Chocolate can be described by these familiar words. Rich, brown, thick, sweet and decadent. But when you think of chocolate would you also be able to say smokey, complex, nutty, fruity with layers of flavors that snaps when you break it in half?
If not, then let me introduce to you the newest culinary trend sweeping the US, "micro" batch chocolate producers and the chocolatiers who make their confections by hand using this chocolate.
Much like the early wine producers of Napa Valley who put the US on the map as a country who knows how to grow their own grapes and produce their own wine, the same is happening within the chocolate industry. What used to be considered largely the domain of the Europeans, is now being given a run for it's money by our brothers and sisters in the US who are getting on planes, sourcing their own beans and buying or making the equipment to produce some of the finest hand-crafted chocolates. We have the distinction of having two of the best of this new breed in our own backyard. Alan McClure from Patric Chocolates in Columbia, MO is our resident bean to bar producer, and one of 5 in the US currently, and Christopher Elbow our local Chocolatier who has made his new shop at 18th and McGee in the Crossroads in Kansas City (he also has a second shop in San Francisco) a must-see destination for every foodie in town or out.
I met both of these talents in person last week at an event called The Three Chocolatiers hosted by the Les Dames d'Escoffier International Heart of America Chapter at Doolittle Distributing. Who were the three Chocolatiers? Chocolate micro-producer Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate, cookbook author and chocolate specialist Dame Elaine Gonzales from Chicago, and artisan chocolate maker Christopher Elbow.
I was not able to stay long enough to meet the guest speaker Dame Elaine Gonzales who wrote a book called Chocolate Artistry followed by The Art of Chocolate which is considered by many the definitive home chocolatiers manual. So, I met the two amigos of chocolate and walked out knowing a lot more about the chocolate movement and the people leading the charge in our area.
Unlike Chocolatiers, who prefer to source their chocolate to make it into any number of delightful confections, bean to bar producers oversee the process of actually making the chocolate the chocolatiers use. It is a complicated process where cacao turns into chocolate. "The bean-to-bar process involves: roasting the beans; breaking them into small pieces called nibs and removing the shells (referred to as winnowing); grinding the nibs, usually with sugar, to form a chocolate paste; then refining and conching (very forceful kneading) to produce the desired smoothness and to develop flavors." from a recent article on the subject in the LA Times called "Think chocolate can't get any better? These Willy Wonka's beg to differ."
This is what Alan McClure does for Patric Chocolates and what he demonstrated for us in front of a wholly enthralled live audience at this chocolate demonstration. Here's a video I shot of Alan speaking about how he grinds his beans to produce his chocolate nibs. Click the picture below to play the video. Check it out.