Lou had a special dinner at his place in honor of Ed Beher from The Art of Eating this past Saturday.  I was invited and decided to take my friend Morri who is a big wine enthusiast and true foodie.  I knew she would appreciate this night as she is a huge fan of Lou’s philosophy on wines.  She was at another event at Lou’swith me which turned into a PR night as she snagged the KTLA woman that was doing a story on “How safe is your Laundry at the Laundry Mat” next door.  That’s for another story.

If you haven’t been, Lou’s is an obscure place.  Smack in the middle of Vine and Melrose in a shopping center with a chinese restaurant on one side and a laundry mat on another.  But it’s a diamond in the rough.  Just goes to show that appearances don’t mean anything.

The night began with a brief intro by Ed Behr and we then proceeded to our 5 course dinner.  We sat across a crazy couple named Lowell and Lou Ellen.  Next to us were Ed Beher and his wife.  After 10 minutes of listening to Lowell, Morri was kind enough to trade places with me so I could be next to Ed Beher.  What a difference in conversation.  You had one side talking about how you can buy frozen snake from a supermarket in Monterey Park and what it’s like growing up as a Jew in Los Angeles to the other side of the table talking about the terroir of wine and deep thoughts and ruminations on food.  Thus Ed’s publication on The Art of Eating is definitely not a light read like a Gourmet or Bon Appetit magazine.  Ed is like a cross between a Penn professor and Mr. Furly on Three’s Company – well-spoken, intelligent, but kinda goofy and self-deprecating at the same time.  So as the night began, Ed and I were in deep conversation about Vermont, food, and chocolate. As he continued on his story about his son’s like of dark chocolate and the occasional “bad stuff” as he called it, a lady 2 seats down abruptly asked me:

“So how did you go from Pot Stickers to Chocolate?”

Did I make pop stickers as a profession before I got into chocolate?  Did I look like a chef in a chinese restaurant?  Did it even matter that I was born in a small town of 3000 people in Oklahoma where we only had 1 stop light and all my friends were Caucasian.  I was probably more white than her.  I had no idea how to respond to that.  Thankfully, Lou interrupted everyone to explain the next course.

The night continued on with nice chats and explanations from Charles, a wine importer, about the different wines that were paired with the food.  Two of the white wines were quite strong or as they like to put it, “It has a lot of character.”  I think it’s another way of saying that is is very harsh.  Another wine buff perfectly stated one of those wines as a “dog’s breakfast”.  So interesting to hear these wine buffs talk about wines and to put superfluous words along with them. As I learn more about wines and the adjectives and metaphors used to describe these wines, I pick up on how I can describe my chocolate.  Charles affirmed it that once you describe something to someone, they learn to appreciate it.  Perfectly stated.

With a 5 course dinner and a wine pairing at each course, including a special apple cider that Lou poured for us, it was simply a wonderful night.  Magical I would say.  We stayed until 11:30 PM and the crowds continued to come into this little obscure place.  It was exciting to see.  Lou is the real deal with such a passion for traditional and pure food.  If you have not been to Lou’s don’t let the strip mall location fool you.   Forget the red flowered curtains and that it’s next to a laundry mat, IT’S AMAZING.  When you eat at his restaurant, he’s not pouring some wine that you can normally get at BevMo.  These are very obscure wines.  And the food Chef DJ Olsen is preparing comes from all farmers market ingredients. the freshness of each ingredient was obvious in each course.

I finally had to tug at Morri to tell her we needed to leave, because I had to get ready for the Mar Vista market the next morning.  As Lou walked us out, he mentioned that he gave my chocolate to these 2 chefs that were dining at the restaurant.  I immediately wanted to go meet them and give them the sales pitch.  As I reentered the restaurant and looked to my left, lo and behold, they were two cute chefs from Spain! Morri and I were swooning.  They were handsome Spanish men with thick accents and truly loved my chocolate for the chef said, “it reminded him of his grandmother”.  I gushed and smiled.  We exchanged business cards,  blew kisses and finally went on our merry way. We were still buzzing about the night the next morning. We were smitten that our spectacular night with good food, wine, and intelligent conversations, except for the right side of the table, ended with an encounter of two handsome chefs from Spain.  Our night was an abbreviated version of Eat, Pray, Love.  The chocolate journey just continues to get better.   Oh what a night.

Did I forget to mention that Ed Behr said that you’ve taken stone grinding to another level while another person said that I’ve taken unrefined chocolate and made it refined.  Beautiful!

