (and to impress people at parties). For example, it’s a common misconception that Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover cocoa beans. In reality, on the 15th August 1502, Columbus came across a group of dug-out canoes off the coast of Mexico. He paid attention to the fine garments, small axes and copper onboard, but ignored the cacao beans and died four years later without ever having tasted chocolate. The first European to encounter cocoa was in fact Hernan Cortes, a Spaniard tasked with bringing down the Aztec Empire in 1519.

If we skip a few hundred years forward in history, we find the state of chocolate production leaving a lot to be desired. In the 1800s, the move of chocolate from the elite to the mass market led to some shocking shortcuts in the name of cost reduction. rather than using expensive cacao butter, companies were known to use mutton suet and even ground bricks to bulk out their products. Thankfully, this led to the introduction of the British Food and Drug Act in 1860.

For one last little nugget from our Chocolate Diploma, did you know that chocolate might taste differently depending on when you taste it? As we go about our day, the chemical levels in our brain change in response to various stimuli, reflecting the mood we’re in. These are

the same chemicals that carry messages from our taste receptors to the brain when we put something in our mouths, so altered chemical levels will pick out bitterness or sweetness in a different way.

The students are often set tasks to hone their tasting skills, so give this test a go:

Working with a partner, select two bars from different regions with a similar cocoa percentage and break off three pieces, two from one bar and one from another. Ask them to try each piece in turn and deduce which two are from the same bar. It should help you understand the vast variations in cacao beans.

Helen, based at our factory in Huntingdon, even found that the Diploma benefitted her in her personal life as well as her job: “I think one of the other benefits of this has been having the confidence to discuss and debate with other people. Also, my friends have been really impressed by what I’ve told them!”

So not only does our Chocolate Diploma show our commitment to cocoa and establish our staff as acknowledged experts in their field; it’s also a fun and engaging way of learning about a truly fascinating subject. We may soon be opening our classes to members of the public who want to learn as much as they can about the Chocolate Universe; so if you’re ready to head back to school, keep your eyes on us.

*Trinitario – a type of cacao bean: a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero, with delicate flavours, but easier to grow than Criollo and more resistant to disease. about 15% of the world’s crop.ICS 95 – The classif ication system for cocoa on our plantation in Saint lucia. each bean with a different genotype is given a different ICS number.

Gianduja – (zwan-DO-ya) a blend of chocolate, very finely ground hazelnuts and sugar, even silkier and smoother than a praline and made with more hazelnut.

Left – (Middle left and bottom left) Graduates from 2008 proudly pose after completing their diplomas; and new students try their hand at chocolate making

I think one of the other benefits of this has been having the confidence to discuss and debate with other people.“ ”

ExpLOrIng the Universe of Chocolate

10

scores

Bourbon Truffle

Pecan Praline

Utterly Nutty

Lemon Tart

Dominican Republic 73% Milk

no. Chocolate name Chocolatier 10/10 Average

1 Pecan Praline Olivier Nicod 25% 8.6

2 Summer Tart Olivier Nicod 25% 8.4

3 Coconut & Raspberry Olivier Nicod 24% 8.4

4 Bourbon Truffle Rhona Macfadyen 23% 8.0

5 Coffee Caramel Kiri Kalenko 22% 8.3


1 Bourbon Truffle Rhona Macfadyen 24% 8.3

2 Hazelnut & Ginger Crunch Rhona Macfadyen 22% 8.3

3 Americano Baton Tasting Club 20% 8.4


5 Praline Crisp Olivier Nicod 19% 8.5

dark SELECTIOn – K97


1 Utterly Nutty Rhona Macfadyen 22% 8.6


3 Caramel Milk Chocolate Tasting Club 18% 8.6

4 Summer Tart Olivier Nicod 18% 8.5

5 Praline Crisp Olivier Nicod 18% 8.8

eleMeNts SELECTIOn – S75


1 Dominican Republic 73% Milk Olivier Nicod 38% 8.7

2 Hacienda Iara Guerande Salted Almond Praline

Olivier Nicod 24% 8.2

3 Chuao Feuilletine Buche Kiri Kalenko 24% 8.0

4 Buche of Single Estate Ecuadorian Olivier Nicod 22% 8.2

5 Trinidad 68% Pistachio Kiri Kalenko 20% 7.7

raBot 1745 SELECTIOn – p29


1 Lemon Tart Rhona Macfadyen 42% 8.7

2 Belgian Milk Chocolate Batons Tasting Club 34% 8.8

3 Bison Grass Truffle Kiri Kalenko 32% 8.1


5 Luscious Lavender Kiri Kalenko 29% 7.5

all Milk SELECTIOn – M19

classic SELECTIOn – D164

11

feedback

pECAn prALInE – CLASSIC I agree with Angus on this one! You just can’t beat a classic praline! Amanda Mckenzie, Aberdeenshire

