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Reflexology is an ancient art based on meridians, the energy lines in our bodies. Reflexologists believe that all these energy lines come together in the feet–and I believe them. In addition to my “gall” warning, reflexology sessions over the past decade have revealed other weaknesses and/or tendencies in my body.

How do you know if you are getting a good reflexology session or not? Here are some things to look, (or feel) for. The practitioner’s hands should be strong and the if you are not experiencing some kind of discomfort, especially when they attack the toes, they are not educated properly. Most sessions start with the toes and then move down the foot toward the heel. The toes relate to the sinuses, head and neck. The arch of the foot represents the intestines. There are many resources that can guide you through the aches and pains in your feet. If your reflexologist puts on a pair of plastic gloves, ask her to take them off or end the session. You will NOT get what you are paying for.

There are many schools of reflexology–and I personally do not believe they are equal. The two best sessions I had were both from people who had attended the International Institute of Reflexology in St. Petersburg, Florida–http://www.reflexology-usa.net/index.htm. Click on Reflexology Referrals to see if their is a practitioner in your area.

I occasionally go to a Korean woman who does a good job, but I have had a lot of mediocre sessions that I wish I didn’t have to pay for. Frankly, I think there should be some kind of national-level star rating of reflexologists akin to book ratings on Amazon.com.

Lastly, there are many who believe that reflexology can not only identify problems in the body, but also help to cure them. By putting the right pressure on the painful spots on your foot, the energy flowing along the meridians stimulates the organ or area to heal itself. I think this principle applies more to small problems in the system than to chronic conditions.

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–Time-Life Editors, Foods of the World, 1970

An underlying truth behind this statement is, “Why bother to forage for the best ingredients, if, at the last minute, you compromise the quality of the final dish by choosing the wrong pot or pan to prepare it in?” But something else it didn’t explicitly state is that acidic foods react with aluminum, and, to a lesser degree, with cast iron. This reaction is common knowledge among professional chefs and why they would never allow a cheap aluminum pan or pot of any kind in their kitchen. It is also why some tomato-based recipes, and those containing other acid foods like vinegar or lemon juice, call for the use of a “non-corrosive” pot or pan in their preparation.

I first started to notice the importance of being vigilant about what foods are prepared in after eating a tomato-based dish at an ethnic restaurant. My stomach churned for a few days and then I got a pain in my lower back—centralized over the kidneys. A savvy alternative practitioner pointed out the possible connection of heavy metal poisoning from eating acid foods like tomatoes that had been cooked in aluminum pots. When I returned to the restaurant, I noticed aluminum pots hanging on hooks above the stove and have never eaten there again. You have probably heard of this principle without knowing it. This is why cans no longer have lead seams and most foods are packaged in steel instead of aluminum. Some food can interiors even have a non-reactive white lining.

Another no-no is Teflon—a short term for tetrafluoride, which in turn is short for polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE. Yes, that’s right, Teflon is a fluoride product and one that produces a toxic gas when heated to over 500°F. There has been a warning about this on the product box, but most people overlook the missive. But a recent spot of 20/20 highlighted how inhaling the fumes produced when a high-heat pan, such as when one cooks bacon, can cause an illness dubbed the Teflon-flu. It seems the manufacturer Dupont has known about the flu for years, and warns about the flu on their Web site, but not the product container.

Over the years, I have weeded out from my kitchen and replaced any poor-quality and toxic pots and pans, with high-quality stainless steel or enameled cast iron cookware. I highly recommend All-Clad’s beautiful, yet dependable line of high-quality pots and pans for stovetop cooking. If you are throwing out your old collection, why not consider one of their starter sets in their basic Stainless Steel line? There are many offers, but most come with a combination of lidded sauce pans and open frying pans—but do pass up the offers which include non-stick frying pans. If you have a little more money to spend, their Cop-R-Chef line features exquisite copper exteriors and the safe stainless steel interior-cooking surface.

One of my favorite All-Clad pieces is their butter warmer—a little pan just big enough for melting a stick of butter for popcorn. All-Clad is also a good choice for a stock pan. They make several sizes of heavy-bottomed stockpots ranging from 4-20 quarts. Choose one that is at least 16-quarts. That size can hold a couple chickens and all the savory vegetables needed to make a beautiful, nutritious, and versatile stock.

