La Maison du Chocolat's Summer 2011 Collection

Summers in New York are unbearably hot and humid. It's tough without air conditioning, and much too warm for serving temperature of chocolate. Luckily, La Maison du Chocolat stores are kept at steady, optimal environments for chocolate. This summer, they're rolling out a few unique and limited items, while bringing back a few big hits.


My favorite item for the summer collection is the Chiberta set of five French Basque bonbons. I didn't know Baque country had chocolate, but apparently it's the historical origin for French chocolate. The Txokolate Iluna or "Solemn Ganache" is pure dark chocolate. For a change in texture, the Praline Macaron has pieces of crushed macaron shell within the ganache for a crunchy filling. The Etzia is a milk chocolate ganache with wildflower and chesnut honey highlights. This was my favorite of the five. For the more exotic, Almond Paste with Patxaran has an anise liqueur enhanced almond paste center. The Espeletako Piperra has a spicy pepper kick. These are available for a limited time, and while expensive, they are certainly unique ($24 for 10 pieces, $60 for 30).
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The Salvadore Raspberry Mousse Cake makes its return. The cake was introduced a few months ago at La Nuit du Gateau, or the Night of Cake. Semi-sweet chocolate with raspberry highlights, this cake is available from one to twelve servings ($8-110).


During the summer, the stores serve chocolate, pistachio and caramel ice cream. They also have strawberry and raspberry sorbets ($4.50/scoop). The wild strawberry sorbet I had was fruity and natural. No artificial strawberry flavors.

For a limited time in the summer, the stores will have a Macaron Sylvia ($2.75 ea), milk chocolate ganache with notes of biscuits and honey. They usually sell two types of dark chocolate macarons, but I especially enjoyed this lighter one.

La Maison du Chocolat
lamaisonduchocolate.com
You can purchase online or at any other of these four boutiques:

1018 Madison Ave
Manhattan, NY 10075
(212) 744-7117

30 Rockefeller Center,
Manhattan, NY 10020
(212) 265-9404

63 Wall St
Manhattan, NY 10005
(212) 952-1123

Short Hills Mall
New Jersey, 07078
(973) 379-5043

Photos courtesy of La Maison du Chocolat.

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La Nuit du Gâteau: Night of Cakes at La Maison du Chocolat

Photos courtesy of La Maison du Chocolat

La Maison du Chocolat is celebrating its 20th anniversary of the first store opening in New York on Wednesday, November 3rd. At the La Nuit du Gâteau, or Night of Cake, all three of the New York stores will be premiering several of their pastries for a free public tasting.
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The tasting will be from 7pm to midnight at the flagship Madison Avenue boutique (Madison & 79th) and 7pm to 9pm at the Rockfeller (30 Rock) and Wall Street (Wall & Pearl). The event is open to all visitors and the highlights will be the chocolate tarts, macarons and ice-cream, along with exclusive treats for the event. The above pictured sTARTlette is a "crunchy sablé enrobed with ganache infused with ginger, passion fruit nectar and Sancho pepper" with what looks like a bit of gold leaf.


The Chocolate Tart is also making an appearance. A combination of dark chocolate ganache and natural vanilla, I can tell you from personal experience that it is absolutely delectable.


One of the big pastry premiers will be the classic eclairs, which will be available regularly in the New York stores. Though this is primarily a chocolate shop, the caramel eclairs made on sight have an amazingly delicate caramel cream that will make you smile without weighing you down. Also available are chocolate fillings and possibly coffee for La Nuit du Gâteau.



Don't miss the Salvador cake made of chocolate and raspberries or the omnipresent macarons filled with the signature ganache and in a wide variety of flavors.

I previously raved about my last experience at a La Maison du Chocolat tasting. I've also previewed some of the aforementioned pastries a few weeks ago. I'll certainly be making it back to their public tasting. This will be a great event if you already love their products, but also a good introduction if you've never had first-class chocolate before. If their Paris celebration back in July is any indication, expect long lines and big crowds.

La Maison du Chocolat
lamaisonduchocolate.com
1018 Madison Ave
Manhattan, NY 10075
(212) 744-7117

30 Rockefeller Center,
Manhattan, NY 10020
(212) 265-9404

63 Wall St
Manhattan, NY 10005
(212) 952-1123
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Tasting with La Maison du Chocolat

With boutique locations in Paris, New York, Cannes, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong, La Maison du Chocolat don't mess around. Master chocolatier Robert Linxe's philosophy is that everyone should have one piece of exquisite chocolate a day. I'm not sure if he meant that everyone should have at least one piece, but certainly one of La Maison du Chocolat's ganaches would keep you satisfied for a week in this Hersey permeated world. Good chocolate, just like good cheese, wine or other victuals is an indulgence going forward. Once you take that step into the hard stuff, you can't go back the same.

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I had the opportunity to taste four chocolates from this fancy boutique through an event hosted by the Columbia Gastronomy Society. Manager Anca Niculescu walked us through the chocolate making process to inculcate an appreciation for the four morsels in front of us.


