12th April 2013
Summer 2008: Le Grand Chocolat
Less than a quarter of meals served in British restaurants and pubs are rounded off with an indulgent dessert. Clare Riley visits chocolate maker Valrhona to look at the work that goes into getting the sweet stuff from plantation to plate
Set alongside the Rhône River and overlooked by the French Alps, the town of Tain-L'Hermitage is home to a chocolate factory that processes more than three million tonnes of cocoa beans every year.
Founded by a pastry chef and opened in 1922, Valrhona now employs around 500 people, equivalent to 10% of the French town's population and sells its chocolate to approximately 60 countries worldwide.
The chocolate making process from start to finish at Valrhona is both complex and intense. Going the extra mile is central to the company's ethical stance, especially with many chocolate producers selecting cocoa beans and negotiating a price within a sensitive and fluctuating market. The chocolate maker deliberately chooses to pay far more than the market value for its cocoa beans signaling a commitment to its planters.
Countries such as Ghana, Brazil, Nigeria,Venezuela, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Caribbean are known as the Chocolate Belt of the Tropics, producing the finest and rarest type of cocoa pods. Valrhona uses pods from all regions of the Chocolate Belt to provide a wide spectrum of flavours and a diverse mix of cocoa.
April through to June and October through to November are the best times for the pods to be at their peak.
Pods are picked from three different types of cacao tree. Criollo accounts for less than 3% of the world's production and adds delicate and aromatic tones to chocolate. Forastero is more common making up 80% of the world's production and can provide chocolate with a variety of coarse and contrasting floral and fruity flavours.
Trinitar is a mixture of Criollo and Forastero and can give chocolate a full flavour with plenty of length.
A pod can contain up to 40 beans. Once picked the pods are opened using a club or a knife and the beans are placed into wooden crates shaped like sets of stairs, ready to ferment. They are covered with banana leaves and the process is complete within four to six days, bringing out the brown colour of the beans.
Around 500 randomly selected beans are chosen and cut in half to see if fermentation has been successful. After the alcoholic and acetic stages of fermentation are completed the primary flavour molecules begin to appear and these are imperative to developing the taste of chocolate.
Drying the beans is the next stage of the process and this is critical as the beans still contain 60% of their humidity. Many producers do this using the heat from fire but Valrhona uses natural heat from the sun, as fire can give the beans a smoky taste, smell and flavour.
The beans are shaken and stirred, known in the Caribbean as ‘cocoa dancing' with the aim of preventing mould growing during transportation to Valrhona's chocolate factory.
Cocoa beans are cleaned, polished and sorted, then placed into sacks ready for their journey to France. Female employees at the plantations are seen to be more meticulous than their male counterparts and so are preferred to carry out the sorting of the beans. Around 400g of cocoa beans make up one batch and only beans originating from the same harvest and plantation are transported together.
On arrival at the factory the beans are checked for any signs of damage and impairment that may have occurred during transit. They are then assessed and identified by a panel of employees known in the factory as the ‘Cacaothéque', looking for distinct features, ensuring quality is consistent throughout. A few beans are taken from each batch and made into chocolate which the Cacaothéque tastes and assesses.
Batches of beans weighing no more than 250kg are roasted for 40-60 minutes at temperatures between 110ºC and 135ºC. Staff in charge of the machines can alter roasting temperatures and timings depending on each individual batch.
The beans are cooled down and their outer shells are removed, which are often sold on for use in products such as cosmetics, beer and even animal feed. At this stage the beans are known as nibs, processed batch by batch. Grinding and blending is next and sees the nibs and cocoa butter melted and turned into a paste called chocolate liquor. It is here that origins are mixed and blended to follow Valrhona's specific cocoa formula.
The chocolate liquor is then mixed and refined turning it into dark, milk and white chocolate. Butter is added giving the chocolate liquor an acidic smell and taste. Sugar is added to make dark chocolate and sugar plus milk are used to create a milk variety.
Finely grinding chocolate and refining it to 15 microns gives chocolate its smooth and creamy texture. This is particularly important, as the human mouth cannot handle more than 20 particles so the refinement process removes the excess.
A large mixer, which allows the chocolate taste and flavour to fully evolve, is used in a process called conch- ing. The conching machine removes any acidic elements making all the difference to the taste of the chocolate.