Another indispensable pot in my home is my enameled 5.5-quart Dutch oven with a lid from Le Creuset. This is my choice of pots for slow cooking a roast or stew on the stovetop. I have very fond memories of a friend of mine showing me how to make his favorite recipe—a pork and leek stew—in it just before he passed away. And since it is enamel-lined, it’s okay to cook acid-based foods in it, but always to be sure to use a wooden spoon—as metal can scratch the surface. My Dutch oven is white, but it comes in a wide range of colors–surely one to fit in your kitchen.

Despite the Time/Life Editors admonition against cast iron due to its possibility of reacting with food, I highly recommend some pieces of Lodge cast iron ware—as long as you avoid acidic foods and pre-season the pan as directed by the manufacturer. In fact, a good cast iron frying pan or skillet is a great kitchen tool because it conducts heat so well. I use my 12-inch skillet for frying bacon. Lodge also makes some very nice griddles for making pancakes and tortillas, as well as cornbread pans in fun shapes like perch, cactus, and corncobs.

I occasionally cook with two kinds of glazed earthenware from Bulgaria. The first is a large hand-thrown lidded pot for the oven called a gyuvech. It is used to make a meal of the same name—a rich combination of sausage and vegetables that are slow cooked in the oven. The second is an individual-serving size version of the first called a gyuveche. It is used to make a meal of sausage, peppers, and tomatoes topped at the last minute with an egg.

Porcelain is a good choice for bake ware and German made Villeroy & Boch is top of line. If you only buy one or two pieces, start with Villeroy & Boch’s 10×14-inch lasagna pan, followed by their versatile soufflé/casserole dishes that measure 7¾ inches wide and 3½ inches deep. I use the “lasagna” pans for baking carrot cakes, roasting chickens, and I use the “soufflé” dishes for making rhubarb crunch, sweet potato casserole, Potatoes Dauphinoise and numerous other dishes. Unfortunately, one of my favorite Villeroy & Boch pieces, a wonderful 12-inch quiche pan, has been discontinued. Luckily, I squirreled away four of them–each in a different pattern.

To put farm-fresh eggs and cream to good use, Villeroy & Boch also makes beautiful ramekins for crème brûlée, but I prefer my 5 oz. French made porcelain ramekins from Apilco or Emile Hnery. Williams & Sonoma sells a set of four Apilco ramekins in a gift box, along with a kitchen torch. (Don’t forget a bottle of butane to fuel the torch.) If you want to buy them individually, look for Apilco ramekin #1. You need to be alert when purchasing ramekins because there are quite a few inferior imitations on the market; many of them are made in China. I use my Apilco ramekins for butter, too.

I make one exception to banning aluminum from my kitchen. For baking cookies and drying nuts, I use professional-quality aluminum “half-sheets” by Chicago Metallic or Nordic Ware available through restaurant supply companies, Sur La Table and online (see above)—but I always line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper in order to keep the food from touching the metal. To economize, I buy 1,000 parchment pan liners at a time, which are available from restaurant supply wholesalers. One box usually lasts about four years.

Last, but not least, I cherish my Mauviel Tarte Tatin pan. It has a copper exterior, but a steel-lined interior making it perfect for making a wonderful caramelized French apple dish of the same name. There are several different sizes of Tarte Tatin pans—even by Mauviel. I prefer their 11-inch 2.1 qt. pan that has little “ear” handles to make it easier to maneuver the pan on the stove and in the oven.

So make a New Year’s resolution to cast out the old—your old aluminum and Teflon-lined pots, pans, and bake ware, that is—and then replace them with good-quality stainless steel, enameled or well-seasoned cast iron, and porcelain.

For more information:

For Villeroy & Boch products see, www.villeroy-boch.com

For Lodge products see, www.lodgemfg.com

For All-Clad see, www.allclad.com

For Le Creuset see, www.lecreuset.com

“Can Non-Stick Make You Sick? EPA Studying Whether Teflon Poses Health Risks,” Brian Ross, Rhonda Schwartz and Maddy Sauer reporting, aired November 14, 2003 on ABC News 20/20.

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Croatian Paški sir, Bulgarian Kashkaval and Spanish Manchego are just a few of the many wonderful sheep milk cheeses to be explored and enjoyed.

Here’s my prediction. Once you taste a sheep’s milk cheese you will start to seek them out. That’s what happened to me.

