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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

ChocoVivo Shangri La

45% cacao nibs, sugar, toasted black sesame, goji berries

with

Domaine La Grange Tiphaine “Riage Tourant” Rosé 2008 Touraine, France

(Grolleau/Gamay/Cabernet Franc/Côt)

ChocoVivo Mayan Tradition

52% cacao, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, pasilla negro, guajillo, chipotle chilies

with

Wishing Tree Shiraz 2006 Western Australia

ChocoVivo Fig & Goat Toast

65% cacao, roasted figs, Laura Chenel goat cheese, sea salt, Energy Bee Farm Wildflower honey, olive oil

with

Mildiani “Saperavi Reserve” 2004 Kakheti, Georgia Republic

ChocoVivo Chunky Cherries

47% cacao, sugar, dried California bing cherries, chopped almonds, peppercorns

with

Uvaris Tinto (Tempranillo/Garnacha) 2007 Rioja, Spain

ChocoVivo & Belgian Bleu Toast

75% cacao, Grevenbroecker bleu cheese, blood orange evoo

with

Villa San-Juliette Petite Sirah 2007 Paso Robles

ChocoVivo Coffee

56% cacao, sugar, dark coffee roast, vanilla bean pods

with

Quinta do Infantado Tawny Port NV Porto

For those of you that have seen the movie Chocolat, this character should look very familiar.  Come to think of it my life is becoming more like the movie.  But no matter what, I definitely have Mr. Comte de Reynaud in my life.  In the movie, Comte de Reynaud is miffed when Vianne opens a chocolate shop.  He doesn’t want her to succeed and trys to run her out of town.  But he succumbs to the chocolate temptation and ends up breaking into Vianne’s shop to gorge himself with chocolate.

I have a real life Comte de Reynaud at the Palos Verdes farmer’s market.  I love this market.  It’s so quaint and the people are so supportive of the market.  There’s a great flower vendor and the orange guy has some juicy oranges.  They are delicious, and I am using the rinds in my Orange + Cloves blend.  My first day at the market, I set up right next to “the mayor”.   After I finished setting up, I walked over and started chatting with him.  This is how the conversation went:

Patty:  Hi!  How’s it going?  I’m curious how well you do at this market?

the mayor:  If I knew that I wouldn’t be working here.

Patty:  umm…so you don’t’ know how well you do?

the mayor:  I’d buy a lottery ticket if I knew the answer.

So all in all, I didn’t receive a hallmark “Welcome!” from my neighbor.  The following week I tried to butter him up with a piece of the Mayan Tradition which he refused to take, but I told him it would make him feel better and shoved it in his face.   Since then, he’s been tolerable.  Come by and meet “the mayor”.  He actually looks kinda like the guy in the movie without the moustache.

After last week’s market on Saturday, I got some organic oranges from a vendor and started zesting away.  I thought I would have enough to make at least a 10 pd batch.  To my dismay, the yield was only 5 pds batch of chocolate.

Candied Orange Peel + Hint of Cloves

The other 5 pd batch that I made is Vanilla Bean. I put the whole Vanilla Bean Pod not just the beans.  There’s so much flavor in the pods.  So for those that have been asking for Vanilla Bean, come by and get your fix while you can!  I’ll have the Candied Orange Peel + Cloves for the next couple of weeks.  Then I’ll continually add spices until I get an Orange Spice that will be just in time for the Thanksgiving Holiday where you can actually put it on your turkey.  It’ll be more like a fusion mole.  For those that don’t know, mole is a sauce indigenous to Mexico.   There are many types of mole sauces and not all have chocolate.  But most people know it as a savory chocolate sauce.  Mole has so many different ingredients that it’s quite labor intensive to make.  Mole was originally used on turkey and now it’s more popular over chicken.  It’s a savory sweet sauce that goes well over fish, tacos, enchiladas, and even eggs.

Flavor Page

Sorry for not updating my flavor page.  I will get to it!  For  those that haven’t been to the farmers markets, my 6 Classic Blends are:

1. 85% Cacao
2. 75% Cacao
3. 65% Cacao
4. Coffee + Vanilla Bean
5. Shangri-La = Cacao + Unrefined Cane Sugar + Black Sesame + Goji Berries (the most popular blend)
6. Mayan Tradition = Cacao + Unrefined Cane Sugar + Almonds + Cinnamon + Guajillo + Pasilla Negro + Chipotle Chilies

The seasonal blends are:

1. Cherries + Coffee
2. Chunky Cherries + Almonds + Black Peppercorns
3. Orange + Cloves *New
4. Orange + Vanilla Beans*New

It’s suppose to be chilly so great weather for hot chocolate!  I’m almost there with my packaging so you’ll soon get a peak!

Chocolate Blessings!