Continuing Education Program in France a Delicious Success - May 2010
The chief chocolatier at Odyssey Chocolates, Margaret Smith, recently returned from a week-long continuing education program in France, where she toured two chocolate production plants and worked with pastry chefs specializing in chocolate bonbon production. The program gave her exposure to new ideas and techniques as well as contact with other industry practitioners.
Margaret spent three days at the Chocolaterie Michel Cluizel in Normandy. Odyssey Chocolates are made from chocolate produced by the Michel Cluizel company, and with good reason. The close-up view of the production process showed Margaret just why Michel Cluizel chocolate is so fabulously delicious. First, the company starts with cacao beans that are carefully raised and fermented at select plantations in certain fine cocoa-producing regions of the world. These plantations are chosen by Michel Cluizel because of the superior flavor derived from the beans as well as a commitment to quality production and handling on the part of the plantation owners. Cluizel works in exclusivity with these producers, paying above world market rates in order to access their finest production. Once at the Cluizel plant in Nomandy, the beans are carefully roasted. The roasting process is both infrared and thermic to ensure even roasting to the core of each and every bean. Complete roasting with no burning optimizes the flavor development and readies the beans for the next steps in the process. After cracking and winnowing, the cocoa beans are milled several times to achieve a fineness which renders the chocolate particles imperceptible on the tongue. This gives the chocolate that silky mouthfeel so characteristic of Cluizel chocolate. Mixing the cocoa with only the purest ingredients, cane sugar and Bourbon vanilla bean, the chocolate is then finished in the conch, developing its final flavor notes before being processed into minigrammes for use by Odyssey Chocolates and other fine artisanal users.
After touring the plant, Margaret and her colleagues spent three days in the meticulously appointed chocolate laboratory working with chef Philippe Parc, MOF, benefiting from his 40 years of pastry experience and his love of teaching. Formulas included tonka bean, Sechuan pepper, Sel de Guerande, Cocoa Nib Praline, and many more. In addition to creating bonbons, we observed chef creating a showpiece which was subsequently displayed on the chocolate buffet at the end of our three days.
Digging into the chocolate buffet was the gustatory reward for our hard work. So many great chocolates to try! The awarding of the diplomas, to much merriment, was the final touch on a wonderfully instructive program at Cluizel.
The group then journeyed to the Barry Callebaut Chocolate Academy and production facility in Meulan, a suburb of Paris. After working for a day with chef Christophe Canet, proprietor of a patisserie in Nice and a Barry Callebaut chocolate ambassador, we toured the immense chocolate plant at Meulan. To say that its size was impressive is an understatement. So much is mechanized, and so much is produced with so few people on site. We completed our sojourn with a visit to the Laboratoire Or Noir. This is a facility dedicated to the creation of one-of-a-kind chocolate formulas. A chocolatier who wishes to create a signature chocolate blend may work with a specialist at Barry Callebaut to devise a formulation that is uniquely his or hers and that reflects the flavor profile and fluidity he or she desires for proprietary production. Numerous chocolatiers have already done this in Europe, and we spent the better part of a morning exploring the nuances of flavor and devising a group profile.
After all this, visits to chocolatiers in Paris and stocking up on hard-to-find comestibles and equipment at Detou and Dehillerin provided the finishing touches to a week packed full of learning. Look for new products and flavor ideas in the coming months inspired by this trip.
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| Margaret Working in the Michel Cluizel Chocolate Laboratory Making Truffles |
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| The Chocolate Buffet at Michel Cluizel - Margaret, fifth from left |
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| A Merry Graduation with Chef Parc of Michel Cluizel |
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