Tag Archive for 'Amedei'

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The Chocolate Secret of Ferran Adrià

Published on October 9, 2008 in Marketing and On Chocolate & Cacao. 1 Comment Tags: Amedei, chocolates, Chuao, Dominique Persoone, Domori, Ferran Adrià, Marcolini, Michel Cluizel, origin, Pierre Hermé, pralines, Pralus, ScharffenBerger, wine.

That was the title on the cover of a magazine. The founder of El Bulli had a chocolate secret? Even for half an interesting page I had to buy that magazine! The article eventually is a nice introduction into the world of the purest fine dark origin cacao, and breathes my observations on the evolution chocolate has gone through during the latest years.

For long the label ‘Belgium’ evoked an atmosphere of best quality chocolate, linked to the craftsmanship of artisan chocolatiers that made ‘pralines‘, chocolate shapes filled with all kinds of flavoured fillings ranging from elaborated nuts, marzipan, pastes to liquor creams. And with a bunch of world class cacao producing brands on our soil too, we sure have a heritage in chocolate that would fill more than one book. Moreover even a lot of our tourism is driven by this chocolate attitude.
However times change, and since long to me Belgium is no longer a country of dark chocolate, but one of ‘just’ sweet chocolates. This small re-interpretation of the word “chocolate” vs. “chocolates” in English implies a whole lot of differences, it are even to very different worlds. Even our most famous “praliniers” like Pierre Marcolini and Dominique Persoone have actually (very) little to do with cacao or chocolate: they all focus on pushing and experimenting with flavours under the thin chocolate umbrella.

This article in Gentleman‘s magazine appropriately puts one of the world’s top cacao brands in the spotlight: Amedei, the house of Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri. Brother and sister Tessieri build their brand after their learning period at the french master chocolatier Valrhona. For the record, Valrhona was the first chocolate brand ever to label a bar ‘Grand Cru‘. The marketing term was coined when the company launched the first single origin bar in 1986 (Guanaja 70%, a mixture from South America).
Since Tessieri left Valrhona and to take revenge for their split, they started to work from Tuscany on what became the world’s premium on chocolate, based on the finest single origin selection of Chuao and Porcelana cacaobeans. Since long Chuao is a tiny village located in the northern coastal range of Venezuela, where beans of a very rare quality are harvested. Valhrona used to be the main taker of the Chuao yields, bit through very hard negotiations and a diabolic price war, Amedei kicked Valrhona from Chuao and obtained the monopoly on the most desirable cacao beans in the world. It’s still unclear where brands like Bonnat get their Chuao beans from now for their signature bars.

In this niche of top level chocolate we also find competitors like Michel Cluizel, Domori, ScharffenBerger, Pralus and some more, but what makes them special is the fact that they work with single estate cacao, and control the process “from bean to bar”. They control the quality of each harvest, buy at the source or even run their own plantations. Secondly they do not rely on blends to maintain a stable taste pattern, but work with the yields of a single harvest. This results in a pure uncontaminated taste that allows variations in aromas depending on the harvest, just like in wine vintages. Valrhona effectively has 3 bars that are launched by single estate and by year: the Grand Couva, Palmira and Ampamakia. I’ve been buying them since 2005, and I’m looking forward to buy the 2008 edition on my trip to Paris later this year.

For connaisseurs, the Amedei is range is estimated to be the best in the world, lauded by the french Maître Chocolatier Pierre Hermé and the bespoken Ferran Adrià, chef of the world famous El Bulli restaurant in Spain. When I checked the Wikipedia entry for Amedei, to my surprise and pleasure the picture that accompanied the article was a photo of me that I actually took for my Afficionado collection! I bite that one

Pralus Venezuela 75%

Published on October 3, 2008 in Reviews. 0 Comments Tags: Amedei, bar, cacao, Chuao, Pralus, Trinitario, Venezuela.

Pralus is one of my favourite cacao brands. I appreciate the complexity they manage to manage to mould in a single bar, which results in a exciting tasting adventure (almost) every time. Pralus bars are also very expressive and seldom mild in taste. This also means that even within the huge cacao varieties, you can have something like a ‘brand image’, a signature taste pattern you should be able to recognize through the whole range, much like the Haute Couture creative directors manage to achieve every season for their collections. (For the record, I’ve read the chique Amedei packaging is actually designed by the Chanel house)

The Pralus Venezuela bar is one I estimate high in my favourites range. It’s a Pralus, it’s rather rough, but moreover Venezuela is close to the roots of cacao and used to be the world’s biggest cacao producer. And not to forget Chuao, a tiny village located in the northern coastal range of Venezuela, famous for its cacao plantations where some of the finest cocoa beans in the world are produced. More on Chuao later though… let’s focus on the Venezuela bar!