Twenty years ago, I immediately fell in love with sheep’s milk cheese while traveling in Bulgaria. A friend’s invitation to an informal dinner was my introduction to this cheese whose subtle color belies its wonderful taste. The table was set with homemade pickles, olives, fresh bread, wine and Kashkaval (кашкавал), a Bulgarian sheep milk cheese. I was so smitten, I searched for sources back in the States, and I was able to find Kashkaval in one Middle Eastern store in the Washington, DC area. Fast forward twenty years and Kashkaval is can be found in upscale stores like Whole Foods.

Up until now, the most famous and the iconic sheep milk cheese has been Manchego, named for the Spanish state of Castile-La Mancha from where it reigns. This is the land of tilting windmills made famous by Miguel de Cervantes novel Don Quixote. La Mancha’s windswept, battered plateau is a perfect for raising Manchega sheep. My first taste of Manchego was in a DC tapas bar. It wasn’t quite the same as Kashkaval, but factoring in for difference of terroir, it was definitely in the same recognizable genetic cheese family. Manchego used to be a bit hard to find, but nowadays it’s always available at Costco, Whole Foods and even some mainstream grocery stores. Manchego is characterized and recognized by the herringbone design pressed into it’s brown rind.

Another sheep milk cheese is Israeli sheep’s milk feta. I have a sneaking suspicion that this cheese can be traced back to Bulgaria. Why you ask? That’s because during WWII the king of Bulgaria was able to broker a deal to let 50,000 Sephardic Bulgarian Jews relocate to Israel instead of going to Hitler’s gas chambers. Bulgarians are amazing gardeners and farmers, so would have taken their food traditions with them which would have been modified and transformed by the environment. I really need a grant to go to Israel to check out my thesis someday. You can find a creamy and tart Israeli sheep’s milk feta at Trader Joe’s.

Paški Sir from the Island of Pag

The island of Pag’s deserted moonscape of sage-covered limestone hillsides is perfect for grazing sheep.

But let me introduce you to my favorite sheep’s milk cheese from Croatia’s island of Pag. I was fortunate enough to first taste Paški sir in situ while traveling around the Croatia’s Adriatic islands.

As the ferry approached shore, the landscape looked almost uninhabitable. But upon transferring to land, what had looked like a deserted moonscape, turned into sage-covered limestone hillsides which is perfect for grazing sheep. I was to learn that the unique qualities of Paški sir come from the fact that Pag’s sheep graze on this salt-dusted sage, which is created when tiny sea droplets land and dry on its leaves. I was able to visit a cheese factory on the island and get a behind the scenes tour of its affinage (climate-controlled rooms and racks for aging cheese). At the end of the tour, I was given a souvenir round of cheese to take home. I will also never forget a memorable meal in a konoba, or Croatian cellar pub, that included homemade prosciutto, Paški sir, and friendly conversation all washed down with wonderful Croatian wine and a glass of herb-infused grappa. Now that’s what I call living.

In the past couple of years, the major cheese producers on the island have banded together to petition the EU to give Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) to Paški sir, citing the island’s terroir, it’s climate, soil, location, and natural vegetation (i.e., the sage), plus animal husbandry and generational cheese production traditions and methods as key factors in support of seeking PDO status. I think this is brilliant move. This would give Paški sir the same protected status as world-renowned unique cheeses such as French Camembert or Brie de Meaux and Italy’s Parmigiano-Reggiano. To receive PDO status, an entire product must be traditionally and ENTIRELY manufactured (prepared, processed AND produced) within a specific region and thus acquire unique properties. This is definitely the case with Paški sir. I am very happy to announce that Paški sir will soon be available in the United States. To get the latest news on availability, become a Facebook or Twitter fan for Paški sir (see links below). You might even win your very own round of cheese.

I will close with a pondering about Ireland. A couple of years ago my family extended our usual Irish wanderings (my hubby is from Ireland) into hilly and sheep-friendly Connemara. Since my travels had attuned me to the environments perfect for sheep’s milk cheese, I started asking about where I could buy a local Irish sheep’s milk cheese—to no avail. There was none. From my perspective, this is a gigantic missed opportunity and lacunae in the Irish food offering. The Irish would do well to follow in the footsteps of the Croatians.

Gligora sirana’s delicious Paška Sir…note the lace in the logo…Pag is also famous for the wonderful lace made by island artisans.

Me with Simon Kerr (left) PR for Gligora Dairy) and Ivan Gligora (center) at the First-Ever Grand Portofolio Tasting of Croatian Wines in NYC on June 16, 2011. The wines were just as fantastic as this cheese that is now available in the United States.

