BELGIAN CHOCOLATE

Belgian Chocolate

Bean-to-bar Generation

Pierre Marcolini & Michel Verlinden Photographs : Alexandre Bibaut

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Bean-to-Bar Generation

The beans’ origin

Criollo

Trinitario

Mexico, Tabasco - Finca la Joya

Brazil, Bahia - Fazenda Leonida

Variety: An exceptional white Criollo that is very similar to a Porcelana.

Taste notes: Surprisingly bold acidity. Discreet bitterness.

Aromas: Floral citrus, dried fruit.

Specific characteristics: A very light chocolate made from Criollo Carmelo beans, that are white with delicate pink striping. When compared with a dark Forastero (Brazil) chocolate, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a bar of milk chocolate.

Variety: Trinitario (Mix of Criollo and Forastero) Taste notes: Balanced acidity, not very bitter.

Aromas: Tropical fruit (passion fruit, bananas) and dried fruit (nuts).

Specific characteristic: An exemplary farm, thanks to the owner who is a real perfectionist.

Indonesia, Java - state-owned farm Variety: Old Criollo, Casse-clair Taste notes: Sustained acidity.

Aromas: Spice, pepper and fruit, a smoky note that is typical of this variety.

Specific characteristics: A rare white Indonesian Criollo, which the Dutch brought to Java.

Venezuela, Aragua - Village of Chuao Variety: Primitive Criollo Taste notes: balanced acidity and bitterness.

Aromas: Exceptional cocoa, delicate mouthfeel, freshness, subtle violet colour, the epitome of cocoa.

Specific characteristics: Terroir between the mountains and the sea, which can only be reached by boat. This rare cocoa variety has been preserved over the centuries.

Peru, Alto Piura - Las Pampas Plantation Variety: Criollo Blanco Taste notes: Balanced Aromas: sophisticated, citrus, cocoa and fermented taste.

Specific characteristics: Piura where most cocoa in Peru is grown.

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Bean-to-Bar Generation

Cuba, Oriente - Terruno de Baracoa Variety: An old Caribbean Trinitario.

Taste notes: Sustained bitterness without being excessive.

Aromas: Notes of dry wood, dried nuts, full-bodied, with hints of tobacco.

Specific characteristics: Bold note, during roasting the entire street smells of cocoa.

Vietnam, Mekong Delta – Ben-Tre Island Variety: Trinitario Taste notes: Balances bitterness and acidity.

Aromas: Red wine, dried fruit, cocoa.

Specific characteristic: Vietnamese cocoa farming has recently experienced something of an uptick and is very promising.

Madagascar, Sambirano - Ambaja Somia Farm Variety: Trinitario Taste notes: Nice acidity.

Aromas: cinnamon, red and yellow fruit, floral influence thanks to the Ylang-Ylang that is also grown on the farm.

Specific characteristics: The Sambirano Valley is renowned for its rare cocoa bean varieties, Criollo and Trinitario, making it an exception among African cocoa varieties.

Forastero

Nacional

Cameroon, Penja Dark Mungo Plantation

Ecuador, Los Rios – Hacienda Puerto Romero

Variety: Forastero Taste notes: low acidity, marked bitterness.

Aromas: Citrus, earthy, alkaline.

Specific characteristics: A small experimental farm, which was established four years ago, and which is an exclusive supplier to Marcolini. The specific flavour of the Cameroon beans is due to the rich volcanic soil.

Variety: Nacional.

Taste notes: Nice balance of bitterness and acidity.

Aromas: Jasmine and orange blossom. The locals call this ‘Arriba’. Nuts, red wine.

Specific characteristics: This bean has all the delicacy of a Criollo, with a dark violet colour, even darker than the Forastero.

The beans’ origin

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Chocolatoa

53

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Bean-to-Bar Generation

Pecan Nut and Soy Sauce Praline INGREDIENTS For about 300 pralines Pecan Nut Paste −− 330 g / 11.6 oz almonds −− 150 g / 5 oz pecan nuts −− 320 g / 11.3 oz sugar −− SQ Kikkoman soy sauce Making the praline −− 600 g / 1 lb 5 oz pecan nut paste −− 375 g / 13 oz 42% milk chocolate from Java −− 25 g / 1 oz butter at room temperature

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Bean-to-Bar Generation

METHOD

Pecan Nut Paste Let the pecan nuts marinate in the soy sauce for 24 hours.

Drain them.

Roast the almonds and the pecan nuts in a 180°C / 350°F oven for +/- 15 minutes, depending on the quantity you are working with.

During the roasting process, start the dry caramel.

When the roasting is done, add the nuts to the golden caramel.

Once the caramel is cooked to your taste, spread the mixture over an oiled marble slab.

As soon as it has cooled down, crush it in a Robot-coupe or Stéphan processor.

Making the praline Pre-crystallize the milk chocolate.

Mix the various ingredients with a flat beater.

Pour into a frame at 24°C / 75°F. Leave to crystallize, cut with a guitar cutter and coat.

