Tickets are still available for A Night With Theo Chocolate. Keep an eye on the original post for updates about the pairings and the menu.
November 5, 2009: just posted information about the chocolate we’re featuring, and some of the wines we’re pairing with them.
Follow @anightwiththeo on Twitter for the chance to win chocolate prize packs or a pair of tickets to the event!
→ Leave a CommentCategories: Events
Tagged: Events, theo
Photo credit: Bob.Fornal (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fornal/373418814)
I apologize to everyone who is allergic to peanuts. Partly because this post is all about peanut butter, but mostly because it’s just so damn delicious.
Every year for the past three years, I have made a peanut butter banana chocolate pie on March 14. For you folks who aren’t math geeks, that’s pi(e) day. As in, 3/14 and 3.14. And really, an excuse to make and eat lots of pie.
Really, it’s an exercise in taking something that’s pretty cool, and making it extravagantly over-the-top. I looked at a recipe for peanut butter mousse pie in a chocolate crumb crust and thought, “you know, what that needs is some sliced bananas in the bottom of it, and maybe a layer of chocolate ganache on top for good measure.” And thus, the peanut butter banana chocolate pie was born. Next time around, I think I’ll take it further and caramelize the bananas in rum.
~~Science interlude~~
Peanuts are not a nut, they’re a legume. Ergo, people who are allergic to peanuts can still eat nuts – unless, of course, they’re allergic to nuts.
Peanuts are rich in an amino acid called arginine (arr-jin-een). Foods that are rich in arginine have been associated with higher likelihood of outbreaks of cold sores and, erm, outbreaks that are like cold sores. To be precise, it’s thought that an imbalance in the levels of two amino acids, arginine and lysine, is responsible for cold sores. (Outbreaks, that is. There’s a cute little virus that causes cold sores and the like in the first place.)
Incidentally, chocolate is also quite rich in arginine. Hrm. Arginine sure is tasty.
~~End interlude~~
There’s just something about peanut butter. It’s rich and luxurious, and that stick-your-tongue-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth feeling is comforting. It reminds me of being an awkward kid with pigtails. I’m pretty sure that when I was a kid, my parents gave me a spoonful of peanut butter just so I’d stop talking.
And peanut butter and chocolate? Divine. Baskin-robbins ice cream, all melty chocolatey with a ribbon of peanut butter stickiness? Yes, please.
I picked up some peanut buttery chocolatey things while in Seattle last week. It’s all research, you see. In my head, I’m creating the world’s best peanut butter and jelly bonbon. It’ll be one part peanut butter praline, one part grape jelly, and all kinds of grown-up, nostalgic tastiness.
→ Leave a CommentCategories: Food science · Homemade
Tagged: chocolate, ice cream, jelly, peanut butter, seattle
Mark your calendars: Thursday, November 20th will be the chocolate event of the year. Joe Whinney, CEO and founder of Theo Chocolate, will make a rare appearance in Vancouver for this special event.
Theo Chocolate is a fair-trade, certified organic bean-to-bar chocolate producer in Seattle. They were one of the first to create organic chocolate that didn’t taste like dirt. In fact, it tasted amazing. The company’s values, philosophy and transparency is matched only by the passion of the people who work there.
The night will feature Theo Chocolate in some surprising ways: as savoury canapes, in cocktails, and paired with artisan wine and beer. Joe Whinney will talk about the company that he founded, and entertain us with stories about the trials and tribulations of being an artisan chocolate maker.
This unique event will feature canapes from the Refinery, the mixology stylings of Lauren Mote, fine wines selected from the Farmstead Wines collection, and the opportunity to taste some amazing chocolate. And that’s not all. There’s more stuff coming down the pipe, so stay tuned.
Date: Friday, November 20th, 2009
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: The Refinery, 1115 Granville Street, Vancouver
Tickets: $50.00 | Buy tickets
We’ll be featuring two single-origin dark chocolates. One’s from Madagascar, the other from Ghana. We’ll also try the fig, fennel and almond bar from the 3400 Phinney line.
I’m not usually a fan of milk chocolate, but I’m not one to argue with the London Academy of Chocolate. In 2009, they awarded the Theo Jane Goodall milk chocolate bar with a silver medal for best milk chocolate bar. Not only is the chocolate good, the company was just awarded the Jane Goodall Institute award for Excellence in Corporate Responsibility.
Wine-wise, we’ll be tasting two gems from the Farmstead Wines collection: the Agricola Marrone Arnies 2007, and the Claus Preisinger Basic. We’ve got some tricks up our sleeves for more pairings, so stay tuned.
Throughout the night, we’ll hear stories about each product: where it comes from, who produced it, and the craft that went into it.
What are you waiting for? Buy tickets here. Tickets are only $50, but the actual value of the experience is well over $75.
This event is proudly sponsored by Sheraton Wall Centre, Foodists, and Industrial Brand, with a fabulous door prize donated by Xoxolat.
→ 1 CommentCategories: Events
Tagged: event, farmstead, refinery, theo, vancouver
On a slow news day, you’ll probably find some variation on the statistic that, depending on the source, 50-70% of women prefer chocolate to sex.
Well, in an informal study yesterday afternoon, I asked four women which they’d prefer. Three of the four chose chocolate. The fourth chose both.
Anyway, I digress. This post is about women who make great chocolate, right here in Vancouver. And, as a nice supplement to last week’s post, you might be surprised where chocolate lurks.
Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France
This shop opened up on a sleepy side street just off Main Street, in what used to be a chic, but overpriced, clothing boutique. The shop is simply decorated but oh-so-cute, with a chalkboard listing the daily offerings.
Truffles are sold by weight, and include tasty delights like orange blossom (delicate, floral and fragrant), Earl Grey tea (bursting with bergamot, aromatic and elegant) and coffee (deep, dark and earthy). There are also single-origin truffles from Venezuela and Madagascar.