Bouquet

rASpBErrY LIqUEUr TrUFFLE – CLASSIC really good. You could blow raspberries my way all the time. Pam Livesey, Bolton

Bouquet

LUSCIOUS LAVEnDEr – MILK Weird but good weird. Sophia Matheson, Muswell Hill

Bouquet

HAZELnUT & gIngEr CrUnCH – DArK My wife scored this 19, but she is mad for ginger and nuts for hazelnuts too. I never got to the taste them as she snaffled the lot. Tim Stockil, Great Missenden

Bouquet

OrAngE DArK BATOnS – ELEMEnTS I like to keep those as my pre-workout energy boosters. great flavour, perfect size, and good source of energy. plus who doesn’t need a little encouragement hitting the gym after a long day! Mr Philip Tapkov, London

Bouquet

AMErICAnO BATOnS – DArK The best coffee-flavoured chocolate I’ve ever tasted. Just the right amount of coffee and no bitter aftertaste. Miss Yvonne Ogg, Aberdeen

Bouquet

UTTErLY nUTTY – ELEMEnTS gorgeous – took these with us when we climbed Ben Chonzie – I loved mine so much my husband sacrificed his! Dr Helen Vosper, Arbroath

Bouquet

54% WITH LApSAng TEA – pUrIST nice surprise – good combination, nice unusual texture too! Miss Jackie Gordon, Ringwood

Bouquet

COCOnUT & rASpBErrY – CLASSIC Yuk! Sorry, but this really didn’t work for me. Sweet and sickly... Julia Forda, Salisbury

Brickbat

LUSCIOUS LAVEnDEr – DArK ‘Off the wall’? It missed the wall by about 6 feet. no, no, no, no, no! Miss Jennifer Smith, Uxbridge

Brickbat

Your tastiNg coMMeNts!

a Festive treatThe one present you’re allowed to open before the big day – reserve your

Christmas Collection now and we’ll get it to you by early December

Reserve yours now before Santa eats them all… FOR jUST £23 (plUS £3.95 p&p) aT WWW.ChOCS.CO.UK/ChRISTMaS OR Call 08444 933 933

IF THErE’S EVEr A TIME FOr A LITTLE ExTrA InDULgEnCE, Christmas has got to be it. Our special collections are full of all the tastes

of the season, whether you go for our Classic, Dark, Milk or Fortified selection. If you prefer your favourite chocolates without any festive alcohol added, just

choose the All Milk collection and you’ll still get all the flavour without the kick. Perfect to make sure there’s something for everyone this Christmas!

13

a Festive treatThe one present you’re allowed to open before the big day – reserve your

Christmas Collection now and we’ll get it to you by early December

Dear Editor,

I have just read the latest issue of Club News, and was touched to hear the stories from Robert about the ways the medical centre in Osuben will dramatically improve the lives of the community members it serves. However, I was disappointed to see that the appeal itself seems to have significantly stalled.

I have been lucky enough to visit Osuben and have seen firsthand the long distances that individuals have to travel in order to reach the nearest source of medical help. This, combined with their current lack of adequate transportation, means the state of healthcare is terrible, and completely incomprehensible to most of us in Britain.

What would be a short trip to the doctors for us could be a matter of life and death for them simply because it would take so long.

I want to appeal to all Tasting Club Members: if you have not yet responded to the appeal then please do; or, if you have, consider whether you can offer anything else now. Together we can make this project happen to benefit the lives of the cocoa farmers of the Osuben area.

With best wishes, Ryan Kelley, Tasting Club Member

Ryan kelley is a long-standing club member and has visited west Africa over 50 times through his own charity work. he sent us this passionate letter with some important words concerning our Ghana appeal.

t he rainy season in ghana has finished and the building work on the Medical Centre for Osuben cocoa farmers has

started again. The base has now been concreted and it is time to start the construction of the

building itself. We have funds to get things underway, thanks to kind donations from many Tasting Club members, but there’s not enough so far to complete the work and, as importantly (and expensively), provide all the equipment. now we’ve had an idea that could help and solve another problem simultaneously. In recent times the number of members scoring has dropped off somewhat, so to give it a kick-start and bring it back on track we will donate 25p to the medical centre fund for every completed scorecard we receive for the regular monthly boxes (including Fortified) before the end of the year. The contribution will be made whether you send in the scorecard itself by post on score online. So there’s a challenge – get scoring and we can get the building finished!

nOW, your scores Mean MORe

Everyone lends a hand – the Osuben Chief (left) NNana Omari Somual II dons wellies and gets stuck in; the concrete base is completed.