I tasted this 75% single origin bar a couple of days ago with friends, and upon unwrapping the bar, the smell that was released immediately took my attention from the chat we had to the bar I had in my hands. Next to the seducing scents, the colour was wonderfully deep dark red brown. This seduction of nose and eyes only gets better with the first medium soft bite, dragging along into a complex story of various savours and sensations.

As the dark redness of this bar forebodes, slightly bitter and dark cacao tones open the bouquet with power, though a slight dusty aroma also seems to hang around. The texture is not a smooth as e.g a Valrhona but nonetheless you have a rather creamy bar while it melts away. As it gently does so, it releases smooth aromas with butter, some very light acid tones, but without betraying its blackness with always coffee, woody, and leather in the foreground. Every bite is an opportunity to concentrate on a different aspect of the taste curvature, this is definitely not a simple bar.

My friends are totally not into dark chocolate, let alone single origin bars. However being a enthusiast cacao evangelist, I tempted them into tasting a small chunk from both the Hussel Bejofo I had already on the table, and the Pralus Venezuela, so at least they could experience the huge differences in the universe of cacao bars.

Friend B. was very surprised by the rich bouquet each of both bars offered, and spotted the differences in taste and feel right away. Funny enough he spontaneously began comparing this new experience with wine tasting, which I found very amusing and interesting, since that what this blog is all about. Taking dark single origins bars to friends, evangelise the ‘new’ chocolate and changing the ‘bitter’ prejudices into sweet ‘experiences’.

Gut & Gerne chocolate bar in Dusseldorf

Published on September 29, 2008 in Trips. 1 Comment Tags: Amedei, bar, cacao, chocolate, Coppeneur, Domori, drinks, Dusseldorf, Hussel, Maglio, Pralus, shop.

Interesting things are happening on dark chocolate in Dusseldorf, and as ar far I would be able to tell in Germany in general. With brands like Hussel and Coppeneur it seems Germany is fighting with success for a place in the high level cacao markets, mostly dominated by master chocolatiers like Cluizel and Bonnat in France, and Amedei and Domori in Italy.

A particular spot I found admirable is the “Gut & Gerne” Chocolate bar and shop in the heart of Dusseldorf’s old town, on Burgplatz 3. Bettina Dahl is running the spot for some years now with passion, and as the manager of the shop she really helps customers through discovering the vaste collection of the more than one hundred! different bars, she claims to offer in her collection. Though Gut & Gerne also offers sweets and chocolates, the focus definitely is on exclusive, high-end origin cacao bars. Next to the classic top brands like Amedei, Domori, Cluizel, Valrhona and alike, she also offers less known chocolatiers like Dolfin and Maglio in many variaties. Bettina also offers great info cards on the brands you buy from her, so you can learn about the specific chocolatiers, beans, plantations, roastings etc that define the many different aromas. Share this info with your peers and you’ll sound like an expert.

Next to the shop, she also has a chocolate bar next door where you can relax for a while from your wanderings through town, and taste from her sweets, chocolates and cacao, to be accompanied by a delicious hot chocolate prepared on the spot. Just as in the store, the atmosphere is very warm and cosy with a lot of wooden tables and cupboards, making this a place with a charming German touch. From the menu you can pick from a great selection of hot drinks ranging from hot white chocolate, over a selection of different percentages of cacao including a 100% cacao hot chocolate.

This one was absolutely gorgeous, and the cups come in huge portions so you have to take the time to relax and enjoy. This was definitely one of the yummiest hot chocolates I ever had.
Here are some more pictures from Gut & Gerne, if you’re in Dusseldorf, put this spot definitely on your list!

The Dusseldorf Collection

Published on September 23, 2008 in Trips. 0 Comments Tags: Amedei, Bonnat, Coppeneur, Domori, Dusseldorf, Hussel, Maglio, Michel Cluizel, Otto Bittner, Pralus.

Here is a quick shot of the brands and bars I found in some shops on my cacao safari in Dusseldorf from last week. Expect more postings on this collection soon as I’ll munch bar by bar…. It was really fun to spend my money on some of the most exclusive bars that I had never found in a store before!

Especially the exquisite golden Domori tablets, including the famous Porcelana, are a great acquisition. I could just not resist buying the whole range at once, including the Blend series. I’m also looking forward to taste the Coppeneur bars, which are also new to me. The Tsachila bag may be interesting too, since it is made by wild cacao beans collected in nature by local indians as opposed to farm cultivated beans.