Best Chocolates in Vienna, Venice, France?
Posted in: Travels & Adventures
And send samples?
Forum Activity for @mountain sky
Best Chocolates in Vienna, Venice, France?
Posted in: Travels & Adventures
If you are in Nice look out for local Provence chocolatiers. Joel Durand (St Remy de Provence), Bernard Castelain (Avignon), Castelanne (Nantes - the liquid caramels are the bomb).In Montpellier look for Puyricard.Also be on the look out for a copy of Le Guide du Club du Croquers de Chocolat. It is an incomplete and totally biased guide to chocolate in France but it's the best there is. And - it's organized by city (but not be department) and they don't list anything for Nice.In Venice this is what I find but I haven't been there.Vizio VirtuSan Polo 2898a, Calle del Campaniel, close to San Toma www.viziovirtu.com Please take pix and post a report on what you find!:: Clay
Best Chocolates in Vienna, Venice, France?
Posted in: Travels & Adventures
Was in Paris in October and the hub and I hit up: Patrick Roger (second!), Regis, Michel Chaudan (sp?), Jean-Charles Rouchoux (caramel bar, mmmmm), and Pierre Marcolini. I bought some assorted chocolates, but mostly bars -- all 65% and up. They were all exceptional.My method was to narrow to the top ten from hours of research and put stars on our map to indicate chocolatiers. We went to whoever we happened to be near in our sightseeing. Didn't got to all the best, but definitely got a spectrum.
Best Chocolates in Vienna, Venice, France?
Posted in: Travels & Adventures
Oh my, may have to stay in Paris a month! Thanks!
Best Chocolates in Vienna, Venice, France?
Posted in: Travels & Adventures
In Paris, my top two would be: Jacques Genin and Patrick Roger.But there are many many others to try: Hevin, Herme, Marcolini, Aoki, Maison du Chocolat, Constant...Don't forget Denise Acabo's shop in the Pigalle, L'Etoile d'Or, where you can even score some Bernachon.
Best Chocolates in Vienna, Venice, France?
Posted in: Travels & Adventures
What chocolates should we sample in Vienna, Venice, Paris, and Nice?
updated by @mountain sky: 04/10/15 08:02:11
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Hi,I have a bag of cru hacienda, but haven't had a chance to make anything with it yet. There are 2 versions, one is organic and the other isn't but my rep told me that they are both basically the same, the one not labeled organic doesn't have organic sugar, the one labeled organic does have organic sugar, the beans are organic in both, that's the only difference.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Felchlin is one of my main chocolates that I use in my business as well, and my wife is a huge fan as well. I just thought the 100 was just ok. I really like the cru sauvage and the cru hacienda.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thanks much, Clay. I look forward to it.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
I've contacted them for the name of one of their US-based corporate chefs who can help you with this.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thank you for this, Clay. I look forward to working with the Concha. Have you or anyone you know worked with this and the Cru Hacienda in a confectionary capacity? I produce a 3oz bar with the organic version of the Hacienda and it sells well. I'm sweating a bit, though, coming up with a bon bon/truffle ganache recipe with it perhaps because of the fact that I'm may not be working correctly with the cream/cocoa butter ratios.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Lana,Felchlin in Canada is handled by HUH Imports in Newmarket, Ontario. (905)-853-0693.I live in New York and I get my Felchlin wholesale supplies from Swiss Chalet in New Jersey. I find that they have a pretty generous shipping policy but not much of a price discount for larger quantities unless one is able to work through their regional rep. Good luck.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
I believe that the US and Canada are both handled by Swiss Chalet Fine Foods out of Florida. They have a warehouse in LA. But I will check and let you know.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
What is most interesting about the Felchlin Centenario is that it comes in two forms, Crudo and Concha. The Crudo is semi-finished with the texture (crunch) of fine sugar particles. Also because it is not conched for very long the flavor is dominated by the sweetness of the sugar particles. The Concha is fully conched in the old longitudinal conches Felchlin uses for the rest of the Grand Cru line. What is startling is the differences between the two chocolates - it is one of the best examples there is (in a commercial chocolate) of just what kinds of changes happen to a chocolate during conching. The Concha has warm soft spice notes (as I remember) and the typical Felchlin mouth feel. It's not an in-your-face chocolate like the Cru Hacienda 74% and it doesn't have the tantalizing citrusy notes of the Cru Sauvage. It's its own chocolate, made especially for the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the company.I will look to see if there are any more of the Crudo/Concha samplers and if there are I will make them available to ChocolateLife members.:: Clay
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thanks very much, Luis. I work with Felchlin in my business and it's nice to have feedback from other aficionados. Ciao.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
yes. I got some samples of it and it's good, but nothing special.
