Chocolate - Bean to Bar to Bon-Bon

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.

What impressed me about Alan is the serious knowledge and passion he has for what he does, and yet the humble nature in which he describes it. There is no school that teaches these guys how to make chocolate from scratch. They teach themselves and get better and better with more practice. They say the trickiest part of making chocolate for profit is figuring out a cheap way to get the beans shipped to you and to look for a better, more efficient way to make chocolate which often comes with the use of highly specialized and high dollar equipment. Sometimes they trade equipment with others like them, sometimes they barter  or trade for it and sometimes, they build what they need themselves. But none of these guys are willing to sacrifice efficiency for quality, which means their hands have to touch the product all along the way or why bother? So for them, it is finding the perfect balance of producing enough to make a living and keeping it small enough to control the quality and outcome of the chocolate.

Now get this, Alan only produces two types of dark chocolate bars a 67% cacao bar using beans from Madagascar and a 70% cacao chocolate bar. I asked why make two bars virtually identical with only 3% difference in the amount of cacao in them. He simply said to me: "Because I think these two percentages of cacao taste completely different from one another, and when you use only the finest ingredients you can taste the difference that 3% makes." Great answer, no?

The 67% bar is described on his website as: "A beautiful chocolate showcasing lively notes of plum preserves that intermingle with fruits rouges and enticing hints of butter-hazelnut toffee. Importantly, the cocoa butter is pressed right here in the Patric Chocolate facility from cacao of the exact same origin as that used in the bar. This ensures that the flavor profile and bouquet of this delicious chocolate are consistent and un-muddied by unrelated tastes and aromas."

The 70% bar, which when I asked him to sell me his personal favorite, he sold me a 70% cacao bar, is described as "Rich and inviting, with notes of luscious citrus, red wine and berries."

This brings up an important point. Serious wine connoisseurs love Alan's chocolate. Eating his bars with a glass of fine red wine just enhances the flavors in the wine and in chocolate. That's how complex the flavors can get in a chocolate bar made right. I was introduced to both of Alan's chocolate bars at a wine tasting event at a friends house, and was blown away by how similar the flavors were between the bars and what was poured from the bottles.

The national press has certainly gotten wind of our very own bean to bar tycoon. Gourmet Magazine's in their May 29, 2008 E-Newsletter said this of Alan's work: "Chocolate lovers have become as snobbish and wordy as wine enthusiasts, which, in turn, has made us pretty skeptical about claims made by new chocolatiers. Still, Patric Chocolate has won us over; its micro-batch bars are more like food than candy, and when the label tells you that the chocolates have notes of "red wine and berries" or "citrus," you find that they actually do."

The world is beginning to take notice of Alan's work. His bars are only available for sale through his website.

If someone asked me before this event if I knew Christopher Elbow personally, I am not sure how I would answer that. I have been having a one on one relationship with his artful, hand-crafted chocolates for years. I consumed and purchased for others to consume hundreds of boxes of his signature chocolates, and knowing he makes them by hand in his studio, I know I have put something in my body made by his hands. That feels pretty intimate to me. 

So upon meeting Christopher Elbow in person, after his charming and informative lecture on how he makes his clever chocolates and how he comes up with the next, new flavors to fill them with, I say to him: "You don't know me, but you need to, because we definately have seven degrees of separation between us. Here let me count the ways." Pretty bold of me, I know, but look at the list I rattled off to him below of how our lives intersected:

1) Christopher used to come into my Brazilian shop called the Brazilian Cargo Company that was located west of the plaza looking for unusual tropical concentrates to test as new flavors for his chocolates.

2) Christopher called my Mother-in-law, Anna, who worked the store with me to see if she could find a specific type of juice concentrate from a common fruit in Brazil, but a difficult one to source in the US, for one of his chocolates. She was never able to find the concentrate he needed through our sources.

3) Jeff Stottle who owns Foo's Fabulous Frozen Custard at 95th and Mission knows Christopher well and offered to introduce me as he sells Christopher Elbow chocolates in his Foo's location, (one of the few places you can buy Christopher's chocolates besides his store in the Crossroads.) Jeff and I worked for several years together on the Executive Team for Zio's Italian Kitchen, a casual dining Italian chain in the midwest.

4) When I was the Marketing Director for Zio's Italian Kitchen, I had a photo shoot with David Morris for some of the new menu items. We had a new line of coffee and one of the drinks needed chocolate shavings on top of it for the photo. We needed some high quality chocolate that would not melt under the studio lights on set. So David's wife, Paula, ran down to Christopher's shop and asked if we would buy a hunk of chocolate from him. When she came back, I told her I had always wanted to meet him, and she said "Oh, with his move, we are practically neighbors. I know Christopher well, and I could have introduced you just now." Doh!

5) Jeff Conrick is one of my newest Foodie friends. I have known his lovely wife Nicole for many years, as we used to work together back in the day. But having recently been introduced to Jeff (he floated in my pool all day on July 4th) and knowing that he loves to eat, makes wonderful BBQ with his own spice rub and brews his own incredibly delicious beer from scratch in his basement . . .we made an instant foodie connection. So, when I told him I was going to this chocolate event specially to meet Christopher, he said: "Christopher and I are good friends, we go way back, I would be happy to introduce him to you." I could have rang his neck.

6) I invited Christopher Elbow to join my LinkedIn profile and he accepted! I felt like a kid whose date agreed to go with him to the prom. I only did the happy dance in my kitchen harder when Doug Frost accepted my LinkedIn invitation. 

7) Apparently, Christopher Elbow works out at the same health club I do. I have been a couple of machines away from him for months, and never knew it was him until someone pointed him out to me. My husband claims to have taken a steam at the same time as Christopher. This is not so surprising, I missed him at the gym. Don't we all look a little different during our work outs? Besides, eye contact at the gym when you are on the machines is a no-no!

I know, I know. I sound like a stalker. I did come to realize that Christopher Elbow is so well known and well thought of in Kansas City, that everyone has their own seven degrees of separate story with him. He is one man that everyone claims to "know," in this town, especially if you are into food.

Here's a clip of video of Christopher talking about how you can tell tempered chocolate versus un-tempered chocolate and the types of tools needed to paint his chocolate confections. Click on the picture below to play the video. Enjoy!

As I left the event that night, I gave both Alan and Christopher my Foodie card. Alan emailed me the next day, and we had a nice "good to meet you, stay in touch" exchange. I really like and respect him. As for Christopher . . .when I got about 10 steps away from him I turned around to wave good-bye and he shouted with a big grin on his face: "I'll see you at the gym." I thought to myself, "not if I see you first, my friend, not if I see you first."

Comments

[Fat City]

Excellent post. Love the video. Oh and whenever I meet a big-time chef, I find myself playing the six-degrees game (or in KC, the two-degrees game).