The Art of Tasting Chocolate

Welcome new visitors!

Thanks to the article in this morning's SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE AND SFGATE.COM our website is getting a lot of traffic for a Sunday morning. We invite you to look around. Check out 'who we are and what we do' (left column). Perhaps a chocolate tasting party is in your future? Or why not join us next Sunday at Sur La Table on Maiden Lane in San Francisco for our new 'Feast of Cheese and Chocolate' party that we created with Bibby of Parties that Cook and Cheese Maker, Wil Edwards? Scroll down to the June 27 posting for details. Cheers!

International Chocolate Salon a Success!

The summer months are traditionally the slowest time of year for the chocolate business. People just don’t purchase and consume much chocolate when it is sweltering outside. One confectioner friend told me he thought he would kill himself the first July he was in business. No sales. Nothing. Nada. Chocolatiers and confectioners use this time of year to attend trade shows and relax before the busy fall and winter season.

That’s why the setting and timing for the first San Francisco International Chocolate Salon could not have been better. Not only is summer in San Francisco cool and foggy, it is also an easier time of year for a chocolatier to be away from their business. Especially important since many of the attendees had just returned from the Fancy Food Show in New York City the week before. From a chocolatier and confectioner’s point of view this show was a great way to get a lot of visibility in a short amount of time closer to home. We hope that it was money and time well spent for these vendors to get their product out in front of the right press and the targeted audience of chocolate loving consumer.

From the look of the line and crowd, it was an immediate success for the over 2,000 attendees. One of my Chocolate Tasting Class students said that she thought it was better than a chocolate event she had attended at Copia in Napa. What was different? The lines at this show moved faster and it was easier to talk to the exhibitors.

I had a great time. Because I was invited to be on the tasting panel, I arrived early on Saturday before it got crowded. It was great to see friends like Art Pollard and Clark Goble of Amano Chocolates, Chuck Siegel of Charles Chocolates and Kathy Wiley of Poco Dolce. And to reconnect with Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms. And then there were the new friends like Emily Stone of Chocolate in Context who gave a very interesting talk about cacao in Central America. Yosh Han spoke about her work as a perfumer and shared three scents that she developed for Temper Chocolates in Boston. I was sorry to miss the chocolate meditation presented by Rev. R. M. Peluso of The Community of Peace and Spirituality in New York City but was pleased to meet her and share our similar experiences with chocolate.

There is talk that the next Chocolate Salon could happen as early as this fall in Los Angeles.

Left to Right: Kathy Wiley of Poco Dolce, Charles Chocolate Hearts, Heinz Rimann of The Tea Room, Coco Delice, Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms, Clark Goble and Art Pollard of Amano Chocolate with Karletta

Meet you at the Salon!

Don't forget the SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL CHOCOLATE SALON today and tomorrow at Fort Mason.  Join kindred spirits as we storm the chocolate Bastille to exercise our right to enjoy fine chocolate.  See you there.

Can chocolate help memory loss?

Being forgetful has some lovely benefits. It means that one can often be pleasantly surprised. Take, for example, the article about POCO DOLCE, one of our favorite chocolate confectioners, in the Summer 2007 issue of EDIBLE SAN FRANCISCO. I picked up my copy last Saturday at the farmer’s market, grabbed a MORNING GLORY CHAI from the LA COCINA booth and sat down for a good read. About the third paragraph in I read that Karletta Moniz thinks that confectioner Kathy Wiley’s clean designs have a very modern sensibility to them. I agree. Good thing, too, or being forgetful would be the least of my problems.

MORE CHOCOLATE HEALTH BENEFITS ANNOUNCED

The good news about the health benefits of chocolate keeps pouring in. Just this week, German scientists reported that one bite, or less than a quarter of an ounce, of commercially available chocolate eaten once a day can significantly lower blood pressure. Read the New York Times article here.

We eat chocolate because it makes us happy. The health benefits are a nice fringe benefit but not what we are seeking when we are searching the chocolate aisle for our next fix. However, if that is the hook that helps to sell more product, and the newspapers that report it, then bravo.

PRESS RELEASE: INTERNATIONAL CHOCOLATE SALON

International Chocolate Salon Welcomes Celebrity Panelists and Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Liqueur as Major Sponsor

“Ten Days of Chocolate” culminates with event-packed San Francisco Chocolate Salon, July 14 & 15 at Fort Mason
The San Francisco International CHOCOLATE SALON, July 14 and 15, 2007, announces a delicious lineup of speakers and members of its Chocolate Tasting Panel, including celebrity chocolate perfume maker Yosh Han. TasteTV also announces that Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur will be a major sponsor of the Ten Days of Bay Area-wide chocolate events culminating with the two-day Chocolate Salon at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Conference Center.

During the week leading up to the International Chocolate Salon, Bloomingdale's San Francisco will present daily chocolate recipe demonstrations in its kitchen by chocolatiers XOX Truffles, Coco Delice, Cosmic Chocolates, and Coco-luxe Confections, as well as by chefs Eddie Blyden, Ryan Scott of Myth Cafe, and Murielle Roux of Absinthe Brasserie. In addition, Vermeer will be sponsoring "Chocolate Specials" on dishes, drinks, and desserts at local restaurants, bars and clubs.

The San Francisco International CHOCOLATE SALON takes place on Bastille Day Weekend, July 14 and 15, 2007 at the Fort Mason Conference Center in San Francisco. Chocolate aficionados, fanatics, buyers and journalists will experience the finest in artisan, gourmet & premium chocolate in one of the world's great culinary metropolitan areas.

International Chocolate Salon participants include NEWTREE Gourmet Belgian Chocolate, Lillie Belle Farms Artisan Chocolates, Theo Chocolate, San Francisco Chocolate Factory, XOX Truffles, Grand Avenue Chocolates, MarieBelle Fine Treats and Chocolates, DeBrito Chocolate Factory, The TeaRoom Chocolate Truffles, Terra Nostra Organic Chocolate, Gelato Classico, Coco Délice Fine Chocolates, Serendipity Chocolates, L'Artisan du chocolat, Poco Dolce, Cosmic Chocolate, Coco-luxe Confections, Saratoga Chocolates, Charles Chocolates, Rushburn Toffee Company, Couture Chocolates by Ginger Elizabeth, Amano Artisan Chocolate, The Xocholate Bar, Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur,  Quady Winery, Silkwood Wines, Four Vines Winery, Steele Wines, Sol Rouge Winery, C'est Tres Chic Chocolate Molds, Trader Joe's, Izze Beverage Company, Le Creuset, Swissmar, Putumayo World Music, Chocolate Television and TasteTV.

The Salon will also include a Chocolate Awards Tasting Panel, speakers, and demonstrations, and donates a portion of proceeds to local non-profits. Panelists and speakers include Yosh Han, Rob Valencia, Seneca Klassen , GraceAnne Walden, Emily Stone, Pam Elder, Leslie Harlib, Joan Steuer, Karletta Moniz, Herschell Taghap, Carolyn Byrnes, A.K. Crump, and Jose-Gaspar Vib. Tickets $20 for adults, $10 for children 6-12, under 6 free.  Saturday July 14th, 11:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m, Sunday July 15th,10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

For Advance Ticket purchases, Salon information, or for the Menu of events and specials for the Bay Area Ten Days of Chocolate, go to SF CHOCOLATE SALON.

I am pleased to be on the tasting panel!  I hope to see you there.