CHOCOLATE, FROM THE HARVEST TO THE PLATE
For Easter, Vincent Deforce, chef of the gastronomic restaurant Le Cinq has imagined new bi-chocolate creations to discover "Ô Bon Pain"!
You prefer dark, milk or white chocolate? All our chocolate comes from the renowned Valrhona house. To help you make your choice, we asked Vincent Deforce to tell us a little more...
"For the dark chocolate, I chose a 62% dark chocolate for its bitter profile which will also give you subtle aromas of sweet almond that will fade on long roasted and chocolate notes.
For the milky chocolate, it is 35% and will seduce you for its pronounced taste of cocoa notes with a creamy tone, in harmony with final notes of vanilla and white malt.
Finally, the white chocolate is 31%, it is a low-sugar chocolate that reveals aromas of warm milk enhanced with light vanilla notes."
Of course, the eggs are also all topped with little chocolate figurines.
The chef did not forget Rodrigues the Pelican, mascot of the place, as he offered him a magnificent red egg lying in a nest... of chocolate of course ;)
But where does the chocolate for these creations come from?
VALRHONA, The best of Chocolate
PVG Group already chose several years ago to work with the French food-processing company Valrhona, specialized in the transformation of the cocoa. For our Chefs, it is the ideal partner.
Where is the cocoa coming from ?
The culture of the cocoa is obtained only with the association of specific weather conditions. One needs some water in sufficient amount, a quality ground and a temperature which does not come down below 16°C. Weather conditions which are located on a band of 20° in the South and in the North of Equator.
Since 1922,Valhrona cultivates, collects and selects the cocoa in 11 countries of South America, Africa or Asia. Some of their partners, as Millot, have been faithful for more than 30 years.
It is in the wealth of these long-term relations, that the preservation and the improvement of the quality of the cocoa is obtained… The cocoa is nothing without the man intervention.
Looking for the best quality...
Valhrona calls on to sourceurs. Their mission is to meet partner producers to establish a trusted relationship but also make sure that the correct recommended agricultural practices to produce quality are respected. The producers, after the harvest, let ferment fruits in a wet place up to 7 days. This stage allows to free all the aromas. Then, place in the drying of beans during two weeks and in their routing to France. For Peru, for example, the sea transport lasts two weeks.
The torrefaction
Arrived in France and sent to Tain l'Hermitage in the Drôme, the next stage for beans is the roasting. This one allows to develop the precursors of aromas, it varies according to the expected recipes and the origin of the fruit. Lot by lot, to protect their origin, beans are roasted with the air warmed in the gas to be crushed. We obtain then the grué of cocoa.
The grinding
If it is not possible to make an exceptional chocolate without chocolate of exception, it is in the know-how of the manufacturing that its excellence will be guaranteed.
Beans are crushed to obtainthe chocolate liquor. Then, to the workshop, milk and sugar are added according to the recipes. The chocolate is now in its liquid form with all its aromas and the ingredients of its recipe : loan to be molded.
The molding
It is the last stage before a new journey, but this time in the Chef kitchens! The chocolate, to be packaged is going to be molded under different forms. The respect of the curve of temperature is essential to obtain a brilliant product and a perfect breakage.