Cocoa Beans

The National Confectioners Association (NCA) and Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) are sponsoring a 3-day webinar on April 13-15. The Chocolate Manufacturing workshop is hosted by the NCA and designed for small and medium artisan confectioners and chocolate makers that process cocoa beans and manufacture chocolate and work with raw chocolate.

Chocolate Making Mold

This course will inform chocolate manufacturers of impending laws and regulations that will impact their business and the essential food safety strategies to manage and control risks inherent to cocoa.

The convenient format allows these three informative seminars to be viewed from anywhere for only $90 per company. You do not need to be an FCIA member or an NCA member to take this course.

If you can’t join the workshop on April 13-15th, you can still benefit from the content afterwards – the webinar materials will remain on the NCA website. However, the advantage of joining the initial sessions is that you can ask questions and interact with the panelist.

Course and registration information can be found at: http://www.finechocolateindustry.org/Content/Documents/Document.ashx?DocId=114002

ACKC Shop

ACKC (D.C. and Alexandria locations) and Artfully Paper are hosting free chocolate tastings and offering all artwork half off in all three stores.  Come for the free chocolate and take away a masterpiece. 6:30-8:30pm, no RSVP needed. Grab one of their infamous hot chocolates while you’re there. So many to choose from! ACKC

Dark Chocolate

Several weeks ago I took a chocolate tasting class taught by my friend, chocolatier and author, Annmarie Kostyk. I didn’t really know what to expect exactly, but I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I actually learned about eating chocolate for good health. I just have to share it here with all of you!

I arrived at Le Flour, a quaint French-inspired corner bakery and cafe located on N.Olmsted in Chicago.  I’d been there before when the bakery hosted a book-signing for the author and now teacher of our Chocolate Tasting class. Although the place was closing for the night, they still had an excellent selection of vegetable pies, fruit pastries and tarts. I couldn’t resist trying a spinach, egg and vegetable pastry just to pass the time before the class began.

With just four other students, all ladies, we sat down to an intimate table with individual bags full of chocolate and the latest book produced by our instructor called, The Chocolate Lovers’ Guide and Tasting Journal, of which 10% of profits benefit the UN World Food Programme.

She began the class by explaining what a cocoa pod looks like, where in the world it grows and the difficult process of extracting chocolate from the delicate and valuable cocoa pod. We were told what to look for in our tasting of three different bars of chocolate- different in their quality of ingredients and level of chocolate and sugar content.

First, we talked about setting the mood for tasting chocolate- spending time to really savor the flavor and texture of each bar so we could tell the difference in quality and ingredients. Once we actually tasted the different bars, we knew what to look for, but the fact that chocolate has over 500 flavor components didn’t exactly help narrow it down!

Chocolate that is smooth or gritty is actually of higher quality; ones with a creamy or waxy texture are of lower quality in that they’ve most likely had oil added to them. Once we reached the bar with 85% chocolate, we were at perhaps the most bitter of flavors, but the best quality and a taste one can aquire an appreciation for over time- especially after realizing the health benefits that come along with this amount of real, dark chocolate content.

We entered into a discussion about the health benefits of dark chocolate (at least 70% dark cocoa solids and unsweetened cocoa powder) where I learned some stunning facts:

* cocoa plants are some of the most highly-pesticized plants in the world (along with coffee plants) because of their high susceptibility to insect infestation. There are some great organic products around today who take great care to make sure their bars are produced from organic and fair trade pods only (see below).
* dark chocolate contains many antioxidants, in fact, the concentration of flavonoids in dark chocolate greatly exceeds what you’ll find in most fruits and vegetables
* dark chocolate is naturally high in magnesium, a substance that helps to lessen menstrual cramps, increase flexibility, helps in bone formation, increases brain activity and aids digestion- just a few of the many things magnesium does for the body
* the darker the chocolate, the more polyphenols present- these little guys help promote healthy aging, naturally.
* flavonols in chocolate help promote blood flow to the brain- in essence, that’s why chocolate (pure chocolate) makes you feel good.

You can read more about the health benefits of dark chocolate, which gives the highest amount of chocolate solids in a bar and possesses the lowest percentage of both fat and sugar, in Annmarie’s book.  In it she also discusses the use of chocolate as preventative medicine and gives recipes that help you incorporate it into your regular diet.

For now, you can do what I did and make this super easy, very quick snack just to get you started. I learned about it in the class when she told us that people in France actually have this as an afternoon or after-school snack- and they’re a country with far less heart disease and obesity than us. I guess they know chocolate…

For more great information about the food world, check out My Halal Kitchen!

Chocolate Bread

Ingredients

• 2 slices of thick, rustic bread (Italian or French) to hold and soak up the melting chocolate
• ½ bar (75g or 2.5 oz) of dark chocolate that is 70% or more chocolate
• Butter

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°
2. Cut bread in half to open the inside. Select how large a slice you want and butter it.
3. Cut the chocolate into squares and add the amount of chocolate pieces you want directly on top of the butter (3 pieces should be sufficient- remember it will be melting all over the bread)
4. Place the bread, chocolate side up, on a sheet pan directly into the hot oven. Bake for 5 minutes, watching carefully. Do not let the chocolate bubble. Remove once you see that all of the chocolate has melted.
5. Serve with a glass of warm milk on a cold afternoon- nothing will make you happier!