Resources:

To find out where you can find Paški sir in the United States or to make a pilgrimage to find Paški sir in its place of origin, contact:

Gligora sirana (Gligora Diary)
20 Figurica
Kolan
23251
Otok Pag
Croatia

Tel: 00385 (0)23 698 052

www.gligora.com
http://www.facebook.com/Love-Paski-sirVoliti-Paski-sir

http://twitter.com/Paskisir

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A tiny-grained rice called Kalijira is the perfect choice for the busy cook.

A rainbow of rice is available today, but tiny-grained Kalijira (upper left hand corner) is one of the best.

I adore Kalijira, sometimes called the “prince of rice” or govindabog. It is my rice of choice. This tiny-grained rice is like a baby basmati. Revered by the Moghuls who built the Taj Mahal, it was reserved for honored guests.

Even though it’s small, it’s really considered a long-grain rice because its length-to-width ratio is 3:1. Due to its diminutive size, it’s very quick-cooking and can be done in as little as ten minutes–perfect for moms with busy lives (like me and you) or for entertaining.

Although Kalijira is an ancient rice, it has only recently become available in the United States. In metropolitan areas, it is sold in gourmet stores like Sutton Place Gourmet, Dean & Deluca/Balducci’s, and Whole Foods but otherwise it is neigh impossible to find.

Kalijira, and several other kinds of heirloom rice varieties, are imported by Lotus Foods headquartered in California. At a recent conference, I got owner Ken Lee to pose with a bag of white kalijira (left) and Ken’s new introduction–brown kalijira.

Tip:

Of all places, I have found Kalijira rice at Target. It is sold there as Baby Basmati rice under their Archer Farms brand. It is wonderful and a great substitute if you can’t find the one from Lotus Foods.

August 17, 2010:

I finally had the time to call Lotus Foods about why couldn’t find Kalijira anywhere…including several health food stores on the East Coast and Target. They told me that the government of Bangladesh has blocked the exportation of this rice because domestic stocks are needed to feed their people. Lotus Foods is looking for alternative sources in India…and I will let me know when and if it becomes available again.

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I knew we’d been invited to be wined, dined, and brainwashed about chocolate, but little did I know how much we’d be educated. Most attendees at a at 2001 conference hosted by the American Chemical Society at their conference center outside Baltimore knew the basics–but I, for one, didn’t know that the sumptuous taste of chocolate can largely be attributed to the process of fermentation. That’s right, fermentation. In fact, the flavor and quality of chocolate are wholly dependent on a milieu of silent factors, including the blend of cacao beans chosen for a particular chocolate, its roasting, as well as growing and fermentation practices.

Harold McGee, wizard scientist and the author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, surprised and educated the audience with pictures of cacao beans before and after fermentation. Beforehand, the beans, which are really cotyledons (or embryos) for a new cacao plant inside a large pod, are almost colorless and look and taste nothing like chocolate. But after a cadre of bacteria, fungi, and yeasts indigenous to the tropics–that’s why fermentation can’t be done elsewhere–work their magic in situ, the beans take on a purplish-brown hue and the taste we associate with chocolate. We all chuckle when we hear the phrase “death by chocolate,” but ironically it’s really “chocolate by death”–the death of the embryo marks the beginning of chocolate’s flavor.

Since cacao can be grown and fermented only within twenty degrees of the equator, most chocolate companies import the fermented beans and do the final stages of preparation–roasting, refining to reduce sugar crystal size, and conching, a final “kneading” of the chocolate to expel volatile acidic gases that are a by-product of fermentation–in their home country. So Swiss chocolate is not really from Switzerland, French chocolate is not truly French, and Belgian chocolate isn’t from Belgium, but, as you will see, Venezuelan chocolate is truly Venezuelan.

We also learned about chocolate’s antioxidant effects. According to Joe Vinson, professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, it has more antioxidants than spinach does. (He defines an antioxidant as any substance that prevents the oxidation, and hence the creation of damaging free radicals, of substrates like proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates.) The antioxidants in chocolate are called polyphenols. If true, this information should free devoted chocoholics from undue guilt.

In fact, while unfermented cacao beans contain about 8 percent polyphenols, the amount goes up with fermentation. According to Vinson, a standard-size milk chocolate bar has approximately the same quantity of antioxidant polyphenols as a five-ounce glass of red wine. (We’ll all toast to that!)

