June 29, 2007 at 1:00 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: bean.to.bar, chocolate.class, chocolate.making, chocolate.technology, richardson.research
Off I went to my alma mater in Davis, California for five days of chocolate making, tasting and learning. The class is taught by Terry Richardson of Richardson Research. He’s well known in the confectionery world being in the business for over 52 years. On the first day of class, you can see that the passion he has for chocolates has not waned over the years. He takes chocolate making seriously. Alongside Terry are Thalia Hohenthal, Senior Food Scientist and Ed Seguine, Vice President of Research and Development of the Guittard Chocolate Company based in Burlingame, California.
I didn’t know what to expect of the experience, but I was quite excited to be apart of it. Class size was small, less than 20 people and there were a few from outside the US–coming from as far as the Philippines, Australia and Malaysia.
The agenda for the week:
How to make chocolate from bean to bar and understanding each step required.
The different ways to temper chocolate
How to taste the subtleties of chocolate and it’s different flavor profiles from different countries
How to shell mold and pan chocolates
What viscosity plays in chocolates and how to measure for it
It was a part lecture and part hands-on lab.
In the photo above, Terry is demonstrating the proper way to shell mold chocolates. Before turning over the mold, initiate the plastic viscosity of chocolate by moving the mold in a small circular pattern. The chocolate will come out easier and faster!
This class can only inspire the small home chef to make chocolate out of the kitchen. Terry uses equipment that he either built or manipulated himself for chocolate making. A simple coffee bean roaster can be used as a cacao bean roaster. He has built his own conching machines from Hobart mixers by wrapping copper coils around the bottoms of the mixing bowl. He built his own panning machines by attaching a little motor to two soldered stainless steel salad bowls. One end of the salad bowl that is not attached to the motor has been cut off and left open. But the most impressive machine was his homemade winnower. It is a large rectangular machine that vibrates and separates the nibs from the shells. He uses various sized metal grates that get smaller from one end of the winnower to the other.
Terry and Thalia working the refiner.
Most of the students had come on company time coming from large chocolate and confectionery companies, primarily from the research and development departments. Then there were the handful of people who had come on their own ticket. These are the people to watch. There’s Nancy Nadel who is helping the farmers in Jamaica cultivate cacao beans. She wants to establish a direct relationship with the growers. She has plans to bring back the beans to the US. She’s located in Oakland, California. There’s Gerardo Martinez from Southern California who will be sourcing his beans from Mexico. He’ll be starting out producing cocoa for drinking. There’s also David Mason of North Carolina. He will most likely be the first from our class to produce bars available to the public. His website is http://www.blackmountainchocolate.com/. Lastly, there’s Terrance Spies. Honestly, he appeared to be the only guy to soak up and retain all the information in class the first time around. He’s got a blog entry for everyday of class. You can access his blog in the blogroll. Click on ‘Chocolate Technology Course’ or click on ‘Nancy Nadel, Making Chocolate and a Difference’ to learn more about what she is doing. Watch out for these upcoming chocolate makers in the years to come.
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June 28, 2007 at 11:42 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: adam.smith, chocolate.store, fog.city.news
Early on in the developmental stages of Jade Chocolates, I began taking those wonderfully free business classes at the SBA (Small Business Association) here in downtown San Francisco. As I walked down Market Street I noticed a narrow shop called Fog City News. I peered in and and to my surprise, I saw dozens of chocolate bars. As I got closer, I got a better look into the store. I was so wrong. There were hundreds of little chocolate bars, all neatly stacked alongside each other. How odd that the SBA was in the same building as this magazine/chocolate shop. Must be kismet, I thought, a calling from the heavens that I was headed in the right direction.
Every time I visit the SBA, I wander into the store and buy a bar or two. Adam Smith, the owner of Fog City News, always has some helpful bit of information or words of encouragement for me. Adam not only knows his chocolates, but seemingly knows all about the chocolatiers that he carries. His passion for the business exudes in his conversations. And the best part of all is that he’s got a parade of chocolatiers who come into Fog City News that sample out their products and speak to the patrons. Adam is right alongside the them, getting directly involved with the customers. This place is absolutely hands down the best place to get your favorite chocolate bar and to explore a new bar too.
