The highlight of my Chocolate Week so far has been the opportunity to sit down for a private tasting and a chat with Cecilia Tessieri, founder and maitre chocolatier of Amedei.
Amedei are one of the best bean-to-bar chocolate makers in the world. As well as producing their own bars, truffles and more, they supply patissiers the world over with some of the finest couverture chocolate available.
Amedei started making pralines in 1990, but soon became frustrated that the chocolate they were buying in wasn’t of the right quality or didn’t meet their own ethical standards. It was that frustration that led them to start making their own chocolate from the bean.
So few people make their own chocolate these days that chocolate making machinery is very hard to come by – a common issue faced by start-up bean to bar chocolate makers. So while Amedei hunted down antique machinery for their factory, Cecilla explored the world, finding the best quality cacao.
Today, Amedei chocolate is available throughout the world, and it’s a name synonymous with quality. Their range includes their famous ‘9’ and ‘Toscano’ blends, as well as single origin chocolates, and the quite delicious new chocolate & hazelnut spreads pictured above. We were lucky enough to get to try most of the range with Cecilia who explained each chocolate as we went through them.
The recipe for Amedei’s range of blended chocolates has been developed and adapted over the years. Despite sourcing beans from the same locations, local conditions and other factors mean the flavour changes slightly from year to year. Customers, of course, demand a consistent flavour, so Amedei are able to make slight changes to their blends so the chocolate we eat maintains that flavour profile.
For me, the revelation was Amedei’s single origin chocolates which I hadn’t encountered before. These are all made to exactly the same recipe with no added cocoa butter. These chocolates perfectly illustrate the difference that changing nothing but bean origin can make to a chocolate.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect that encompassed all of Amedei’s products was the subtlety. Although distinctive, none of the chocolates we tried were ‘aggressive’ or challenging. Even the Madagascan single origin chocolate, known for its intense, fruity flavour and acidity, had a slow and gentle flavour delivery.
Ceclia calls this a ‘feminine touch’, and it’s something that has been designed into Amedei’s range. They are made with quality ingredients, but remain simple and understated.
I know there are differing opinions about Amedei, but I’ve always found them to consistently produce high quality chocolate. If you’ve never tried it, I can highly recommend picking up a bar of their famous Number 9. Even better, if you can get hold of the small carre squares, try a few different varieties together.
My hour spent immersed in the world of Amedei, was both exciting and informative. Even if I did leave a little bit of a mess.
Our thanks to King’s Fine Foods, UK distributors of Amedei, who arranged our meeting with Cecila, and to Fortnum & Mason (who also stock a range in their chocolate department) for hosting it.
As part of the Chocolate Week celebrations, on Monday evening, chocolatier and patissier William Curley launched a new Champagne truffle at Harrods wine shop, and we went along for the launch.
After spending far too long looking for the underground wine shop, we eventually found it, just in time to sample some patisserie and hear William talk about his chocolate, how he works, and the relationship with Laurent-Perrier Champagne.
As you may know, most ‘Champagne truffles’ that you can buy are actually made with Marc de Champagne. It’s very rare to find chocolates made with real Champagne. I believe that’s partly a cost issue, and partly down to the difficulty of working with the ingredients. Chocolate and Champagne not natural bedfellows and it takes real skill to get them to work well together.
These chocolates are not like the powerful, alcohol-fuelled Marc de Champagne truffles you can buy from other retailers. They are subtle. When we tried them on Monday evening, we all commented that we could barely taste the Champagne at all. That, of course was because we happened to be eating strongly flavoured pastries and drinking glasses of Laurent-Perrier at the time!
Getting our sample box home and trying them in the morning, the Champagne is much more identifiable. It’s still very subtle, but it’s definitely there.
The chocolate is Amedei’s 70% Toscano, and works very well with the Champagne. It’s a sophisticated, subtle flavour. Delicate, rather than aggressive, and a flavour that gently builds as it melts in the mouth.
There’s a nice hint of the fresh cream in the ganache, and a finish that leaves you with the essence of the Champagne. It’s certainly not a chocolate that you want to have after a strongly flavoured meal, and in actual fact, I’d recommend tasting this separately from the Laurent-Perrier Champagne that it’s sold with too. It’s completely delicious, but those flavours are easily overwhelmed.
If you’re after an alcoholic kick, you’re not going to find it here. What you will find is a simple, elegant and subtly flavoured truffle, that’s really very nice indeed. The chocolates are available exclusively from Harrods, but William will be selling a range of Laurent-Perrier Christmas gifts in his Belgravia store from November.
Paul A Young chose the first day of Chocolate Week to open his new pop-up shop in The Folly Bar in the heart of The City, right next to Monument Station.
Paul has taken over the deli in the corner of the bar and transformed it into a beautiful chocolate shop. We went along to the launch last night, and it really does look the part, stocking a full range of Paul’s chocolates.
Paul has also got together with Drake & Morgan to make an exclusive hot chocolate for the bar, along with an exclusive chocolate bar called ‘The Folly’ that’s made with Madagascan chocolate, pink pepper corns and freeze dried strawberries.
Pop down if you’re in the area – the shop will be there until November 18th.
The Folly Bar
41 Gracechurch Street
London
EC3V OBT
www.thefollybar.co.uk
Chocolate Week 2012 is finally here and what better way to celebrate than with half price tickets to the highlight of the week, the Chocolate Unwrapped Show this weekend in London’s Covent Garden.
The show is a spectacular gathering of some of the greatest names in the chocolate industry, and is packed with samples, demonstrations and plenty to buy. It really is just about the chocolatiest day out you could imagine, and this year it’s bigger than ever.
To claim your half price adult tickets (Usual Price: £10), just click here to buy your tickets online and use the exclusive offer code CHOCABLOG.
