Tag Archives | Domori

The Chocolate Secret of Ferran Adrià

By on October 9, 2008 in Marketing, On Chocolate & Cacao

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.

Amedei Collection

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.

Valrhona. Single Estate 2007 editions of Grand Couva, Ampamakia & Palmira

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 :)

Gut & Gerne chocolate bar in Dusseldorf

By on September 29, 2008 in Trips

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.

Gut & Gerne. Chocolate bar in Dusseldorf

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!

Hussel. Bejofo Grand Cru de Plantation de Madagascar 72%

By on September 29, 2008 in Reviews

From the Dusseldorf Collection, Hussel was a new German brand to look forward to tasting the first time. I had a “Bejofo Grand Cru de plantation de Madagascar” at 72%. Bejofo refers to the name of the plantation in the Sambirano valley in Madagascar, where Hussel cultivates Trinitario beans for this origin bars. Madagascar’s Sambirano region is known to offer exceptional cacao, with a light, but well elaborated flavor and tones of citrus and blackcurrants. Hussel also offers another range under the name Jara, which comes from their plantation in Los Rios, Ecuador.


The square shaped packaging comes with a lot of red in its design, classy golden lettering and has nice designed imagery in the background evoking the atmosphere of cacao plantations and tropical forests, quite similar to the packing illustrations from Domori. The bar also focusses on organic agriculture with a clear Bio label on the front.

Hussel has this bar conched for 72 hours. Conching is a kneading process that takes place as one of the last steps in manufacturing, to smooth out cacao and to enhance the flavor. The bitter taste of the cocoa slowly disappears and the chocolate flavors and aromas becomes fully developed.  Conching is also important for making chocolate homogeneous. The first impressions of this Hussel Bejofo 72% reminded me much of some Pralus bars, like the Indonesia and Venezuela versions. From the first bite this cacao immediately takes you on a tasteful journey. The Bejofo 72% is very well tempered and has a pleasant mouth feel. The chuncks comfortably melt away and with every step release more of its aromas. A balanced curve with touches of acid, spices, definitely citrus and typical Madagascar orange tones, changing into blackcurrants, and with an ever sustaining woody palate,  this bar offers a perfectly balanced experience.

I’ve had it tasted by friends too, and the Hussel is a very good bar to introduce people to the rich taste varieties of dark origin chocolate bars. They were all pleasantly surprised by this very new cacao tasting and made them talking about dark bars, percentages and origins. The Cote d’Or Sensations for example, that are widely available on the market here, are left far behind in tasting experience. The sweetness achieved by the added cane sugar definitely helps to appreciate dark origin cacao on a new level, without diving into a lot of bitter discussions. Hussel, definitely a brand to keep an eye on!

The Dusseldorf Collection

By on September 23, 2008 in Trips

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!

The Dusseldorf Collection

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.