Summer days mean pretty nice days here in So Cal, but slower chocolate sales.   It’s ok, because now I have time to relax and think about what my next steps are.

Chocolate and Cheese Plate -  Saturday Night

I’ve been eating a lot of chocolate + cheese + bread for breakfast and just did a cheese photo shoot with my friend.  People should really think about putting cheese and chocolate together.  This past weekend, my friend’s kid, Nicolaus King, a superb classical pianist, had an intimate gathering for his close friends.  He’s such an articulate young kid and it was so interesting to here him analyze the pieces he was playing.  I took piano for 10 years so have some connection with what his intentions are in each piece.  Getting back to the food part, I had the privilege of serving my chocolate on a cheese plate.  This was what I had on the chocolate and cheese plate:

Chocolates:

Coffee + Vanilla and Almonds + Sea Salt

Cheeses:

Shaft’s Blue Vein Cheese (cow’s milk) + Fontina Italian cheese (cow’s milk)

I know that the Coffee + Vanilla goes well with your red wines.  They were serving a Merlot and Cabernet.  Coffee + Vanilla is not my favorite blend, but if I’m drinking a red, I must have Coffee + Vanilla.  What was surprising was that the Coffee + Vanilla tasted so well with the Blue cheese.  Blue cheese is a very strong cheese and the Coffee + Vanilla chocolate is also intense.  Both of them complement each other so well.  The saltiness of the blue cheese brings out the coffee and vanilla.  These two are a must on a cheese plate.  It is such a delicious pairing.

Almonds and sea salt is more of a delicate flavor.  So this went well with your Italian cheese which was lighter cheese and not very strong.  I think a cheese that has some caramel notes and more salt would go well with the Almonds and Sea Salt.  Still searching for the best cheese for this chocolate.  The Almonds and Sea Salt was excellent with the cold Riesling they were serving.

New Blends

My new blends these next couple of weeks at the market are Brown Sugar Mayan and Chocolate Daisies.

Brown Sugar Mayan has all the ingredients of your classic Mayan Tradition, but I also added brown sugar + salt + peppercorns.  It’s amazing how just a tiny bit will change the flavor profile.  I didn’t think it would be such a big difference.  There’s more texture, and I can taste the bits of cinnamon which I love.  It’s more of a deep rich flavor and great with your reds where I think the classic Mayan is better with your lighter red wines and white wines.  Classic Mayan is great with a nice crisp white wine.

Chocolate Daisies was already here this year.  Ortega 120 is going to use this in their tequila tasting so I made a little extra for the markets.  I took organic chamomile flowers and stone ground it with your nibs + sugar + cinnamon sticks.  A great soothing blend.  It’s amazing has a hot chocolate.  Before you know it, summer is around the corner.

If you want to find out about the new blends, sign up for the newsletter on the right hand side where it says, “Where To Buy”.

More exciting news on the way so I’ll have another post this week!  It’s big news!

Patricia

I thought Mother’s Day was going to be dead at the Malibu Farmers Market, but low and behold Suzanne Summers (aka Cindy from Three’’s Company) came by and bought 2 bars of chocolate – Almonds +  Sea Salt & Cherries + Almonds + Black Peppercorns.  I wasn’t quite sure if it was her, but it was confirmed when one of the vendors from the olive oil stand came by and said, “Suzanne Summers totally raved about your chocolate and told us we have to come by and taste it!”  I was super excited!

When I saw her coming by my booth today, I immediately yelled out “Hi Suzanne!” and it slowly died to a small whisper as I hit the last letters of her name.  I was shocked to find myself calling her by first name as if she was my long last pal.  She came by and told me, “We went to Toronto and we made the chocolate + cheese + bread recipe.  We put the chocolate on a piece of bread, toasted it, put some cheese, prosciutto, and figs and it was divine!”  She then bought the Almonds + Sea Salt.  I told her the batch turned out really well this week, and she walked away and smiled.  She’s a very nice lady and so supportive of the farmers market.

To top of the starry day, a guy in a baseball cap came by my booth as I was helping another customer.  I quickly asked him if he wanted to try the Mayan Tradition.   He said “no”.  I was a bit annoyed, because he wasn’t following my tasting order and actually messing it up.  He said he wanted to taste the seasonal blend of Pear + Vanilla.  I gave him a piece and then focused my attention on the other customers.  He mumbled something like, “I kinda want to taste the Coffee + Vanilla.”  After finishing with the other customers, I gave him a piece and he looked up and said, “I’ll be right back”.  It was Edward Norton from Fight Club & American History X!  He bought 3 bars:  Almonds + Sea Salt, Coffee + Vanilla, Cherries + Almonds + Black Peppercorns.  He said he would give them as gifts! Awesome!!!