14

results

Blackcurrant Bombe

Raspberry Mousse

Blueberry Cheesecake

No. Chocolate Name Chocolatier 10/10 Average

1 Blackcurrant Bombe o Nicod 42% 8.9

2 Raspberry Mousse R Macfadyen 40% 8.9

3 Blueberry Cheesecake k kalenko 38% 8.5

4 Strawberry Cheesecake R Macfadyen 36% 8.5

5 Caramel Cheesecake o Niod 34% 8.5

6 Eton Mess o Nicod 32% 8.4

7 Raspberry Crème Fraiche Tart k kalenko 31% 8.3

8 Peaches & Cream R Macfadyen 29% 8.4

9 Crème Brulee Brownie k kalenko 28% 8.2

10 Lemon & Passion Fruit Tart R Macfadyen 24% 8.3

Our Raspberry Mousse is feeling very pleased with herself this month, as she’s managed to score a top place in our Summer Desserts box for the second year running. Blackcurrant Bombe is also a recurring favourite, coming third in 2012 and scoring highly in 2011. Blueberry cheesecake, however, is a brand new winner thanks to our cold press machine, so we’re glad you love it so much!

OUr CLUB MEMBErS ArE InTrIgUIng InDIVIDUALS. WE LOVE HEArIng YOUr pErSOnAL STOrIES ABOUT HOW OUr CHOCOLATES BECOME A pArT OF YOUr DAILY LIVES, especially if you have any weird and wonderful rituals when tasting them (within reason!). A recent letter from a Mrs Campbell told us that her and her husband never start a new box unless there’s one in reserve; they only have one chocolate a day and they always select the same chocolate so they can compare notes. She got us thinking about our own rules for chocolate tasting, to ensure optimum enjoyment and flavour appreciation. The general consensus goes as follows:

savour THe MoMenT Even if that means locking the phone away or popping the kids next door

(it’s probably not advisable the other way around), so be it!

don’T sTarT wiTH THe sTrongesT flavour

Our own tasting meetings start with the creamiest and end on the recipes with a feistier kick – think strawberry or lemon

before booze, chilli or ginger.

Keep iT fun We’re serious about cocoa but less serious

about life, so if you can turn it into a game with an equally-obsessed friend, even better. You could fill out your scorecards separately and then see how similar your scores were;

or do a blind tasting.

Let us know if you have any of your own ideas! Mrs. Campbell – we’d love to thank you for your wise words, but we need your details first. get back in touch with the team and we’ll send you our Star Letter reward!

THe resulTs are in...

suMMer desserts

THe cHocolaTe TasTing

Rules

15

news

DELIgHTFUL BUT DEADLY – A gEnTLE rEMInDEr THAT OUr CHOCOLATES ArEn’T qUITE AS gOOD FOr MAn’S BEST FrIEnD AS THEY ArE FOr US.

a nibble here, a nibble there; our pets become so much a part of the family that it’s often tempting to

treat them with the same foods we love to indulge in ourselves. With chocolate, however, a few too many nibbles may result in some serious problems for your favourite four-legged friend.

Cocoa contains a natural compound called Theobromine, which is famed for having all kinds of purported positive effects, including

improved circulation (and even for being an aphrodisiac!), but it can be particularly dangerous to dogs. If they consume it in small amounts it could result in stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea (not fun for them to experience, or for you to clean up) – and large quantities can sometimes even be fatal.

The main thing to remember is that the higher the cocoa content, the higher the risk. Dark chocolate is the one to be most careful about, but as our delicious milk and white recipes are often made with more cocoa than many other chocolates, you may want to keep their paws off those as well. That means more chocolate for you, and no pain for your pup – everyone wins!

The mid-1800s brought about a period of Swiss chocolate innovation, affectionately referred to as the “Chocolate Renaissance”. François-Louis Cailler was

one of the influential minds of the time, credited with opening the very first Swiss chocolate factory.

cailler’s eyes were opened to the magic of mixing ground roasted cocoa beans and

sugar during a trip to Italy in 1815, inspiring him to stay for four years learning the art of chocolate-making at the Caffarel chocolate factory in Turin. Upon his return four years

• Pioneers of Chocolate •François-Louis Cailler

later, he did what no one in Switzerland had ever done before: open a factory to produce chocolate bars quite different to the chocolate he had experienced in Italy. Instead of making it all by hand, he industrialised a large part of the process to bring costs down and used cows’ milk instead of the commonly used powdered milk, resulting in a much smoother chocolate.

The Italians had previously preferred to serve their customers on request, slicing sections from a larger block of chocolate in store, but Cailler created his in individually wrapped portions, earning him the nickname ‘Father of the Chocolate Bar’. Much more convenient for keeping that emergency chocolate stash at the back of the cupboard!

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Make sure you bite firstMagnificently monstrous, terrifyingly tasty – chocolates perfect

for sharing behind the sofa this Halloween.

hotelchocolat.com

Documents

The Chocolate Tasting Club News - D168