City Style and Living - Winter 2008/2009 - (Page 27)

What’s all the Fuss WHAT IS BEAN TO BAR? Way beyond mass produced chocolate, bean to bar refers to the all encompassing process of sourcing cacoa beans (often from remote areas of South America and the Caribbean) directly from farmers and transforming it into chocolate. After the beans have been properly fermented by farmers, large sacs are shipped to select chocolatiers who roast, winnow, mix, conche and temper, to make what we know as chocolate. Because of the machinery, skill, and expense required there are very few small-scale bean to bar chocoaltiers globally. “On one level, making chocolate is fairly straight forward. The cocoa beans are roasted, the husks removed, the bits of bean (nibs) are ground along with sugar and sometimes vanilla until smooth and then the chocolate is heated and stirred until the flavor is developed. In reality though, it is much more complex than this and difficult to capture in a sound bite for the consumer,” says Art Pollard of Amano Artisan Chocolate. You have a unique selection of lled chocolates, based on the meditative properties of chocolate, how did you come up with the avour pro les? THECALGARY CRUSADER: A talk with So Choklat founder Brad churchill You work with exclusive contracts with farmers from Trinidad and the Chuao region of Venezuela. In fact, Amedei is commi ed to improving the livelihood of workers from these area’s through sustainable farming practices. Why are these beans so prized in Amedei's chocolate making process? What distinguishes Criollo and Trinitario beans? It has to do with the way the seeds are planted and grown, the climate and also the campesinos’ special care, and of course agronomists guided by my brother Alessio. e shape of the caboose is diﬀerent, as well as the seeds. You can also identify them when you do a ‘cut test’. e place of origin of your chocolate can impart avours from mint, lavender and arbutus honey to green tea, almonds and plum. How do you re ne your pale e to taste the subtleties of each chocolate? at pertains to the special properties that each of us may a ribute to colours, shapes and taste, so the avour these lled chocolates have comes from a long study and strong memories. For example my moka praline has the intriguing taste and avour of Sunday morning moka coﬀee. Why do you think it has taken so long for Italian made chocolate to blossom globally? at is something you acquire with experience and it is a skill of tasting, provided you have a zest for this product and an inclination of the mind. Probably it is a question of tradition. In cold countries eating and producing chocolate may be more evident, but if we come to quality, Italian products are now among the best. As you know, we have been awarded the golden bean by the London Chocolate Academy three times. What is the future goal of Amedei? Never stop looking for the best, never compromise, this is our personal philosophy. Of course this can be achieved only because we are a family based company. www.amedei.com AN ITALIAN DREAM (FROM TOP LEFT, CLOCKWISE) Alessio and Cecilia enjoy tempering a bowl of their famed chocolate; The prized golden bean award; a box of Amedei chocolate; Cecilia carefully monitors the conching machine; the small talented crew at Amedei, Tuscany. RADCHURCHILLISAMANONAMISSION. Afterlearningthattheexpensivechocolatehehadpurchasedwas merelyboughtfromamanufacturer, melteddownandmolded,hebegan experimentinginhisownkitchen withcocoabeansfromSouthAmerica.“IfeltdeceivedandliedtoasaconsumerwhenIfoundout thatlocalchocolatiersdon’tactuallymaketheir ownchocolate.Itookituponmyselfatthattime tomakemyownchocolate.”ThatwasthebeginningofSoChocklat(thephoneticspellingof chocolate)inInglewood,whichopenedinAugust 2008.Theshop,oneofonlytwoinCanada,importsfermentedcocoabeans,thenroastsand processesthemtomakechocolate.“We’renot aboutpre-makingourchocolate.Asaconsumer youaregettingthebest,”declaresChurchill. Churchill’smission?Educateconsumers,customizetheexperienceofbuyingchocolateand eradicatethe“airofmysticism”thathassurroundedchocolateforcenturies.“I’mproviding awarenesstothepublicthattheyneverhadbefore.Calgarianslovetobeeducated,”says Churchill.“Asaconsumeryou’reledtobelieve makingchocolatetakesyearsofexperienceandis secretive.That’sabunchofbaloney.It’sfoursimpleingredients,I’vemaderecipesthatarealot morecomplexthanthat.”Amongtheoﬀeringsat SoChoklataremilkchocolate,darkchocolateand truﬄesthatcanbetailoredtosuit.“Wedoour truﬄecentresinthemorningpre-made.Thenwe rolltheminwhateverthecustomerwants,dip theminwhateverthecustomerwantsandmake thetruﬄesrightonthespot.” Thelongtimeentrepreneur,whoseother businessesincludeaninternetcompanyanda motorcyclecompany,worksdirectlywithfarmers inOcumaredelaCosta,Venezuela;Tabasco,Mexico,andaregion300milesfromBahiaBrazil. Thoughbuildingdirectrelationshipshasproved diﬃcultandcostly,Churchillknowsthat“itreally makesthediﬀerenceinapremiumqualityproduct.Byworkingdirectlywiththegrowerswepay moreliterallytwoandahalftimesmorebutthe beanscomeallhandsorted.”Keepspreadingthe word. www.sochoklat.com B CACAO VS. COCOA You may have noticed our spelling and use of cocoa versus cacao. ey are two different things altogether. While CACAO refers to theobroma cacao, the tree containing colourful pods with seeds and to the dried partly fermented seeds COCOA usually refers to chocolate derived from the plant in its pulverized form. citystyleandliving.com | WINTER 2008/09 | 27 http://www.amedei.com http://www.sochoklat.com http://www.citystyleandliving.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of City Style and Living - Winter 2008/2009

City Style and Living - Winter 2008/2009 Contents Editor's Note Behind the Cover The District Events Wrap It Up To Market To Market Culinary Conversation Need It Want It Kitchen Restaurant Inspiration Dancing the Cocoa Covet Prêt-à-porter Inspired By... Giving Anatomy Of... Casanova Fragrance Profile Focal Pointe Passport 24 Hours In... The Staycation Ombudsperson Horoscopes Final Thought

City Style and Living - Winter 2008/2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.