Dessert Overload

Now how can you read that and expect to find out about something bad? It HAS to be scandalously good. So most of you should be able to realize by now that Ms Jones has been so busy in the kitchen(s) that she hasn't had time to even finish updating you on all that's going on! For example, the last FCI class recap was from Day 10? Yeah, we just had day 46. I am way behind on that. However, there's some exciting things that have gone on here in the past few weeks that I couldn't allow the fatigue deter me from telling you at least a little bit about.

The 10th and 11th of November, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the NYC Chocolate Show 2007. It was the 10th anniversary of the show and everything was taking place at the Metropolitan Pavillion & Altman Building on West 18th between 6th and 7th Ave's. Laissez-vous aller a votre passion chocolat! Basically 40,000 sqaure feet of indulgence for the who's who of the chocolate world and the people who worship it. On Saturday the 10th, myself and a couple others from the FCI went over to have a look around before we all worked the show later in the weekend. Booth after booth of free samples, chocolate for sale, and the actual chocolatiers themselves! Seeing people like Fritz Knipschildt from Knipschildt Chocolatier, Lee Zalban from Peanut Butter & Co, Ilene Shane from SweetBliss, Jeff Shepherd from Lillie Belle Farms, and Jacques Torres himself behind their stations interacting with the consumers directly and on such a personal level was amazing. We got in and passed by the City Harvest booth and went over to the first chocolate art display area to see the 7-foot tall chocolate statue made by Chef Kir Rodriguez and others from the FCI. Making our way around, smelling and tasting, we attempted to check our our Dean of Pastry Arts, Jacques Torres, for his demo in the Viking Kitchen, but it was way too crowded for us to even see! I was able to get a couple photos though. Overall it wasn't a big deal because he's so closely tied into our curriculum and our programme that our paths will cross soon enough...Lucky for us the E. Guittard booth with right next to the stage so we took full advantage of trying the darkest of their dark chocolate: Nocturne 91% extra dark. THe only thing darker tasting than that I had all afternoon was the actual Cacao bean I tried over at Romanico's. How could something be bitter and smooth at the same time? Briliant. As the afternoon went on, we made friends with the worker at the ChocoVision technology booth...now I might be considering getting a tabletop tempering machine someday...but our purchasing took place after we went to the Viking Stage again for the Peanut Butter & Company demo at 5pm.

Lee Zalban was making Peanut Butter Buckeyes, something I was all too familiar with, being from Ohio. It was a favorite recipe from the Peanut Butter & Co. cookbook, which I ended up purchasing and having personalized by Lee himself later on in the evening. Lee didn't really want to get too down & dirty, so he stressed that this was a fun project to have your kids help out on. Therefore a 12 year old boy named Henry, who I later found out had been going to the Chocolate Show since he was 6, and who was also volunteering that weekend, was asked to dive right in and mix the dessert components with his bare (and clean) hands.

After the demo, we 1) ate a buckeye and 2) continued our rounds of the show. I purchased two truffles from Oliver Kita: White Peaches & Cream and Espresso; a pumpkin Bistro Bar from Chocolate Moderne, and Eve's Secret Truffes from Romanico's. These things are insanely good and only 38 calories each because there are no preservatives in them at all. 38 cals for a dark chocolate truffle with an actual hazelnut in the middle! After that, we headed to check out the Chocolate Fashion show and the Chocolate Lounge, where I almost didn't get let in because they thought I was too young. Nice. We made one final stop at the PB&Co booth to get our cookbooks purchased and autographed. Those antics laid the groundwork for the next day, when I would be actually be working the show at the Viking stage.