Conching takes place across three days and the chocolate liquor is heated to between 70ºC and 80ºC. Valrhona describe this stage as “a delicate, alchemy-like process, which gives full expression to all the properties of the cocoa beans allowing a rounded taste that develops the true character of chocolate”.
Chocolate is crystallised during tempering in a temperature-controlled cycle to give it the shiny look consumers are familiar with.
Kept at 50ºC the chocolate is then moulded into bars, squares and blocks making this the final stage of the process. Branded Valrhona, the chocolate undergoes strict checks by staff, who look to find samples that are the wrong size and shape and ones that are simply not shiny enough.
Valrhona always uses the same recipe during chocolate production and testers are trained for a year to detect differences in the chocolate's flavour, texture and taste. If they find a whiff of variation the chocolate does not make the cut, is melted down and put through the process again.
The confectionery area is where finished chocolates are hand decorated ready to go into layered boxes of chocolates or creating petits fours. Staff sit in teams of four alongside a moving conveyor belt from which they place the chocolates into packaging to be boxed up. A nut and praline workshop is used at the far end of the factory to avoid contamination with the main chocolate area.
Blind tasting is implemented and the testing panel is detrimental as there are no machines to do this job. Different flavours appear at different times, which is why testers are so rigorously trained. Tones and aromas that come from chocolate can include fruity, woody, spicy, floral and breadlike scents. Testers look for the colour of the chocolate, smell and even the sound of the snap when they break it. Eating thin squares, staff pick up on senses and aromas that are strongly linked.
A glass of water, a piece of crustless bread and an apple are all kept close by to neutralise the taste of the chocolate ready for the next sample.
With the human sense of smell 10,000 times more sensitive than the sense of taste, testers are taught that 90% of what they taste in their mouths is actually smell. It is for this reason testers sample three or four squares of chocolate so they can feed back a solid description of their findings.
The Valrhona recipe and process is always the same so when Valrhona works with its development chefs the expectation is that the taste of the chocolate never changes.
Development chefs are located at the company's laboratories, where they test new techniques for any food related trade that works with sugar. New techniques include the whipping of chocolate mousse or experimenting with the emulsion of various ingredients.
Every year the company offers a trip for pastry chefs, bakers and confectioners, which allows them to work one-on- one with Valrhona's top chefs creating delicate dishes and learning the techniques that perfect them.
The company describes its courses as “the chance to experience techniques and tricks that will facilitate better understanding of the magic of the ingredients, patisserie and chocolate making and put this savoir faire into the elaboration of recipes”, whether it be for an individual chef preparing for a competition or the annual group trip.
Those lucky enough to be invited on the most recent group trip were pastry chefs from London's The Ritz, The Dorchester and the Michelin starred Ledbury, Sketch and The Fat Duck in Bray. A ‘plated desserts' course for the chefs was hosted at the company's L'Ecole du Grand Chocolat and was run by executive pastry chef Phillipe Givre and assistant pastry chef Christophe Domange.
Covering pre-desserts, plated desserts, desserts in glasses and petits fours, the chefs were split into four teams of three, each contributing to the dishes listed in the recipe book and allowing them to circulate different ideas.
“Valrhona encourages you to get the best out of their products and produce the best desserts. I've been a pastry chef for 10 years and it's great to work in an industry where you can still learn,” says Joanne Todd, a pastry chef from London's Le Pont de La Tour at this year's course.
The environment of a busy kitchen rarely allows time to create and develop new ideas so the 11 chefs attending L'Ecole appreciated the hands on approach that Valrhona takes, making it much easier for them to take new skills and tricks back to their restaurants and put what they've learnt into practice.
Chocolate is described by Phillipe Givre as an extremely versatile product that can be applied to most cooking techniques.
Givre, who was viewed in the best possible way as a perfectionist by the chefs, commented and advised on everything from whipping techniques to cooking times.
“A chef can buy the best product with the hope of getting the best dessert but he must respect the process,” says Givre.
He went on to explain why it's so crucial to do things properly: “Don't change anything in your recipe, just respect the process. A chef can have the best meat or fish but if the cooking process is bad then so will be the fish.”