More revelations

McGee’s fermentation revelations and Vinson’s polyphenols got me thinking about chocolate. I already knew there was a wide range of quality, with some so-called chocolate bars not even containing cocoa butter, a vital ingredient that imparts silkiness and that melt-in-the- mouth quality to chocolate. Substitutes like palm kernel oil just don’t measure up. (Coincidentally, this is a huge issue for the European Union.)

With a little probing, I found out that some chocolate manufacturers are at the forefront of a revolution to make chocolate as distinctive as fine wine. Assisting them are experts such as Maricel Presilla, food historian, importer of heirloom cacao, and the author of The New Taste of Chocolate. Presilla also serves up great chocolate desserts at Zafra, her restaurant in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Presilla oriented me with a short history lesson on the progression of events in the chocolate world over the past few decades. A minirevolution started when some old European chocolate companies started to mass-produce chocolate bars for chefs. Chef-friendly bars by Callebaut of Belgium had a cacao content in the comfortable fifties (a 50 percent combined cocoa and cocoa butter content) and helped chefs easily duplicate their recipes. Then came Valrhona of France, which offered more complexity and deeper-tasting chocolates.

Callebaut uses mostly African beans, while most of Valrhona’s chocolates are blends created with high-quality beans from Venezuela and Trinidad–each one was considered a work of art with a more sophisticated palette of flavor. Callebaut was sold to Swiss chocolate giant Toblerone in 1980 and was later resold to Swiss businessman Klaus Jacobs and renamed Barry Callebaut when it bought out Cocoa Barry in France. Today Callebaut still makes great bulk chocolate for baking. Known as couverture. it is widely used in hotels and restaurants. With about twenty factories, Callebaut is probably the second leading chocolate mover in the world, just behind ADM Cocoa, the cocoa commodities division of Archer Daniels Midland.

Established in 1921, Valrhona is owned by a group of French investors and has its headquarters in the Rhone valley. “We own plantations in Venezuela and grow our own beans. We do everything from A to Z, except use pesticides or chemicals,” says chief operating officer Bernard Duclos. “Just as for wine, the land has a big influence on the finished product. We add Trinidadian beans to those from Venezuela to impart a floral bouquet to the finished cacao.

“If you tour our only factory in Provence, it’s almost like Willy Wonka. Old machines are making a lot of noise. We use old recipes and techniques to make vintage chocolate,” explains Duclos. “Every chef is an artist and, since every couverture has a different aroma, chefs in the finest restaurants come to us. In fact, some French journalists call us the Moutin Rothschild of the chocolate world.”

Aptly, its chocolates include a line of Grand Cru and Extra Brut chef bars. The latest addition to Valrhona’s estate collection is Gran Couva Vintage chocolate bars. The label looks like one for a wine bottle.

Coming to America

The next leap for chocolate happened when Chocolates El Rey, an old Venezuelan company, came to the United States in 1995. Started in 1929, El Rey is owned by one family–the Redmond/Schlageters. It employs European technology and, according to Presilla, who once represented El Rey, is the most progressive chocolate manufacturer in South America. Jorge Redmond, the current president, was born in Venezuela but has Swiss roots. His father was from Louisiana, attended to Rice University in Houston, and eventually went to Venezuela with Exxon.

When trying to break into the American market, the company took a different approach by single-handedly starting a public education program about cacao beans and practices for making fine chocolate. Consumers started to pay attention.

Cacao originated somewhere between southern Mexico and northern South America, so even if Venezuela was not the site of origin, it is blessed with a combination of temperature, soil, and rainfall that creates ideal conditions for cultivation. Hence, El Rey doesn’t have to import cacao; it’s an indigenous resource.

There are three types of cultivated cacao: the criollo, a delicate and lower producing heirloom bean; the forastero, a sturdy, disease-resistant Amazonian cacao favored by large commercial plantations in Africa, Asia, and Brazil; and the trinitario, a cross between criollo and forastero with high-quality flavor that retains the hardiness of the forastero. All three thrive in Venezuela, but the chocolates El Rey exports to the United States are of single origin–the Carenero Superior, a stalwart bean grown northeast of Caracas.

