Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
A Look At Some Of The Most Famous French Chocolate Makers
You may be interested to know that the French had a hand in making chocolate famous in areas besides France. During the mid 1800s, a Frenchman named Etienne Guittard was hoping to make his fortune in the California gold rush. He headed to the Barbary Coast where instead of mining for gold to make his living, he ended up growing rich by selling chocolate. In 1686, he opened the Guittard Chocolate factory where it is still family owned and operated to this day.
The first London chocolate store, then called a chocolate house, was established by a Frenchman in 1657. The name of the store was the Coffee Mill and Tobacco roll. The chocolate that was sold there was so expensive that only wealthy patrons could afford to purchase it.
There are other very famous, French chocolate makers that still have shops and factories that have continued to be popular long after they were established.
In 1945, Maurice Bernachon opened the Bernachon Chocolate Factory in Lyons, France when he was only 26. He was trained in the art of chocolate making by his parents at the young age of 14. Today, 60 years later, the Bernachon factory is still famous for its delicious chocolate.
In 1660, a Frenchman named Debauve was dubbed the first "Royal Chocolate Maker", by King Louis the 14th of France after he had received a wedding gift of chocolate from his wife Marie Therese. In 1800, approximately a century and ½ later, one of his descendents named Sulpice Debauve established a chocolate shop in Paris.
His chocolate was so revered that he was able to open additional shops and had established 60 of them by 1804. He had a nephew named Antoine Gallais, who partnered up with him in 1823 and the name of his shops changed to Debauve and Gaillais. Continuing in the tradition of his ancestor, Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X appointed them the Official Chocolatiers of the French Court. Although Sulpice Debauve died in 1836, his legacy still continues with the company he founded in 1804.
French chocolate has had a strong impact on history. Many of the delicious chocolates that you enjoy today are due to the innovations of the French who took the simple cocoa bean and turned it into an entire industry.
Article Source: http://www.articlenorth.com
Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as French chocolate at www.frenchchocolatedelivery.com
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sFiK26yBS3iCqEAte-lshu4pOAm5QAQUJw-CfypGdFEybj3E8va7YrqNqaN03an9dbXNcluYhhKNK4Z4MBR2jBLjqZpNthe-hZixaRjFdQoPrE9EmfNSmZNE6DTp01aplPHFM0uBbH5B7VoYqS-WMx=s0-d)
The Gourmet Belgian Chocolates
When you think of gourmet food, you'd think of edibles that is expensive, heavenly delicious, and of very high quality. Gourmet Belgian chocolates are considered to be the best kind of chocolate in the world. It is so delicious that people from all over the world flock to Belgium just to experience the taste of the original Belgian chocolate because nobody in the world has successfully duplicated these sweet little things.
Belgian chocolates are the toast of the chocolate world. It is the gourmet of all chocolates that exist and nothing beats it for being in the number one list of all chocoholics. Even diabetics crave for it! The good thing is that there are now sugar-free Belgian chocolates that are now available in the market.
The special factor that makes Belgian chocolate standout among its contemporaries is the great respect for the chocolate manufacturing techniques that have been perfected by Europeans for centuries as well as the excellent quality of the ingredients used for making the chocolates.
In the age of mass production, everything seems to be just the standard to deliver the products to as many people as possible which sometimes have sacrificed a bit of quality of the products. Good thing that Belgian chocolatiers did not give in to the pressure of the global market and still stick with the old tradition of small production but with topnotch quality tastes of their chocolates.
The country of Belgium is populated with chocolate shops and manufacturers that up to now are still making chocolates by hand and/or with the original equipment from the olden days. The chocolate in Belgium is like wine to France. Like the French wineries, chocolatiers in Belgium provide chocolate tasting programs for the visitors to sample the gourmet chocolates.
