In Bracieux, France, the same small village that inspired Alexandre Dumas to write about the fictive musketeer, Porthos, you’ll find a chocolate factory.

Not far from Blois in the Loire Valley, chocolate-maker Max Vauché, has set up a chocolatier worth visiting. We took a tour of the contemporary facilities (where dried cacao beans stuffed into canvas sacks are rather mesmerizing transformed into fine, high-quality chocolates). The tour will take you through the entire chocolate-making process, from the harvesting of the beans abroad to the final artistic touches in France.

The tour was especially interesting for its focus on the company’s solidarity-based collaboration with the African Island Sao Tomé and Principe (nicknamed “Chocolate Island” and located just off the Gabon coast).

We visited the factory on a Sunday, so no one was actually making chocolate, but we were able to peek into the large “kitchens” and peer at the numerous machines used throughout the process. A weekday visit might be worth it in order to see (and smell) the grinding, churning and oozing chocolate.

At the end of the visit, we tasted chocolates from all over the world- and learned that, like wine, chocolate really does have a different taste depending on where it’s from. Although cacao trees originated in Brazil, they are now abundant in tropical climates around the globe. Among the nearly endless samples, was some rather bitter 100% pure cacao.

There were lots of helpful hints and tidbits to pick up. Some of them were about properly storing chocolate: keep in an airtight container (in a cool, dark place) and avoid putting in the refrigerator- faux pas I have to admit to. The reason: chocolate is very fragile and will take on the odor of the foods around it. Also, (like wine) cold temperatures will inhibit its aromas.

To learn more, visit the Max Vauché website.

Mardi Gras, commonly known as Fat or Strove Tuesday, goes hand-in-hand with Carnival, a wild festival which has origins in ancient Rome and Greece. Back then, for example, pagan celebrations honoring the gods Dionysus and Bacchus (Greek and Roman gods of wine), were a time of fun and drunken merriment.  Another celebration from ancient Rome, the Festival of Saturn, gave citizens the chance to dress up as members of the society that they were not (the rich as the poor, women as men, slaves as masters).  Such festivities became closer to the Carnival we know today with the rise of Christianity. Christians supposedly adopted the pagan tradition of rowdy merry making, incorporating it into their own religious practices.  The word “carnival” comes from the Latin “carne vale,” which roughly translates as “farewell flesh.”  In medieval times, Carnival would have been the last chance to eat meat before Lent.

Carnival is still celebrated around the world today and ends with Mardi Gras.  The Fat Tuesday we know today (complete with feasting, costumes and revelry) is, thus, a combination of both Pagan and Christian festivities.  The actual date changes each year, depending on Easter.  It always falls the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which begins the 40 days of Lent.  It is said that “Fat Tuesday” is so-named because of the tradition of using up all the butter, oil, eggs and cream in the house before the fasting period. Thus, the French tradition of making and eating such goodies as fried beignets and crêpes.

Here’s my most-recent (and easy) crêpe recipe:

What’s probably already in your cupboard

2 eggs

½ liter whole milk (or less)

250 grams all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon melted, unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and add about half the milk.

2. Begin adding the flour/salt and mix, alternating with more milk, until all the flour is used up and you get a thick ribbon of batter when you lift up the whisk.

3. Add the melted butter.

4. Let batter sit in the fridge for several hours (this helps it settle and really does make the crêpes easier to cook).

5. If needed, add a little more milk just before cooking.

5. Cook (kind of like pancakes) on an appropriate crêpe pan or other hot skillet (there’s a whole spreading/flipping technique, but that merits another post entirely…).

Make lots and enjoy with your favorite toppings.

]]> http://thetomatoknife.com/2010/02/mardi-gras-crepes-recipe/feed/ 0 http://thetomatoknife.com/2009/07/fiery-moelleux-au-chocolat-recipe/ http://thetomatoknife.com/2009/07/fiery-moelleux-au-chocolat-recipe/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:00:35 +0000 Joy Anna Becvarik http://thetomatoknife.com/?p=280 What happens when you add New Mexican chili powder to a traditional moelleux au chocolat?

You get an intense chocolate dessert that makes you feel like you’re traveling continents by simply lifting your spoon.  At first, you’re in France.  You bite into tradition- smooth, rich chocolate.  Then you’re transported across the Atlantic with a spicy kick- only for the most adventurous!

A moelleux au chocolat was the first thing I wanted to make in the new oven.  It’s a common French gateau, soft and moist inside and slightly drier on the outside.  I first learned to make it a few years ago, thanks to a friend who passed me her recipe.  I was still in grad school and at a huge loss for time, but even that couldn’t keep me away from the kitchen.  I was planning a surprise for Sébastien and needed something easy, quick and, of course, decadent.  The first recipe was a success and I’ve since been toying with it- making it my own.  I’ve experimented with different doses of butter and sugar (preferring less to more) and different types of chocolate and cacao content (preferring more to less).  When I made my moelleux au chocolat last weekend, I figured a new kitchen needed some real spice and decided to add the chili powder.  My sister warned me not to add too much so it wouldn’t overtake the chocolate- fortunately, I listen to her!  With or without the chili, this recipe for the moelleux has been my best to date.

First, a note on chocolate: What kind should you use?  Dark, quality chocolate.  The minimum cacao content should be 50%.  I’ve started using a combination when I cook.  This time, I used two-thirds at 52% and one-third at 70%.  Always avoid a high sugar content, as it corresponds to a poor cacao content.  Also make sure your chocolate includes cocoa butter and not its substitute: vegetable or animal fat.

And if you’re curious: What is cacao?  First off, cacao is an evergreen tree that sports a fruit (or a pod) inside of which you find seeds.  Chocolate liquor, also known as cacao, is extracted from these seeds. Both cocoa (note the spelling difference) butter and cocoa powder are extracted from this “liquor.” Unsweetened chocolate is made from the chocolate liquor, whereas bittersweet contains a combination of both the liquor and cocoa butter.  When looking at the cacao content on a package of bittersweet chocolate, you’ll usually be looking at a combination of these two.  Sometimes, however, you’ll see the cocoa butter listed separately.  Now for the recipe…

Shopping List:

1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter
8.8 ounces (250 grams) bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (75 grams) granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (50 grams) white flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons chili powder*

*Adjust according to your taste buds and the chili you are using.  I used medium-hot from Chimayo and it gave a good kick.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

2. Slowly begin melting butter over low heat.

3. Separate eggs.

4. Put sugar in mixing bowl, add egg yolks and mix.

5. Begin melting chocolate in double-broiler.

6. Add butter to sugar/egg-yolk mixture and mix.

7. Combine flour, salt and chili powder, then add to the rest of the batter and mix.

8. Add melted chocolate and mix.

9. Beat egg whites until they are stiff and carefully fold into batter.

10. Butter a round baking pan and pour in mixture.  (Optional: sprinkle sugar and/or small pieces of chocolate on the bottom before pouring in the batter.)

11. Cook until the edges begin to dry and break away from the pan (10 or more minutes). The inside should remain moist and stick to a knife when tested.  Keep an eye on it and don’t overcook!

A “fiery” moelleux au chocolat is best served warm, right out of the oven.