Cocoa butter, cocoa nibs, cocoa beans

We dissected the cocoa bean, which come in cacao pods. Inside each bean are tiny cocoa nibs that are ground into chocolate liquor. The liquor is then separated into cocoa powder and cocoa butter.


Cracked open bean with all its cocoa goodness falling out

The manager emphasized that La Maison du Chocolat used the highest quality cacao pods, the Criollo variety, whereas typical industrial chocolate makers utilized the more common Forastero. This differentiation didn't mean much to me as someone outside of the industry, but the fact that they could claim this exclusivity meant something in itself. What stuck with me was the manager's description of the shelf-life of good chocolate. Most of her ganaches lasted about four weeks, and she added that you should be skeptical of chocolates that have unnaturally long shelf-lives. Another useful tip, if the chocolate leaves a filmy feeling in your mouth, it could be an indication that the maker used vegetable oil as a replacement for cocoa butter. Chocolate is best kept in the climate of a wine cellar. Never freeze chocolate.


Grain dentelle - milk chocolate praliné with slivers of crispy waffle

I had always been a fan of chocolate pralines and I urge anyone who spots a gold box of Goldkenn Swiss pralines to treat herself. The tasting started with this milk chocolate exhibition of textures. The chocolate started dense in the middle and opened outwards with an airy crispness to thin waffle layer at the top. The lightest chocolate came first and each piece was progressively darker.



Micaëla - Milk chocolate mousse infused with pure Kenyan Arabica coffee

This was our first infusion. A mousse, whipped ganache creating a playful levity. A hint of caramel that comes from the chocolate beans themselves and not from any added ingredient. The coffee depth. The beans are steeped in cream, brought to a rolling boil, before being mixed with the chocolate.



Andalousie - Dark chocolate ganache infused with lemon zest

Just a sniff and you'll get the citrus right away. Real fruits always taste better than their chemical counterparts. Just like there is a distinct difference between lemon juice and lemon zest, you can feel a concentration of oils in this chocolate. This was one of the denser chocolates in terms of texture. Just look at the picture of the black hole of cocoa.



Chiberta - Dark chocolate mousse infused with orange and lemon zest

Somewhat like a combination of the second and third chocolates, I expected the flavor to be similar too. Actually, I've never been particularly fond of orange chocolates, but given the experience with the lemon zest ganache, I figured the orange would be delicious. In fact, the orange was distinctively different from the lemon. More than just being sweeter, less tart, there was actually an essence of orange like the difference between a San Pellegrino Limonta and Aranciata.


With those four, I think I'm set on chocolate for a week at least. But what's the future hold? I anticipate that I'll be stopping into one of La Maison du Chocolat's three boutiques from time to time to keep up my fancy chocolate cravings. They hold two hour tasting for $70, a terrific special occasion gift.

La Maison du Chocolat
lamaisonduchocolate.com
1018 Madison Ave
Manhattan, NY 10075
(212) 744-7117

30 Rockefeller Center,
Manhattan, NY 10020
(212) 265-9404

63 Wall St
Manhattan, NY 10005
(212) 952-1123

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Chocolate Skittles

When I was a kid, I made the mistake of confusing Skittles with M&M's. As I grew up and understood more and more about how the world works, I also came to recognize that these two confections occupy different spheres of the candy world. M&M's and Skittles represent two separate kingdoms and should remain that way. This abomination of sugar (and/or high fructose corn syrup) tries to cross a border that should never be transgressed and the result is not worth your money or your mouth.

Both Skittles and M&M's are owned by Mars, Inc., one of the largest private companies in the United States. Considering that these two candies are therefore not competitors, it is unlikely that they are targeting the same consumer. Admittedly, some days I will fancy a fruity chew and others will be candy coated chocolate days. But if ever these two days converge, they will be in two separate bags of candy. This incestuous offspring is a taste disaster. There is a reason why the previous line of chocolate Skittles were discontinued in 2001. No one likes to buy bad candy.

Vanilla, S'mores, Chocolate Caramel, Pudding and Brownie Batter are the five hideously colored flavors of this new product line. Ignoring the fact that vanilla does not actually contain any chocolate, all these flavors blend together in a bitter mess. They do not have the distinct personalities of the other Skittles flavors that make each bag a treat. The quality of good chocolate is not in artificial flavor. I would argue that chocolate without the rich, complex, and versatile texture is hardly chocolate at all. Chemists have identified more than 600 different kinds of molecules in chocolate that give it its pronounced balance of bitterness and sweetness. I fail to believe these chocolate Skittles capture even a portion of that complexity. Instead, when I bit into my chocolate skittle, it crumbled and dissolved. It even lacked the satisfying candy shell of both Skittles and M&M's.

Both Skittles (any of the more standard flavors such as original, tropical, wild berry, sour, smoothie, even the short-lived mint) and M&M's are excellent candies. Their bastard child Chocolate Skittles is a poor attempt to bring together the best in both. But despite my clear disgust at this new candy, I do recommend going out and purchasing a bag yourself. Don't open it though; one day it'll be worth something as an exhibit in unmitigated candy fiasco.

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