Fog City News was voted the BEST NEWSSTAND and BEST CANDY STORE in the bay area! If you’re headed towards downtown San Francisco, a trip here wouldn’t be a disappointment.
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June 26, 2007 at 11:47 am (Chocolate Friends)
Tags: chocolate.tour, joseph.schmidt, san.francisco.chocolates, truffle
In my online search for learning more about chocolate sculptures by fellow chocolatiers, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Joseph Schmidt was not only the king of the egg shaped truffle, but a master at chocolate sculptures. I was more amazed on the fact that he lived right here in the same city as myself. So I wrote a good old fashioned letter to Mr. Schmidt requesting a meeting.
A month later, I was walking alongside him in his huge chocolate factory. I walked into the reception area and eagerly awaited for Joseph to walk through the doors. Fifteen minutes passed and I had glanced over at the receptionist’s desk too many times, eyeing the sample truffles. I hadn’t eaten breakfast. I was going for it. I got up, asked the receptionist what flavor the truffle was (like it mattered) and took two bites. ” I have to be quick”, I thought to myself, “he’ll be here any second”. As I turned around, there he was. He had caught me with a mouthful of strawberry ganache. “Excuse me, I just ate one of your truffles”, and as I extended my hand to shake his, he proclaimed, “I don’t shake hands. Too many germs. I only give hugs.”
He led me downstairs to a room that contained a few of his sculptures. It was absolutely amazing. Sculptures of trees and flowers, a windmill, and elephants in a rainforest landscape. There was a vase with an intricate flower pattern, and the most wonderful of them all, the butterflies. He then led me into the main part of the factory, all the while talking to me in a calm, serene voice. “Don’t worry so much, it’s just chocolate.’ he said as he answered my multitude of questions about the business. I felt like a kid in a candy store, the wealth of chocolate knowledge that I had acquired from such a simple meeting, will last me a lifetime. He showed me his non-traditional methods of producing his truffles and mosaics. He told me that I need to understand that there any many ways to make these confections and that if I wanted to make a living in chocolates that I would have to sell truffles, not just sculptures. Well I was hooked. The ease of his operation and the simplicity of his methods gave me the incentive to try my hand at truffles.
My first encounter with Joseph Schmidt was a turning point in my new career. He has become my chocolate mentor since the beginning. How lucky am I?
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June 25, 2007 at 5:28 am (About Me)
Tags: chinese, entrepreneur, family, grandfather, hero, paper.son, success, success.story, survival
Why not be an entrepreneur? My grandfather did it. He owned two restaurants and three liquor stores during his lifetime. He didn’t just own these establishments, he ran them all as well. He was the cook serving up Chinese and American dishes and he was the clerk at his liquor stores.
Those stats are pretty impressive considering his meager beginnings. Grandpa was born in Canton, China way back in 1902. He decided to leave his family to come to California at the age of 16 knowing that he would never return to see his family again. He spoke no English, had $20 dollars in his pocket, and knew no one in this country. Just writing about this, I can only imagine the courage he had in him, as well as the desperation.
I remember one day when I was a little girl, we drove up to a Victorian house somewhere in Napa, California. He told me that he used to work in this house, as a house boy. “A house boy?”, I thought. “How peculiar!”. He must have had numerous odd jobs before he was able to become an entrepreneur. So, what’s this story doing in my chocolate blog? It’s a simple answer. For me, it all starts with my grandfather. If he could immigrate here and become a successful businessman, I can become successful in anything I do. He had more obstacles stacked against him. He came here with no money, no family support, he had to learn a new language, and he was of Chinese descent. Despite all of these obstacles, it didn’t change the content of his character. I remember him as a man of integrity and pride. He spoke ill of no one and always called younger people he met as ‘young man’ or ‘young woman’ regardless of who they were or where they came from. He respected everyone and everyone respected him.
The traits of my grandfather is a reflection in how I operate Jade Chocolates. Creating Jade Chocolates won’t be easy, but it can’t be that hard. My grandfather showed me that.
(Above is a photo of my grandparents in a traditional tai chi pose. They practiced tai chi every single morning in the backyard for as long as I can remember.)
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