El Rey was also a front-runner in educating its network of small cacao farmers about proper fermentation. Many farmers just spread the beans out on the road, set up a makeshift barrier so that no one will run over them, and proceed with sun drying. But proper fermentation takes anywhere from two to six days, depending on the quality of the bean and the weather. Premature drying truncates the process by 25–40 percent, which affects ultimate flavor. A lot of other things affect fermentation as well. Some farmers ferment cacao beans by heaping them on the ground and covering them with plantain leaves, while some aerate and rotate. Any nuance at this stage–and, for that matter, any other stage–will affect the final taste. El Rey ferments its chocolate in wooden boxes made specifically for that purpose.

El Rey’s chocolates–Gran Saman, Apamate, Bucare, Mijao, Caoba–are named for the taller canopy trees that shade the shorter cacao trees planted in the 1600s. Its white chocolate–Icoa–is named after the mythical white Indian maiden who protected the forests of a cacao-producing area in eastern Venezuela.

American Artisans

I first read about Scharffen Berger chocolates in a Southwest Airlines inflight magazine. The story of John Scharffenberger, who sold his interests in a Californian sparkling wine company, and his partner Robert Steinberg, a physician in the middle of a career change, intrigued me. Friends for twenty years and looking for a challenging joint venture, they founded the only new American chocolate company in fifty years. When I first tasted these chocolates, I found them much stronger than others. This difference is largely attributable to their generally higher cocoa mass, or combined amount of cocoa and cocoa butter. A couple of the company’s products contain 70 percent or more.

Scharffen Berger (two words to distinguish it from Scharffenberger’s former wine company) works from the heart, selecting beans with full flavor. “I use the techniques I learned as a winemaker to put together a blend of cacao beans for our chocolates to make as an intense and fully saturated taste as possible,” explains Scharffenberger.

And the company cares about fermentation. “Fermentation is a key factor in our choosing beans,” says Scharffenberger. “When suppliers send us a one-kilo sample, we cut fifty beans in half with a guillotine-like device to look at the percentage of fermentation, which can be determined by color. Before we buy, we also check for any contamination and positive attributes like fruitiness and level of tannins.

“We are having an easy time marketing our products because of the lack of competition in the high-quality chocolate category. There is a lot of demand and very few competitors.”

The line includes candy bars, chef bars of semisweet, bittersweet, and unsweetened chocolate, as well as cocoa powder and cacao nibs, which are roasted cocoa beans separated from their husks and broken into small bits. (Add a tablespoon of nibs to your next grinding of fresh coffee beans.)

In addition to making and selling chocolate, Scharffenberger, who has a degree in agricultural history, spends a lot of time educating the public about chocolate. He investigates the contextual history of food products as a whole, discussing where they come from and how they fit into a cultural background. He has taught chocolate courses at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Scharffen Berger* is not the only American thing happening. Guittard, a family-owned company based in Burlingame, California, is small enough to have personality. The current president, Gary Guittard, has used old family recipes to create a new line of chocolates dedicated to his grandfather, Etienne Guittard. Founded in 1868, Guittard has historically been a supplier to candy companies, and its sweet ground chocolate has been a favorite among San Francisco coffeehouses.

“We have survived because of our quality,” explains Guittard, who is also president of the Chocolate Manufacturers Association. “We got caught up in playing the games of the big companies and forgot our heritage. However, the growing interest in nouveau chocolates has piqued my interest, although it has taken a while to get back to our roots.”

He has been helped along in his efforts to redefine the company with the discovery of two old chocolate formula books belonging to his father and grandfather. “Unfortunately, some wonderful cacaos my ancestors used are no longer available, such as Bahian from Brazil,” laments Guittard. His new line of chocolates will range from 58 to 72 percent cacao and will take the form of one-kilo chef bars and discs.

What’s the future? Chocolate aficionados will want to know more about the chocolate they consume and whether it was produced by sustainable methods with good cacao. As Presilla says, “If a company is using good cacao, it will want to talk about it; if not, it will keep silent.” And there will continue to be a place for small importers and manufacturers, which are finding a niche in the gigantic chocolate market under the nose of the big guys. “As long as there are companies that want quality and are willing to pay a premium, small cacao farmers will have a job,” says Presilla.

Chocolate espresso brulées

For these creamy brulées, Maricel Presilla was inspired by the Cuban cortadito–a dark espresso toned down with a little frothy milk. Like the cortadito, these are a perfect end to a meal when served in 4-ounce commercial demitasse cups or ceramic ramekins and topped with crushed cacao nibs. Makes nine 4-ounce coffee brulées. (Used by permission of Maricel Presilla.)