Hasty Torres is Madame Chocolat

SUNDAY MARCH 21, 2010 FROM 4:00PM – 7:00PM PST at MADAME CHOCOLAT, 212 N. CANON DR.,BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210 – TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE ONLINEhttp://chocolateworkshop.eventbrite.com
SINGLE TICKET $55

8 Week Course(1 lesson per week)

If you think chocolate simply tastes good, you haven’t even scratched the surface of what depth of knowledge chocolate demonstrates, and what is now offered in this revolutionary program to inspire your absolute potential. Join Julie Dittmar and Matt Kahn as they decode all the hidden life lessons and powerful spiritual teachings that chocolate teaches us during this vital time of global change and personal transformation.

Each lesson is filled with heartwarming wisdom, simple exercises, as well as deeply relaxing guided meditations for you to directly experience every morsel of chocolate’s magnificent insights and remarkable healing abilities. Every lesson and meditation offers you a spa-like experience for your mind, as a chance to break from the frenetic pace of life and receive the infinite abundance, unconditional love, and emotional freedom that pours out from the heart of existence.

“The Chocolate Meditation Course” is your opportunity to unlock the door to your destiny, and discover the life you are willing to love. It is a unique way to take an exciting leap in your own evolution, and awaken the wisdom that is essential in discovering a life of miraculous joy and absolute fulfillment. This is the easiest, most enjoyable, and transformative way to directly shift your entire reality – not only for yourself, but as a gift of grace, for the benefit of all.

As the world continues to change at such a rapid rate, now more than ever, we find ourselves searching for ways to resolve all fears and limiting thoughts, as a deep craving for peace and simplicity, rises to the surface. When transformation occurs, teachers appear to guide one gently into a new and exciting way of being. Who knew that chocolate would turn out to be one of the best teachers in life?

DURING THIS LIFE-CHANGING COURSE, YOU WILL EASILY:

# Calm the overactive mind
# Settle into a peaceful space of inner stillness
# Experience the joy of emotional freedom
# Learn to receive infinite, flowing abundance
# Feel a deeper connection of oneness with yourself and the world
# Realize the easiest way to live in harmony with the sweetness of life
# Heal imbalances in the physical, mental, and emotional body
# Unlock the true power of intention
# Understand what your present moment reality is trying to convey to you
# Open your heart to the unconditional love that is eternally present

http://www.dailyom.com/cgi-bin/courses/courseoverview.cgi?cid=62

To learn more about the health benefits of chocolate buy Chocolate is Healthy! on Amazon or at your local bookstore. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1448629551/?tag=annmakosty-20

This book will guide the reader on their quest for the most delicious chocolate in all of the United States. All things chocolate are covered including bean to bar makers, chocolatiers, confectioners, chocolate festivals, luscious hotel chocolate buffets, chocolate classes for the novice and the professional, and chocolate travel destinations. The Chocolate Travel Guide: United States Edition 2010 features over five hundred addresses and websites showing the chocolate lover where to go to taste and buy the products of these establishments. Whether you are in the mood to travel the country searching for the best chocolate available in the United States or prefer to be an armchair traveler and buy online, this guide will not disappoint. It is essential reading for anyone looking for the ultimate chocolate experience. Find detailed entries explaining where these artisans are located, how to get in touch with them , their websites, best selling items asked for time and time again, and little tidbits about them. If that is not enough, tempt your taste buds by leafing through the photos to get a glimpse of what they are all about. A wonderful gift for any chocolate lover or traveler in your life! 10% of the Gross Profits from this book will be donated to Heifer International to help entire communities rise above poverty.

https://www.createspace.com/3413152

The Chocolate Lovers’ Guide and Tasting Journal by Annmarie Kostyk is a non-fiction book combining the fundamentals of chocolate including types of chocolate, varieties of chocolate, storing chocolate, tasting chocolate and your impressions, and a place to record your chocolate’s history and tasting as well as saving your chocolate’s wrapper. It is a device to record your journey through your chocolate world creating a road map taking you back to your cherished chocolate favorites. The book is available at www.Amazon.com for $12.95.

Join us on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 for a chocolate tasting at Le Flour Bakery and Market from 6 – 8 PM. During this time you will learn about the different types of chocolate available to you, the varieties of chocolate, how to store chocolate and conduct two chocolate tastings. There will also be time for questions. If you would like to bring your own chocolate bar(s) for tasting in addition to the ones provided, please feel free to do so.

For this class, you will receive a copy of The Chocolate Lovers’ Guide and Tasting Journal written by Annmarie Kostyk, a local author. In addition, you will be provided with two (2) different chocolate bars for tasting and a bottle of water to cleanse your palate between tastings. Please be sure to bring a pen. Tasting is best done with a clean palate first thing in the morning. Since that isn’t the case, please make sure that you don’t eat anything with strong flavors during the day of the tasting. Examples of strong flavored foods are onions, garlic, cabbage, peppers, spicy food, fried food, fast food, strong cheeses and beer.

