Artisan Chocolate Maker Roundtable

So you think you wanna become a bean-to-bar artisanal chocolate maker? I’d have second thoughts after listening to five chocolate manufacturers share their struggles at an event sponsored by Slow Food Nation on Labor Day. Present was the criminal lawyer turned chocolate maker Shawn Askinosie, the laid-back Art Pollard of Amano Chocolate, the articulate Mexicanophile Alex Whitmore of Taza Chocolate, ex-glassmaker Steve De Vries of De Vries Chocolate and the ultimate perfectionist Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate. With only a few jokes made in the almost 3 hour long panel discussion, these guys take their chocolate very seriously. The panel was moderated by Alexander Morozoff, publisher of the glossy Cocoaroma Magazine.

What’s so hard about making your own chocolate? You get the best leftovers, you’re loved by all the women and you’re raking in the dough given the recent surge in dark chocolate sales. Ask Shawn Askinosie just how challenging it is to source cacao, especially from farmers who are certified organic. He once wired $28,000 to a Venezualan pastor and not a single cacao bean made its way back to his Missouri factory. And then there is the tempering; many of these guys still have burns on their hands from mistakes made with this grueling aspect of the cacao production process. There are also very few resources out there to guide young chocolate entrepreneurs. Art Pollard’s “new” antique conching machine came with a simple 1 page “instruction manual.” Steve De Vries tried to learn about making chocolate from library books; they all started with the phrase “melt chocolate.”

These chocolate artisans are proud of what they make, but there was a fair amount of frustration in the air. For one, why is every major chocolate company latching onto the term “artisan” in the hopes it will buffet their sales? Most panelists agreed that in order to be called artisan, a company must have one expert who manages the entire process of making chocolate. In that case, it is a bit of a Catch 22. Artisan chocolate makers need to make money by selling more chocolate; if they sell a lot of chocolate, they’ll need to hire more help and perhaps sacrifice the quality of their beans. At some point, they won’t truly be artisan but they will be profitable. And there is the problem that the American public, raised on sweet milk chocolate bars, will never truly appreciate what they do and still aren’t ready to fork over $10 for a chocolate bar.

Some panelists made light of the concern that artisan chocolate may be perceived as an elite food, like arugula and other foods that plague Democratic presidential candidates. According to De Vries, anyone should be able to afford a $10 chocolate bar. And as I say on my Chocolate Tours, the very best chocolate bar costs far, far less than the very best bottle of wine. But that doesn’t really address the problem. Americans are used to buying $1 candy bars. If artisan donuts suddenly cost $10 apiece, only a real food snob is going to think the cost is worth it. Shawn Askinosie expressly wants to stay away from chocolate snobs, instead aiming at “chocolate geeks.” For that reason, he decided to make a white chocolate bar, even with added nuts. For the rest of the chocolate purists on the panel, many of whom eschew soy lecithin, vanilla and even cocoa butter, that is taking things a little too far.

The real reason chocolate bars should cost $10 (or even more) is not to put money in the pockets of “elite” chocolate makers. Rather, it is to fairly reward the farmers who grow the beans that are essential to quality cacao. The panelists all make an effort to pay the cacao farmers they partner with prices that are above fair trade, with Askinosie even giving his farmers a “stake in the outcome.” And this is what Slow Food is all about – recognizing the agricultural ties inherent in everything we eat, including a chocolate bar.

So while listening to these artisan chocolate makers reaffirmed my own career choice, it seems I’m not the only woman choosing to enjoy fine chocolate rather than make it. It’s an observation I’ve made before, but why are there so few women in the bean-to-bar chocolate world? These guys talked about the importance of understanding science and engineering, so maybe the lack of female representation in these fields is part of the problem. Or maybe, like me, women are just too busy feeding the kids to make weekly trips to plantations from Africa to Equador. Alex Whitmore said that if they have another Artisan Chocolate Roundtable next year, there will be 5 times the number of participants. I hope so, and I hope at least one of them is a woman!

The Whiter the Chocolate

There are chocolate snobs who won't eat anything under 85%, aficionados who turn down their noses at milk chocolate and purists who scoff at exotic fillings. So where does that leave white chocolate? I'd say at the bottom of the heap. Many don't even consider white chocolate to be chocolate because it's pure cocoa butter and not one bit of cacao. White chocolate is never a popular option on our chocolate tours. But walk into any Swiss or Belgian chocolate shop, and you will find white chocolate galore - not just at Easter.

But what about the white chocolate bar? If you've traveled to England, you've no doubt tried a Milky Bar, but far better alternatives exist. In fact, small batch artisan chocolate makers, like Askinosie, are tackling white chocolate with the same rigorous attention to ingredients and methods shown in their dark chocolate bars. Last week I assembled a tasting panel of sleep-deprived mothers to sample some of the best. Here are our favorites:

1) Amedei Cioccolato al Latte Bianco, $11.95
If you crave pure, unadorned white chocolate, then the pricey Amedei bar cannot be beat. It is rich, silky and creamy - all things that pure white chocolate should be. I first learned of the sibling pair (Cecilia and Alessio Tessieri) who own Amedei in Mort Rosenblum's excellent book, Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga Of Dark and Light. Unlike most chocolate companies, they are involved in the entire chocolate making process, from drying and fermenting beans on the plantation to conching and tempering in their Tuscany factory. We preferred Amedei to other plain white chocolate bars like Green & Blacks and Chocovic.