• 1 whole egg
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 oz. sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 star anise pods
• 1 vanilla bean, split open
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dark espresso
• 8 oz. milk chocolate (preferably El Rey’s Caoba or Valrhona’s Jivara)
• or a bittersweet chocolate ( El Rey’s Bucare, Scharffen Berger 60 percent,
• or Guittard Onyx), chopped fine
• 1 cup white sugar
• cacao nibs (preferably Scharffen Berger)

To make the chocolate espresso cream: Preheat oven to 335*F. Whisk the whole egg, egg yolks, and half the sugar together; set the mixture aside. In a saucepan, bring to a simmer the heavy cream, milk, and the rest of the sugar, cinnamon, star anise, vanilla beans, vanilla extract, and espresso. Remove the cinnamon sticks, star anise, and vanilla bean.

Turn off the heat and add the chopped chocolate. As it melts, whisk to combine. Do not overwhip! Gradually stir the warm chocolate mixture into the whisked eggs and combine thoroughly.

To bake the coffee brulées:Strain the mixture into a beaked container and pour into nine 4-ounce demitasse cups or ramekins. Place the cups or ramekins in a large baking pan. Place the pan in the middle rack of the preheated oven, and fill the pan with very hot water halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake at 335*F for 35 minutes or until set.

To caramelize the topping: Cool the ramekins to room temperature. Sprinkle each one with a little white sugar. Caramelize the sugar with a chef’s torch or under a broiler. Sprinkle about one-half teaspoon cacao nibs over the caramelized topping while still hot.

Double chocolate pudding

Lunch at the American Chemical Society’s chocolate conference was topped off with this splendid dessert fashioned by ACS chef Robert Dunn. He recommends Valrhona’s Equatoriale, which is 55 percent cacao. You will need four eight-ounce ceramic ramekins and a shallow baking pan for the water bath.

Pudding layer:

• 1 1/2 cups whipped cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 oz. semisweet chocolate (small pieces)”

Chocolate cake layer:

• 3 3/4 oz. semisweet chocolate
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar

To make the pudding layer: Place cream in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks and sugar. Remove the cream from the heat and pour over chocolate. Stir until melted. Slowly temper the cream into the yolk mixture. Pour into the ramekins, no more than half full. Bake in water bath at 300*F for 45 minutes, or until it jiggles when lightly touched. Cool completely.

To make the cake layer: Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Whip the eggs and sugar on high speed until lemon yellow in color. Pour the chocolate/butter mixture into the eggs while still mixing. Divide batter over the pudding layer. Bake in a water bath at 325*F for 30–40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted just in the cake layer comes out clean. Serve warm with honey ice cream, or chill completely.

*Update: Scharffenberger is no longer an independent operation, but rather it is owned by Hershey’s.

Chocolate sources:

Chocolates El Rey
(830) 997-2200
www.chocolates-elrey.com

Guittard Chocolate
(650) 697-4427
www.guittard.com

Valrhona
(310) 277-0401
www.valrhona.com

Bernard Callebaut
1-800-661-8367
www.bernardcallebaut.com

For one of the best chocolate-selling Web sites see www.chocosphere.com

And then, there is Max Brenner, native of Israel, who has two chocolate stores in the United States, one in Manhattan and the other in Philadelphia. He also has a new chocolate cookbook, entitled Chocolate: A Love Story. He happened to be in the Philly store when I stopped by today (November 19, 2009). I bought his cookbook, he autographed it for me with the words, “WITH PURE CHOCOLATE LOVE, MAX, and I took this picture. I just love the layout and design of the store…not to mention the define chocolate. I ordered a Mexican hot chocolate. Yum.

Max Brenner

841 Broadway

New York, NY 10003

212-388-0030

www.maxbrenner.com

1500 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 10003

215-344-8150

Additional reading:

Maricel Presilla, The New Taste of Chocolate, Ten Speed Press, San Francisco, 2001.

Angus Wright, “Pesticides, Social Justice, and Biological Diversity on Brazil’s Cocoa Plantations,” Global Pesticide Campaigner, September 1994.

Lead photo of cocoa pod downloaded from The Food of the Gods: A Popular Account of Cocoa, Brandon Head, LONDON: R. BRIMLEY JOHNSON, 1903,http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16035/16035-h/16035-h.htm

A version of this article first appeared in the February 2001 issue of The World & I.

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