The cost of the event is $25 and must be paid in advance at Le Flour. There will be no refunds and the last day to sign up for the event is Friday, October 16, 2009. Should you have any questions, please contact Le Flour at 773-631-1400 or visit their website at www.leflour.com. You may also contact Annmarie Kostyk at thecocoapod@yahoo.com for detailed questions about the event.

Chocolate Decoration Techniques with Ewald Notter

This videotape explores the basic techniques involved in working with chocolate, from tempering to finishing touches.

The videotape begins with an overview of chocolate, where it comes from, how it is processed, and the basic information that will help the beginning chocolatier better understand the art and science.

Couverture and tempering of chocolate is covered in depth, with the three methods of tempering demonstrated:

• Direct method of tempering
• Seeding method of tempering
• Tabling method of tempering

The four skills to master tempering of chocolate are taught thoroughly:

• Manipulating temperature
• Agitating and stirring properly
• Using the right ratio of tempered to untempered chocolate
• Incorporating one into the other

When tempering is mastered, you can also learn
the following techniques in this video:

• Cutting out shapes
• Working with molds
• Using multiple colors
• Incorporating transfer sheets
• Spraying techniques

VHS Color • 37 Minutes • $79.00 + shipping

For more information http://vonl.com/chips/ciaviden.htm

Welcome to the World Pastry Forum Update, where we’ll keep youin-the-know on the pastry industry’s premiere networking and educational event.If you’re a pastry chef or a student of pastry art and design, the WPFis THE place to be in July!

WHOThe industry's most influential and innovative pastry chefs, leadersand culinary professionals.

Christian Faure, MOF---Sugar ShowpiecesKeegan Gerhard—Plated DessertsStéphane Glacier, MOF, Hands-on Chocolate BuffetCiril Hitz---Making “Dough” with BreadStephan Iten, Hands-on Chocolate BuffetNicholas Lodge---Cakes for Pastry ChefsThomas Lui---EntremetJohn Kraus—Entremet GlacéTatsuya Kijima---Japanese dessertsEwald Notter---Painted ChocolatesAnil Rohira---Chocolate TheoryDonald Wressell---Banquet Desserts

WHATThe 2007 World Pastry Forum, a series of classes and interactiveseminars designed to present the latest techniques and concepts to culinaryprofessionals of all levels. Over the course of five days, presentersand attendees will teach, network and learn from one another in aninformative yet social setting. Two programs of professional classes areoffered. Each program is aimed at the advanced pastry student and/or pastryprofessional: 

Program I- A five-day, demonstration curriculum consisting of 10 three-hourclasses  presented in an interactive seminar format. Each class covers aseparate subject  and is taught by a different pastry professional.

 Program II- Two hands-on curricula presented, to a limited class size of 16students only, over  the course of five consecutive days. Each curriculumconsists of one two-and-a- half-day class.  

WHENThe 2007 World Pastry Forum will take place June 27, 2007 through July1, 2007.

Program I classes will take place from 9am to 12noon and from 1pm to5pm each day, with a one-hour lunch break in between.

Program II classes will take place as follows: curriculum one will becovered on days 1 and 2 from 9am to 5pm and on day 3 from 9am to 12noon. Curriculum two will be covered on day 3 from 1pm-5pm and on days 4 and5 from 9am to 5pm. There will be a one-hour lunch break each day.

WHEREThe 2007 World Pastry Forum will take place at the Gaylord OprylandResort in Nashville, Tennessee, in state of the art demonstration andhand-on kitchens created especially for this event.

WHYCarymax LLC, founder of the National and World Pastry TeamChampionships, created the World Pastry Forum in 2002 in response to the ongoingneed of pastry professionals, both established and up and coming, for anevent where they could interact, learn and socialize with their peers.

Since inception, 1500 students have completed training at the WorldPastry Forum. These students come from countries such as France, China,Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Spain, and, of course, theUnited States.

It’s not too late to become part of the biggest and most importantpastry event in the world. Sign up before May 15th and mention the codeword Gelato and take $200 off the Demonstration Program tuition price of$1500. Five days of classes, lunches, embroidered chef jacket, classworkbook, entrance into the two-day 2007 Amoretti National Pastry TeamChampionship, entrance into over 20 demos by top pastry chefs in thiscountry, and entrance into the Award Ceremony and Gala Dinner. Alsoincluded in your admission price is the opportunity to network with some ofthe world’s best pastry chefs and industry leaders. Sit by the pool orhave a snack in the lounge while chatting with your colleagues about thelatest trends or the happenings in your classes. All this is waitingfor you for the low price of $1300. Hotel rooms and hotel packages areavailable at a discounted rate, either single or double occupancy.

Don’t miss this opportunity. Call Regina at 702-228-3520 for furtherinformation or go online to www.worldpastryforum.com.