These are serious truffles that don’t skimp on the chocolate. They’re dense and rich and almost impossibly smooth. Finished with a light dusting of Valrhona cocoa powder, they’re shockingly good – though I do think the Earl Grey truffle is the best of the bunch.
There are also small squares dotted with aromatic additions like lavender and chile flakes. The chocolatiere, Anne-Geneviève Poitras, has taken care to match each chocolate with an appropriate flavour. When you check out the case, notice that she’s paired heartier chocolates (darker percentage, anyway) with more robust flavours, and the lighter chocolates with more delicate flavours.
It’s a small detail, but one that I really appreciate.
Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France
198 East 21st Avenue
Vancouver, BC
604-566-1065
Bad Girl Chocolates
[Disclaimer! Disclosure! Kelly Boyd, the woman behind Bad Girl Chocolates, is a friend of mine. She also makes kick-ass chocolates, and I wouldn't be talking about her stuff if it wasn't good. So there.]
Bad Girl Chocolates has been a staple of the Vancouver Farmers Markets for a few years now, and I know that I look forward to Kelly’s booth. Is it the cheeky, 40s-style pin-up girls that adorn the packages? Is it the combination of traditional flavours (caramels, nuts) and wacky flavours (pomegranate, balsamic vinegar)? Is it the use of local ingredients wherever possible?
I guess it’s a bit of everything. Plus, I can have a chocolate while I fondle the produce at other booths. (I mean, really. Did you see the peaches this year, all fuzzy and yellow-orange pink? I dare you not to fondle a fresh peach. Or stick your nose into an ear of fresh picked corn. Seriously.)
Even better, a lot of the products are vegan. Bad Girl Chocolates are made with – gasp! – water, rather than cream, ganaches. I was a huge skeptic of this at first, but I’m a convert. The flavours are crisp and clean, and the chocolates taste just as rich as you’d expect. I won’t be making water ganaches myself, but I’ll definitely taste them.
Make sure to try the fun, seasonal products. Not only are they limited edition chocolates, they’re the best of the season’s bounty at its peak. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for the pear truffle: pear ganache with pear caramel. The mere thought of it makes my knees weak.
Bad Girl Chocolates doesn’t have a storefront, but you can order online here. They’re also available at most of the Winter Farmers Markets, though the final schedule still has to be posted. You can also check out Bad Girl Chocolates’ debut at this year’s Circle Craft Fair, November 11-15 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
→ 3 CommentsCategories: Product reviews
Tagged: bad-girl-chocolates, balsamic vinegar, chocolate, chocolaterie-de-la-nouvelle-france, coffee, orange, pear, pomegranate, tea, vancouver
I love Vancouver, and I like to think that I know it like the back of my hand. Tell me where you are and I’ll tell you the closest chocolate shop. No joke. Just try me sometime.
Thankfully, I’m still surprised by chocolatey discoveries. And lucky for you, I like to share. Information, that is. Not chocolate. Hands off!
At the coffee shop
49th Parallel Coffee Roasters has just launched the Soma Epic Espresso chocolate bar. A collaboration between 49th Parallel and Soma Chocolatemaker (who I wrote about here and here), it’s as if chocolate and coffee met in an upscale (but hip and down-to-earth) martini lounge, had a night of indescribable passion, and this is the resulting love child.
Soma, a bean-to-bar producer in Toronto, blends their chocolate with freshly ground Epic Espresso beans to create a bar that equally highlights the coffee and the chocolate. It reminded me that they’re both similar agricultural products: they start as beans, they’re fermented, dried and roasted, and then turned into something that people in first world countries value quite highly. Economics and agriculture aside, the bar highlights reminds me of the roasting part of the process, and there’s a really nice smoothness to the bar that makes its way to every single tastebud and every cell in your mouth.
49th Parallel also has other offerings from Soma, including the microbatch bars that highlight cacao from Papua New Guinea, Hispaniola, and Madagascar. Alas, they no longer carry Askinosie Chocolate. However, they do have the full line of Thomas Haas chocolate bars.
49th Parallel Coffee Roasters
2152 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
At the record store
Dandelion Emporium is a dangerous combination of vinyl, handmade cards, laptop bags, cheeky books, and anything else that your hipster heart desires. Ever the strategic thinkers, they also keep a stock of Vosges chocolate bars beside the cash register.
Vosges became famous for its use of spices and beautifully architected truffles, but has gained even more traction since the release of their exotic chocolate bars. I was gifted a bar of Mo’s Bacon Bar last week, and it’s a wacky combination of milk chocolate, applewood smoked bacon, and alderwood smoked salt. It has a comforting salty-sweetness to it, and actually reminds me of Chinese moon cakes. There’s a nice texture to the bar (the bacon’s crumbly, the salt crunchy, the chocolate melty) and the flavours are surprisingly well-balanced.
It makes me want to make more bacon caramel chocolates.
Dandelion Records has some large (100 gram) bars in the store, and have an order of small (15 gram) bars that are set to arrive any day now. Just in time for Hallowe’en, they’ve ordered the red fire skulls: skull-shaped versions of their red fire bar, containing chiles, cinnamon and dark chocolate. And the best part: black salt for eyes. They’re positively ghoulish.
Dandelion Emporium
2442 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
778-737-7367
(Note: Don’t get confused by the old storefront for Dandelion Records on Broadway, just east of Main. They’ve moved just around the corner to 2442 Main Street, under the new – but similar – name of Dandelion Emporium.)
→ 7 CommentsCategories: Product reviews · Uncategorized
Tagged: 49th-parallel, soma, vancouver, vosges
Subscribe to RSS
Follow me on Twitter