Sugar free milk and dark chocolate are on the horizon for Valrhona's UK customers with future products becoming more technical and innovative. Supporting the ‘artisans of the food world' is one of Valrhona's main principles and the work at L'Ecole with existing customers goes a long way to proving that the small town of Tain- L'Hermitage is where the finest chocolate is born.
Founded by a pastry chef and opened in 1922, Valrhona now employs around 500 people, equivalent to 10% of the French town's population and sells its chocolate to approximately 60 countries worldwide.
The chocolate making process from start to finish at Valrhona is both complex and intense. Going the extra mile is central to the company's ethical stance, especially with many chocolate producers selecting cocoa beans and negotiating a price within a sensitive and fluctuating market. The chocolate maker deliberately chooses to pay far more than the market value for its cocoa beans signaling a commitment to its planters.
Countries such as Ghana, Brazil, Nigeria,Venezuela, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Caribbean are known as the Chocolate Belt of the Tropics, producing the finest and rarest type of cocoa pods. Valrhona uses pods from all regions of the Chocolate Belt to provide a wide spectrum of flavours and a diverse mix of cocoa.
April through to June and October through to November are the best times for the pods to be at their peak.
Pods are picked from three different types of cacao tree. Criollo accounts for less than 3% of the world's production and adds delicate and aromatic tones to chocolate. Forastero is more common making up 80% of the world's production and can provide chocolate with a variety of coarse and contrasting floral and fruity flavours.
Trinitar is a mixture of Criollo and Forastero and can give chocolate a full flavour with plenty of length.
A pod can contain up to 40 beans. Once picked the pods are opened using a club or a knife and the beans are placed into wooden crates shaped like sets of stairs, ready to ferment. They are covered with banana leaves and the process is complete within four to six days, bringing out the brown colour of the beans.
Around 500 randomly selected beans are chosen and cut in half to see if fermentation has been successful. After the alcoholic and acetic stages of fermentation are completed the primary flavour molecules begin to appear and these are imperative to developing the taste of chocolate.
Drying the beans is the next stage of the process and this is critical as the beans still contain 60% of their humidity. Many producers do this using the heat from fire but Valrhona uses natural heat from the sun, as fire can give the beans a smoky taste, smell and flavour.
The beans are shaken and stirred, known in the Caribbean as ‘cocoa dancing' with the aim of preventing mould growing during transportation to Valrhona's chocolate factory.
Cocoa beans are cleaned, polished and sorted, then placed into sacks ready for their journey to France. Female employees at the plantations are seen to be more meticulous than their male counterparts and so are preferred to carry out the sorting of the beans. Around 400g of cocoa beans make up one batch and only beans originating from the same harvest and plantation are transported together.
On arrival at the factory the beans are checked for any signs of damage and impairment that may have occurred during transit. They are then assessed and identified by a panel of employees known in the factory as the ‘Cacaothéque', looking for distinct features, ensuring quality is consistent throughout. A few beans are taken from each batch and made into chocolate which the Cacaothéque tastes and assesses.
Batches of beans weighing no more than 250kg are roasted for 40-60 minutes at temperatures between 110ºC and 135ºC. Staff in charge of the machines can alter roasting temperatures and timings depending on each individual batch.
The beans are cooled down and their outer shells are removed, which are often sold on for use in products such as cosmetics, beer and even animal feed. At this stage the beans are known as nibs, processed batch by batch. Grinding and blending is next and sees the nibs and cocoa butter melted and turned into a paste called chocolate liquor. It is here that origins are mixed and blended to follow Valrhona's specific cocoa formula.
The chocolate liquor is then mixed and refined turning it into dark, milk and white chocolate. Butter is added giving the chocolate liquor an acidic smell and taste. Sugar is added to make dark chocolate and sugar plus milk are used to create a milk variety.
Finely grinding chocolate and refining it to 15 microns gives chocolate its smooth and creamy texture. This is particularly important, as the human mouth cannot handle more than 20 particles so the refinement process removes the excess.
A large mixer, which allows the chocolate taste and flavour to fully evolve, is used in a process called conch- ing. The conching machine removes any acidic elements making all the difference to the taste of the chocolate.
Conching takes place across three days and the chocolate liquor is heated to between 70ºC and 80ºC. Valrhona describe this stage as “a delicate, alchemy-like process, which gives full expression to all the properties of the cocoa beans allowing a rounded taste that develops the true character of chocolate”.