The day started off really hectic.  I hit my head on the canopy as I was setting up at another market.  Now I have a big welt.  An employee was really late,  and I was about to cancel the Malibu Market.  But the stars were aligned – no pun intended – and the day ended pretty well I must say.

And Amol…..he would have just fainted if he saw Suzanne.  I’m not going to tell him I saw her for fear that he might tell me to get her autograph and a picture.  What a tourist.

- Patricia

I’M working with a great gal that will help me understand the ins and outs of distribution.  The fear now is if I can keep up with production.  Stone grinding will always be done by hand.  When you automate everything, whether it be perishable or nonperishable goods, it takes a lot of character away from it.  As my friend Leslie says when it’s handmade, “you can feel the energy that the person put into it when you eat it.”  I like machinery, but with anything you have to draw that fine line of how much is too much.

THE life of a small business owner is crazy.  It is the birth of a child.  I don’t have a child and babies are much cuter.  The hope is to have a little one on the way, but this is my baby for now.   Ok, I’m actually at work right and I still am a slave for the next couple of weeks.  But I had to take a little time out to share with you the heavy burden lifted off my shoulder.

World….here we come!

Blessings!  Patricia

OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW

So Banana + Cardamom is now retired.  I had the Chamomile + Cinnamon for a couple of weeks, but I think we are reaching the end of that.  It’ll be Pears + Vanilla for the next month.  I’m using Bartlett Pears – unsweetened.  The pears have a subtle flavor.  Cacao % is a 72%.  I bite into the chocolate and notice the bitterness of the chocolate and then aroma and taste of the Vanilla Bean.  I let the bits of pears lay on my tongue and the pear flavor hits you like a gentle surprise.  The bars are 2 oz, because the Dried Bartlett Pears are not cheap.

Market Days

I get some customers that tell me they don’t like dark chocolate.  I automatically know those people like sugar.  People who are willing to listen to my chatter of why THIS dark chocolate is better makes me feel good.  It shows they are conscious about what they put inside their bodies.  I had a lady today at the market tell me she likes milk chocolate much better.  But I told her she has to try this chocolate.  I gave her the sweetest chocolate – Shangri-LA and told her that her palate will be more accustomed to less sugar, and she should try to make her way up to higher cacao %s.  After 5 minutes of talking, standing in front of the booth pondering while babies were crying, and other bought a bar, she caved in and bought a Shangri-La (black sesame + goji berries).

I personally can’t go back to the smooth texture of normal dark chocolate and that’s what I told her.  The gritty texture of ChocoVivo chocolate makes it more satisfying, and I know that it’s minimally processed and the ingredients used are whole and pure.  I’m a purist at heart.

Oh, weather man just said that it’s going to be Rainy – 30%.  Well, 90% of the time they aren’t accurate.

Off to bed.  Sweet Chocolate Dreams Everyone!

What words come to mind when you look at this bottle of milk?  Simple, Pure, Fresh.  Those 3 words should be in all the foods that you eat.  So today I’m talking about the ingredients found in a chocolate bar at the store:

Ingredients in a low-grade chocolate bar: SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, COCOA BUTTER, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, MILK FAT, LACTOSE, SOY LECITHIN, PGPR, VANILLIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, AND MILK

vs

ChocoVivo 75% Cacao chocolate bar: Cacao Nibs + Unrefined Cane Sugar

So why add all those ingredients?  When I was learning to make chocolate, a teacher told me to use soy lecithin or PGPR in my chocolate so the oils don’t separate.  And then she told me to start adding additional cacao butter.  Why? Why? Why?  PGPR was NASTY!  The smell was horrific.  Soy Lecithin, I don’t recall what it smelled like, but it’s basically a waste product when processing crude soy bean oil.  Here’s a very reliable article from the Westin A Price Foundation.  Soy is pretty much genetically modified these days.  And it’s still out there whether GMO foods do harm to your body.  You don’t really need all these additional fillers if you consume your chocolate quickly. These days, stores want food products to be shelf stable.  It’s all about the $$$$.  Not a bad thing, but you have to offer quality products.  And additional Cacao Butter – well, it’s just another processed method done to the chocolate.  It’s pressed from the cacao mass (nibs that have been ground up).  It creates a smoother mouth feel.  My philosophy has always been, use only whole ingredients.