2) Askinosie, $7.50
In June, Shawn Askinosie (whose company is based in Springfield, Missouri) unveiled three artisan white chocolate bars. They are unique in that the cocoa butter used all comes from one particular plantation - meaning that it can actually be called "single origin" white chocolate. Since the taste of cocoa butter really doesn't vary as much as the taste of cacao from region to region, I'm not all that impressed by his single origin concept. But I do like some of the flavor combinations he's developed. And we can all feel good about enjoying Askinosie because they give cacao farmers a "stake in the outcome."

* The White Chocolate bar - Not as sweet, luscious and creamy as the Amedei bar. The pale golden color is unlike any other white chocolate I've tasted. This was not a huge hit.
* The Nibble Bar - This was a big favorite. The crunchiness of the cacao nibs (and of course the chocolate flavor) is a perfect contrast next to the smooth white chocolate.
* The Pistachio Bar - We liked the addition of organic, salted pistachios to white chocolate. The flavor of a pistachio is quite mild so it does not overpower the taste of the white chocolate. But we preferred the crunchier texture of the Nibble Bar.


3) Vosges D'Oliva Exotic Bar, $7.50
Katrina Markoff's contribution to the white chocolate world is this kalamata olive and white chocolate bar. Olives and chocolate - we all expected to hate this! But it was surprisingly good. The salty, subtle taste of olives was a nice counterpart to the creamy white chocolate. We feel very good about eating Vosges chocolate because, in a sea of male-owned chocolate companies, Markoff is one of the only women. And we appreciate Vosges' dedication to being a "green" business.


4) Chocolat Weiss White Chocolate with Red-Fruit Bar, $5.25
One can only eat so much pure white chocolate. That's why we were happiest with the bars that combined white chocolate with another tasty ingredient, in this case raspberries, strawberries and cherries. We thought the tart red fruits were an ideal match with sweet white chocolate. A bit of lemon provides a little more acid. And Weiss takes the award for most elegant packaging; this slim silver and pink bar would make an excellent gift. Weiss is a French company that has been around since 1882. Chocosphere carries a wide selection of Weiss bars.

What a Label: Askinosie

Everyone is in a rush to check out the new Barney's, but I'm just as happy to browse our city's best chocolate specialty shops. Bittersweet Cafe displays their bars on the walls like the works of art they are. I stopped by on Friday and was drawn to a bar I had never seen before - Askinosie, 70% dark chocolate. I'd heard of the Missouri based company's strong commitment to Fair Trade chocolate, but it was the unique packaging that convinced me to try it.

The bar's wrapping looks like an ordinary brown grocery bag, tied at the top with rough twine. And if you're still not convinced this kind of packaging is natural, the labels assures "the tie that binds this package is from a biodegradable bag of beans shipped to our factory." The inner plastic wrap is "home compostable, non GM packaging from a sustainable source." So far, a perfect fit for our city! Following the trend of information-rich labeling in premium chocolate, Askinosie tells consumers not only the percentage of cacao, but the origin of the bean (San Jose Del Tambo, Ecaudor), the variety (Arriba Nacional) and even the lead farmer's name (Vitaliano Saravia) and picture. All of this information is in an old-school, imperfect font, as though it was typed onto a bag of beans for a customs agent - not to lure moneyed chocolate connoisseurs.

Shawn Askinosie's explanation of his slogan "real people, real places" all sounds very good. Vitaliano is the real person who gathered and fermented the beans for this bar. Shawn works directly with farmers, rather than bean brokers, and guarantees they get fair prices, open books and a stake in the outcome. (He even pays higher than the Fair Trade market price.)

After I untie the bag, I realize that, like a box of Cracker Jacks, this bar comes with a prize - a map! I've seen maps on the outside of chocolate bars, but never as a separate insert. (hmm, is this causing more waste than the average bar?) The map is actually a little confusing, because it describes two separate spots: San Jose Del Tambo in Ecuador and Soconusco in Mexico. I'm left wondering whether this map is supposed to be a "one size fits all" for all Askinosie bars, of if this particular bar was made in both spots. Plus, the direction of the cute little airplane makes it look like the bar goes from Missouri to Mexico to Ecuador. Maybe I need to visit the web site and type in my "choc-o-lot" number. If only my son was a little older, this could make an excellent geography project!

www.askinosie.com is a fabulously designed web site. From a marketing point of view, Shawn seems to be doing everything right. Real enthusiasts can read about his former career as a criminal defense lawyer, and his craving for Slim Jims and Jimmy Hendrix on a cacao farm in Ecuador. But I still have some business to attend to - finding out the real origins of my bar. I type in the "choc-o-lot" number and voila, everything I'd ever want to know about this bar. A few interesting points stand out. Askinosie makes their own cocoa butter for each batch, from the exact same liquor as the bar. They don't add vanilla. And Shawn loves fried catfish with hush puppies. Seriously! The journey is a series of journal entries from November '06 to July '07. Most of them relate to the actual chocolate making process, but Shawn throws in quite a few tidbits from his Indiana Jones/Milton Hershey personal life.

After all this research, it's time to try the chocolate! I'll share my thoughts next week...