Felchlin Centenario
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Has anyone tasted this chocolate yet?
updated by @Kisei: 04/11/25 09:27:36
From David Lebovitz: Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch
Posted in: Recipes
Hi Clay,there is product on the market similar to this ww.matzeltoff.com. it's pretty good! the also had a passover version but it's out of stock.
From David Lebovitz: Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch
Posted in: Recipes
Ok! Excellent!! Can you BELIEVE those over on Tapuz?! They have no idea of the importance of place or chocolate! I hope I get time to make these matzos. I will use chipotle powder.
From David Lebovitz: Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch
Posted in: Recipes
just replace the butter with equal parts coconut oil, and follow directions as posted at lebovitz (above) adding shredded coconut and chili, zest of lime, you can go crazy with it because its just the topping on top of ....cardboard, I mean lechem oni!
From David Lebovitz: Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch
Posted in: Recipes
Is it possible to give me more exact instructions! Sounds fab! I am making green frogs and pyramids, too!!
From David Lebovitz: Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch
Posted in: Recipes
If you want a pareve one, try coconut oil from the health food store. As an added bonus it tastes really good and if you sprinkle on some dessicated coconut (or the mixture of the two chocolates I gave you-if you still have peru) it goes really well with salt and a little chili pepper. Damn, now I'm going to have to make that I my seder too
From David Lebovitz: Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch
Posted in: Recipes
yes it does look yummy. Maybe I should make some for our seder!!
From David Lebovitz: Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch
Posted in: Recipes
Seriously my friends, is there anything better than chocolate and toffee together? Especially when the toffee has a brown sugar-flavored buttery snap and luscious chocolate is smeared over the top so it hardens and melds with the crackly caramelized matzoh underneath. When a marriage is this good, a picture can only do partial justice to the love that exists between the happy couple.
updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/16/15 22:17:43
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
hello all,Yes, it is rather scary to think of Cadbury being the largest seller of chocolates in many countries. It has been years since I touched the stuff, but my education into the world of good dark chocolate was late in coming.I hope more will become educated as to the antioxidants and good properties in better quality chocolate, it would be nice to see.for all your fave sweets, chocolate and more.... candy
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
OMG this video is hilarious! I'm surprised the tempered, molded chocolate bars they were eating didn't have the Cadbury logo on them. So, so wrong in so many ways!
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
EEEWWW!! This looks much less attractive than the real thing!
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
Samantha, you said it right --> what a doozy!i love how they are pouring chocolate bars
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
Samantha,Your comments regarding the vitality of cacau under shade are bang on. One of the most serious problems existing in the cacau industry of Brazil today is the battle between cacau farmers and environmentalist. There exist farms that were extremely productive in 1920 that today are completely abandonded. If you review the farms records, it is likely that you will find the attempts made generations ago to integrate rubber and cacau.......today you need a battery powered lamp to find the cacau trees because of shading.The best producing portionns of our farms are those that have been DRASTICALLY opened to sunlight and trimmed to permit infiltration of light. There's a new breed of cacau farmers that have begun to apply technology instead of "fairy tales".Keep your commentary coming...it's a breath of fresh air.Best regardsJim Lucas
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
I hadn't considered the insult but yes I can see that. With the huge budget they had they could have gotten a decent consultant on chocolate, right Clay.I think that showing the pod as it really is would have been more intriguing for the viewer, and a damn site less difficult that inventing and fabricating that piece of crap.
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
Cadbury sources their cacao in Ghana and their toxic milk powder in China. Hopefully, the As & Ks will catch on and quality chocolate will gain market share.