Although Belgian chocolates has been around for a long time, the new way of making chocolates that is very popular nowadays only started in the early years of the 20th century. This new way of making chocolate is the placement of a filling inside a chocolate nugget. Fillings can range from fruits, creams, hazelnut, coffee, or other forms of chocolate. This kind of chocolate is called pralines, which refers to the chocolate covering.
Another factor that makes gourmet Belgian chocolates special is the technique of storing the chocolate nuggets before filling it up. The course of making the chocolates is quite interesting as the grounded cocoa beans are combined with the mixture of cocoa butter and sugar. It is then eventually spread out by tempering or gradual heat addition. A lot of chocolate houses in Belgium obtain their chocolate in forms of solid. These solid forms of chocolates are then heated again for it to be formed or structures into the desired shape and taste. Since the chocolates are not chilled, Belgian chocolates have the luck of preserving the cocoa essence much more than the other inferior chocolates.
A lot of Belgium's old family owned chocolate houses have their own line of gourmet Belgian chocolates. They have been around for a long time and can be trusted of the high quality chocolates they manufacture. Through the years and generations of family owners, they have perfected the way of making the perfect gourmet Belgian chocolates.
These delicious sweets may come with a price but once you have tasted its palatable flavors you will realize that it is worth all your money. You can actually taste a part of heaven. And that is what makes gourmet Belgian chocolates tick.
About the Author: Information on pictures of chocolate can be found at the Chocolate Facts site.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sKKwBDlQubAJ9tSBBkyvF3dWH2488JXNeYZPa7ke83fjT3rK397bqcKTjiHNhUEtzYE76j_OaRujhRjD0NBVyc24JAteNrmew6_z05zH1bNGuJAegZE8q698DLwaeV9r-s9-iqjrPDMmiaxGZila27=s0-d)
Go To School & Learn How to Make Chocolate
Most of the chocolate courses you will fine cannot be completed in a week. This is because before you get your hands dirty, you have to understand the history and the chemistry before you are taught the various techniques of making them and how to sell them.
You also have to remember that there is a science to making a quality product that people would want to have after they have tasted it for the first time.
For those who want to make their own product instead of just melting blocks, you will need to learn how to outsource beans, creating your flavor profile and then producing these in bulk.
There are also courses on quality control to make sure those who decide to go into the business are able to sustain what they have started.
Another program that is like a master’s degree in chocolate making has classes and tours to chocolate factories not only in the US but in Canada, Belgium, France and Italy.
For those who don’t have the time to give up their regular jobs, they can learn about making chocolate online.
Schools that offer this make sure the curriculum is offered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can start and stop anytime you want so you are able to remember everything that is taught before moving on to the next module.
After finishing the program, you can use your knowledge to start your own business or look for work within the backing, catering, confectionary or food service industry.
This isn’t bad even if you have never taken baking classes before because the learning process takes you from basic skills to more advance work. Some of these schools also offer internship programs so you can practice what you have learned under the direction of a master chocolatier.
But nothing compares to education right there inside the kitchen. You just need to make the time and if you can’t make it to classes on weekdays, see if there are those being offered on weekends.
The cost of tuition in chocolate making schools varies depending on the type of program and also if this is done in the kitchen or at home. For those who decide to learn in the kitchen, they don’t have to worry because all the materials they need will already be provided. For those at home, they have to buy these from the craft store and make do with what they have.
Learning how to make chocolate with the help of trained professionals is much better than trying to perfect how it is done through trial and error. After all, it is an exact science when it comes to mixing the ingredients and a little bit of marketing if you are planning to sell this product in the market.
Once you get the hang of things, you can try some experiments to make concoctions of your own. After all, chocolates do not always come in boxes.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_s7b7s65-0nPKiXOjw580LBkAggTRiuFzl2vFvpZXs1yf7G1BwPnycgFmIaEPzIazFThK_5jAmeuUKuXcr8XNtoXinISVpkLYj_H4t4n44d5DUUW1mfE2aBhVM5wQuWTfS8eglTd3_jRMGNFruvIXV3=s0-d)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