So here are some quick definitions for some of the ingredients.

Milk fat – adds creaminess

Lactose – Milk by- product to keep the milk solid

Cocoa Processed with Alkali – cocoa is different than cacao.  Cocoa has not cacao butter so this needs to be separated from the cacao solids.  An Alkali is added to make the chocolate look darker and neutralize the acidity.

Just remember, the less the ingredient list the better.  There’s so much to learn about chocolate.  It’s definitely not black and white.  Stay w/ me and you’ll soon learn to appreciate chocolate.  It’s much more than just a bar of chocolate.

+

For my next blend, I wanted to use bananas.  I think bananas and chocolate are a great combo.  Peanut Butter + Chocolate was blend in my mind, but I have too many nutty blends at the moment.   I wanted to work with a unique spice, thus cardamom.

Cardamom is a very difficult spice to incorporate into foods.   It’s super strong and it can be overpowering as I found out the past couple of weeks.  It’s not like I can use milk or flour to help spread the intensity.  You put 2 intense ingredients together and things can go array quickly.  So I put 2 little pods in a 13# batch of chocolate and it was STRONG!  I kept adding 5 # increments of chocolate and after being in the kitchen until 2:00 AM last week, I decided that I needed to let this puppy sit so I could muster up enough energy to tackle this again.

Was in the kitchen last night and made it my mission to win this fight.  So I took about 1/4 of the original batch I made last week and stone ground it with more chocolate.  But I thought I’d make the blend a bit sweeter to about a 58% cacao.  It was too sweet!  So I ground 75% cacao and mixed it with the 58% cacao and WaLa!  It turned out perfectly!  The bits of chewy bananas with a hint of the cardamom is just right!  TKO!  Now I just have about 20# of chocolate + cardamom.  Well, you know what kind of chocolate I’ll be selling at the market for the next few weeks.  But Banana is the theme for the next month.

“I met you last Friday at the Venice Market, bought then a sampler of your various chocolates. I took your idea of chocolate and cheese and went with it. For a special dinner, three customers at our restaurant, I cut a round of brioche, toasted it quickly in a 500* convection oven, put a slice of Mayan on the brioche, melted it slightly in the oven, topped it with fresh goat cheese from Soledad Goats, candied kumquats to finish. Spectacular! We then set up a sampler tray for all of the staff (and a few lucky customers!). Everyone went gaga, which is how I suspect most people react when they first taste your chocolate. Although we’ve had similar, unconched varieties in Italy, yours has made a much bigger impression. It’s so alive, delicious, wonderful. I certainly will switch to ChocoVivo once I’ve worked through the Valrhona 66% Caraibe I have in stock. Glad to have met you, and thanks!”

- DJ Olsen, chef @LOU

Below are the official recipe and pictures. ———————————————————————————————–

ChocoVivo

Chocolate + Bread + Cheese

- Take a piece of artisan bread and lay a chocolate “rustic bar” on top of the bread.
- Lightly toast Chocolate + Bread (Approx 30 seconds). Chocolate can burn so be careful.

-  Chocolate will come out like softened butter.  Spread chocolate with a knife to coat the rest of the bread or just leave it as is – a beautiful rustic piece of melted chocolate

-Add the following on top of the Chocolate + Bread:

- Fleur de Sel or a light flakey sea salt.

- Drizzle of Olive Oil.

- Cheese (from cheddar, goat cheese, to a crumbled blue cheese like gorgonzola)

Pair with a bold Red Wine (white wine with the spicy Mayan) and enjoy!

Bon Appétit!

BROWNIES

6 ounces unsalted butter

2 ounces 75% ChocoVivo Chocolate

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons ChocoVivo dark ground chocolate

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9 inch square pan with parchment paper.  Lightly butter the paper.

Combine the butter and chocolate bar in a bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water.  Stir occasionally until chocolate and butter is melted.  Remove from heat and add ground chocolate, sugar, vanilla and eggs, one at a time.  dd flour and salt and stir just to combine.  Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until the edge of the brownies are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with few crumbs.  Let brownies fully cool before cutting.

Do you prefer Mini or Large Marshmallows in your Hot Chocolate?  Your Vote Counts!