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
It's just not wrong and misleading in every aspect, it's very insulting to anyone born in the Mesoamerican region.
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
If this weren't so very wrong it would be funny. You're right, Tom, it's harder to pick out what's right with it than it is to pick out what's wrong with it. Time to mount Facebook and Twitter campaigns to point out how ludicrous it is.You can copy and paste the following in your Facebook and Twitter accounts:This Cadbury advert "takes the gold" for being the stupidest commercial about chocolate in the history of chocolate: http://bit.ly/P2Xw That said, let's use this forum thread to dissect the commercial and point out what's historically and technically wrong with it, as an exercise in understanding the history of chocolate. And don't forget the "explanatory" texts that accompany the video.
Total Travesty
Posted in: News & New Products Press
Watch the video at www.oldgold.co.nz this is advertising Cadbury's dark choc range for Australia and New Zealand. Aussies and Kiwi's are generally pretty uneducated in chocolate and this is doing no favours. Instead of trying to work out what is wrong with it, try and pick things that are right with it - nothing!
updated by @Tom: 03/11/26 06:20:34
Small time cacao and fruit grower in Costa Rica
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Hi JesseWelcome to the group. I would be interested to hear any comments you have on your experience of restoring your plantation. There are a lot of abandoned trees in the South Pacific, so rehabilitation is an interesting topic for us and growers we are involved with.Also, do you do your own fermentation and drying?
Small time cacao and fruit grower in Costa Rica
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Hi Jesse,I think there will be no shortage of folks hoping to buy good-quality beans, nuts and fruit from you! Talk to Clay, see if he will market your beans.Good luck,Duffy
Small time cacao and fruit grower in Costa Rica
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Hi new friends,This is interesting, a forum for chocolate fans. While chocolate is my favorite candy, my main interest is getting my maybe 800 or so trees which I planted in 1984 back into shape after being abandoned for some 15 years. I'm on the south Pacific side of Costa Rica, 400 meters altitude, 200 inches of rain with a jan-march dry season. I won't bore you here with the details, but feel free to ask anything you want about growing.As we know, great chocolates are often combined with great nuts, and sometimes dried fruits. I have a great collection of tropical fruits and nuts, some of which would be great in chocolate, like dried rambutan or langsat, paradise cream (monkey pot) nuts, pili nuts, etc. I do not have enough land to be a major producer of these but am looking for crops that my neighbors could plant, a market for those crops, or to help any cacao farmers in other areas diversify into complementary crops, or exchange rare fruits native to their areas.
updated by @Jesse Blenn: 04/17/15 19:00:03
Calling all Chocolatiers: What are YOU Making Special for Easter This Year?
Posted in: News & New Products Press
Thanks, I aspire to professional, but I am afraid I am still very much an amateur as you will see by my question I ask here on Chocolate Life
Calling all Chocolatiers: What are YOU Making Special for Easter This Year?
Posted in: News & New Products Press
I am in the field of chocolate since 1995. People often asks questions about making chocolate, keeping chocolate, making any particular chocolate dessert etc, so I decided to build a website to help those people who want to make chocolate desserts at home but lack necessary experience ( more frankly for those, who are just amateurs , not professional chocolatiers).
[Edited to remove what is potentially a spam link.]
Calling all Chocolatiers: What are YOU Making Special for Easter This Year?
Posted in: News & New Products Press
We have just surfaced from the rush and waved the white flag yesterday! Nothing else in stock on our site until after Easter.My eggs this year were a mix of funky and traditional, with a nod to the spring fashion colours of vivid orange, green and pink.We had some great coverage on national TV and a good link in from Nigella Lawson's site which really boosted sales.Pics attached!
Calling all Chocolatiers: What are YOU Making Special for Easter This Year?
Posted in: News & New Products Press
LANA!!!! WOW! I have been waiting to see your works of art and just knew they would be perfection. Absolutely lovely! I am truly excited for you. I am also thrilled that you gotit right with the wine!!! I would love to taste your things. Everything has days and days of thought put it-every detail. I am so happy for you!!! HUGS and congrats!!