My shift started at 2pm and I got there with enough time to allow me to change into my chefs coat and checks. Almost ran into Keegan Gerhard when I arrived backstage to check in and get started. Right away, the supervisor of the backstage area, Sarah, was going to have a few of the volunteers who had been there for a while show the new arrivals where to wash dishes, etc. I struck up a conversation with Henry (the 12 year old) to tell him what a great help he was during the demo yesterday and as a result, I was put in charge of monitoring him the rest of the afternoon/evening. Derrick Tu Tan Pho from Barry Callebaut was finishing up his second demo of 'Cappuccino Ebony' of the day. We tidied up after he was finished and got prepped for the next demo, which was from Quady with CocoaVino. They prepared a dessert called 'Drunken Figs' as a part of their demo on Explorations in Dessert Wines: Figs & Chocolate. As volunteers, we were there for set-up, sample distribution, and clean-up for each demo that took place during the amount of time we were there. As Henry's 'keeper' I was also asked to make sure recipes for the demos got properly distributed as well as a couple other things that needed to be passed out to the audience. For the Quady demo, we passed out a sample of the wine that the figs were cooked in, the cooked figs which had been cooled and lightly coated in chocolate, then a white dessert wine to compliment the figs. As we cleaned up after that, the next demo, which was essentially a lecture by DeAnna Radaj, took place. As people learned about Chocolate and Feng Shui, Matt Gennuoso from Chez Pascal in Providence, RI showed up for his demonstration at 5. Henry had gone off to walk around the show, which left me free to assist Chef Gennuoso with his prep for Spicy Black Bean Chocolate Soup and Pork stuffed Piquillo Peppers (a small roasted red pepper from Peru). What I was basically doing was putting a bit of a mixture of fennel and onion (cooked in a duck broth) and then placing one of the Pork (and chocolate) sausage stuffed piquillos on the top of that. They had been cooked prior to coming to the show to save time and we were reheating them before plating them. It saved even more time to reheat them exactly how they were going to come out on the plate. I think I prepped about 150 veg & pepper combos. Once that was finished, my 'partner' Henry and I were set to reheat the Spicy Black Bean Chocolate soup (made with mole). We headed up the stage range with our soup filled stockpot and talked with Chef Gennuoso while we waited for 5 o'clock to roll around. Once the clock reached time, I darted behind the side curtains while Henry helped out Matt and at a certain time during the demo, it was my responsibility to grab the 3 trays full of peppers and veg out of the ovens behind the main range so they could get plated and served hot to the audience members. A teeny cup of the chocolate black bean soup was served on the side of the pepper (on the same plate) with a small dollop of creme fraiche. In the end, all the soup/peppers went out looking and smelling great. From what I heard, it tasted out of this world too.

Clean up ensued while the team from Donatella & DavidBurke finished putting together their individual desserts of Chocolate Domes for Parties & Such. They had two different versions: one dome was covered in cocoa powder and had a slight coffee flavor to it. The center of the dome was a vanilla custard. The other was covered in toasted coconut and the center was fresh grapefruit! Really bright and fresh tasting! It went really well with the cheesecake lollipops they served alongside the dome, which was additionally topped with a chocolate lace pistole. Each cheesecake lollipop was nestled in a rosette of bubblegum, yes, bubblegum, whipped cream. The first thing I thought when I tried it was straight Bubble Yum. However, the gum flavor melted away and you were left with a gorgeous whipped cream taste in your mouth. Gustavo Tzoc really knows what he's doing in creating such a subtle flavor.

The rest of the night was spent cleaning and consolidating kitchen equipment. The actual kitchen set itself had to be disassembled double quick because the people from Viking were coming to physically take it away! All the cabinets, shelves, and fridge compartments were emptied onto tech tables so the Viking guys could swoop in for the takedown. We separated the Kitchen Aid products from the Oxo-ware...the full sheet pans from the half sheets...the spatulas from the whisks, etc. After each piece was cleaned off, they were grouped together either in their original boxes or in rubbermaid totes, then labeled for later identification. Once everything was labeled, organized, and stacked for placement on the trucks, it was time to say goodnight. We were lucky enough to get a few things from the chocolate vendors (ahem, boxes of 72% Valrhona bars...and Oxo cooking utensils) and an immeasurable experience. Where else could we eat our way through exhibits one day and then get to work with world class chefs the next? Everyone I came in contact with was amazing. Sarah, the Viking kitchen supervisor was so professional and down to earth. I thanked her 1,000 times over. At this point, I'm just dipping my foot into the baking and pastry arts world...I can't wait to dive headfirst.



Coming soon...encounters with duff, hot pink Evian leotards, dancing men, and Ron Ben!