Chocolate

In class today, we had a local pastry chef come into class and show us the way of making beautiful chocolates. Chef Ugo, who owns a pastry shop about 20 minutes from the Castello, greeted us with a big smile and the biggest passion for what he does. We started off the day with a lecture on chocolate and how it was first introduced to Italy. Then, we got into chocolate, which was harder than it looks.

The first round of tempering chocolate, I took to long and the chocolate got too cold, and it seized on me before I could put it into a mold. The second time around, the same thing happened and I was furious. He told me to just re-heat the chocolate to the correct temperature and pour it back over the mold, and it finally decided to coat the mold perfectly. From there on out, I made sure to check with him on what we are doing, so that I wouldn't screw up.

After we finished making the chocolate, we moved on to decorating the chocolates, painting them with edible paint and spray paint. After that, we decorated entremets that he had made the night before, using a mirror glaze of our choice and chocolate deco. The chocolate deco was intricate and hard to make, and my big hands could not even try to make that, so Baylee helped me out with that. After they are finished, we set them on the table and took a candid picture. Ciao e Gratzie Mille!

Italian Word of the Day: Criollo, the Cacao tree that grows in Mexico

The Criollo variant of Cacao tree was the tree that bore the first fruit that was taken over to Europe by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage back from the Americas. Through this second voyage, they showed Europe the true power and addictiveness of chocolate, starting the storm/revolution that it would bring to the world. Once in Europe, Chocolate was refined, in which the beans are toasted, ground and made into a paste. After these steps occur, they are mixed with different ingredients of the person's choice, and the chocolate is created. Through the many different ways chocolate was refined throughout history, we can track when methods got better as well. Recently, the method of Conching, in which powdered milk and sugar are added to the Cocoa powder and butter, allows for a smoother product and overall better quality.