Chocolate is crystallised during tempering in a temperature-controlled cycle to give it the shiny look consumers are familiar with.
Kept at 50ºC the chocolate is then moulded into bars, squares and blocks making this the final stage of the process. Branded Valrhona, the chocolate undergoes strict checks by staff, who look to find samples that are the wrong size and shape and ones that are simply not shiny enough.
Valrhona always uses the same recipe during chocolate production and testers are trained for a year to detect differences in the chocolate's flavour, texture and taste. If they find a whiff of variation the chocolate does not make the cut, is melted down and put through the process again.
The confectionery area is where finished chocolates are hand decorated ready to go into layered boxes of chocolates or creating petits fours. Staff sit in teams of four alongside a moving conveyor belt from which they place the chocolates into packaging to be boxed up. A nut and praline workshop is used at the far end of the factory to avoid contamination with the main chocolate area.
Blind tasting is implemented and the testing panel is detrimental as there are no machines to do this job. Different flavours appear at different times, which is why testers are so rigorously trained. Tones and aromas that come from chocolate can include fruity, woody, spicy, floral and breadlike scents. Testers look for the colour of the chocolate, smell and even the sound of the snap when they break it. Eating thin squares, staff pick up on senses and aromas that are strongly linked.
A glass of water, a piece of crustless bread and an apple are all kept close by to neutralise the taste of the chocolate ready for the next sample.
With the human sense of smell 10,000 times more sensitive than the sense of taste, testers are taught that 90% of what they taste in their mouths is actually smell. It is for this reason testers sample three or four squares of chocolate so they can feed back a solid description of their findings.
The Valrhona recipe and process is always the same so when Valrhona works with its development chefs the expectation is that the taste of the chocolate never changes.
Development chefs are located at the company's laboratories, where they test new techniques for any food related trade that works with sugar. New techniques include the whipping of chocolate mousse or experimenting with the emulsion of various ingredients.
Every year the company offers a trip for pastry chefs, bakers and confectioners, which allows them to work one-on- one with Valrhona's top chefs creating delicate dishes and learning the techniques that perfect them.
The company describes its courses as “the chance to experience techniques and tricks that will facilitate better understanding of the magic of the ingredients, patisserie and chocolate making and put this savoir faire into the elaboration of recipes”, whether it be for an individual chef preparing for a competition or the annual group trip.
Those lucky enough to be invited on the most recent group trip were pastry chefs from London's The Ritz, The Dorchester and the Michelin starred Ledbury, Sketch and The Fat Duck in Bray. A ‘plated desserts' course for the chefs was hosted at the company's L'Ecole du Grand Chocolat and was run by executive pastry chef Phillipe Givre and assistant pastry chef Christophe Domange.
Covering pre-desserts, plated desserts, desserts in glasses and petits fours, the chefs were split into four teams of three, each contributing to the dishes listed in the recipe book and allowing them to circulate different ideas.
“Valrhona encourages you to get the best out of their products and produce the best desserts. I've been a pastry chef for 10 years and it's great to work in an industry where you can still learn,” says Joanne Todd, a pastry chef from London's Le Pont de La Tour at this year's course.
The environment of a busy kitchen rarely allows time to create and develop new ideas so the 11 chefs attending L'Ecole appreciated the hands on approach that Valrhona takes, making it much easier for them to take new skills and tricks back to their restaurants and put what they've learnt into practice.
Chocolate is described by Phillipe Givre as an extremely versatile product that can be applied to most cooking techniques.
Givre, who was viewed in the best possible way as a perfectionist by the chefs, commented and advised on everything from whipping techniques to cooking times.
“A chef can buy the best product with the hope of getting the best dessert but he must respect the process,” says Givre.
He went on to explain why it's so crucial to do things properly: “Don't change anything in your recipe, just respect the process. A chef can have the best meat or fish but if the cooking process is bad then so will be the fish.”
Sugar free milk and dark chocolate are on the horizon for Valrhona's UK customers with future products becoming more technical and innovative. Supporting the ‘artisans of the food world' is one of Valrhona's main principles and the work at L'Ecole with existing customers goes a long way to proving that the small town of Tain- L'Hermitage is where the finest chocolate is born.