Deremiens

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Autumn Beef Cheek and Chocolate Brioche INGREDIENTS Serves 8 to 10 Beef Cheek Comfit −− 650 g / 1lb 7 oz beef cheek −− 3 dl / 10 fl oz / 1 ¼ cups red wine −− 3 dl / 10 fl oz / 1 ¼ cups poultry stock −− 3 white onion −− Bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf, sprigs of parsley, leek greens) −− SQ salt, pepper −− SQ olive oil Onion Comfit −− 500 g / 1 lb 2 oz peeled onions −− 50 g / 2 oz butter −− SQ poultry stock −− SQ salt, pepper Shredded Beef Cheeks with Vietnam 66% chocolate −− 500 g / 1 lb 2 oz comfit beef cheek −− 150 g / 5 oz confit onions −− 75 g / 3 oz 66% chocolate from Vietnam −− SQ beef cheek cooking juice −− SQ salt, pepper Brioche Paste −− 250 g / 9 oz flour −− 30 g / 1.05 oz sugar −− 6 g / 0.2 oz salt −− 10 g / 0.4 oz fresh yeast −− 4 eggs −− 190 g / 6.7 oz butter at room temperature Boiled Celery Ravioles −− 1/2 celeriac Grand Veneur Chocolate Sauce −− 1.7 dl / 5.9 fl oz red wine −− 2 dl / 7 fl oz cooking juice −− 30 g / 1.05 oz shallots, finely chopped −− 20 g / ¾ oz + 40 g butter −− ...

METHOD

Beef Cheek Comfit Remove the nerves from the meat.

Split the cheek in two.

Brown the two pieces on all sides, season, and set aside.

In the same pan, brown the thinly sliced onion.

Add the beef cheek and deglaze with the red wine.

Add the poultry stock and the bouquet garni.

Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and leave to candy for 3 to 4 hours over low heat.

Onion Comfit Brown the onions without colouring the butter.

Wet to a half-depth with the poultry stock. Cover with baking paper.

Season to taste.Leave the onions to steam; set aside.

Shredded Beef Cheeks with Vietnam 66% chocolate Shred the warm beef cheek.

Wet with the cooking juice. Season to taste. Add the confit onions.

Add the chocolate chips. Be careful not to let the chocolate melt.

Leave aside.

Brioche Paste Mix the flour, sugar and salt.

Add the eggs, then sprinkle the yeast.

Mix for 4 minutes at slow speed, then for 8 minutes at medium speed until the paste comes off. Add the soft butter in very small pieces.

Knead until the butter and the paste combine.

Cover and leave to settle for 1.5 hours at room temperature.

Fold the dough and leave to rise for 3 hours at 4°C / 39°F. Making the Brioches Bring the paste to a 3-mm thickness. Cut disks of 9 cm in diameter.

Cover with 40 g / 1 ½ oz mixture.

Make the balls. Glaze with an egg yolk.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 220°C / 425°F. Boiled Celery Ravioles Cut slices of celery with a mandolin. Cut disks of 8 cm in diameter.

Boil, then cool by immersing in ice-cold water.

Mop dry. Cover with the confit onion.

Make the ravioles. ...

Deremiens

87

−− 30 g / 1.05 oz blackcurrant jelly −− 20 g / ¾ oz 90% chocolate from Madagascar −− SQ cubeb pepper, salt Provence Marrow Cream −− 500 g / 1 lb 2 oz Provence marrows −− 100 g / 3 ½ oz potatoes −− 10 g / 0.4 oz honey −− 5 cl / 2 fl oz / ¼ cup olive oil −− SQ salt, pepper −− 1 garlic clove −− 1 sprig of thyme −− 100 g / 3 ½ oz white onions Chocolate Puffed Rice Crackers −− 200 g / 7 oz water −− 50 g / 2 oz white rice −− 30 g / 1.05 oz 90% chocolate from Madagascar −− SQ salt, pepper

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Bean-to-Bar Generation

Celery crisps Use the celery trimmings for the crisps. Fry at 160°C / 320°F. Grand Veneur Chocolate Sauce Sweat the shallots in the butter.

Deglaze with the red wine and add the cubeb pepper.

Reduce to two thirds.

Add the cooking juice and the blackcurrant jelly.

Remove from the heat and beat with butter.

Bind the sauce to the chocolate.

Season to taste.

Provence Marrow Cream Brown the marrow mirepoix with the thinly sliced onions.

Add the other ingredients.

Cover and leave to steam.

Once cooked and the juice has evaporated, process through a mill.

Season to taste.

Chocolate Puffed Rice Crackers Overcook the rice until the water is totally absorbed and you have a thick paste.

Add the chocolate. Season.

Spread over a baking mat to a thickness of 2 mm.

Dry in the oven at 70°C / 158°F for 12 hours.

Immediately fry pieces of tuile biscuits at 220°C / 425°F.

In the beginning CAN CRAFTSMANSHIP BE RECONCILED WITH THE OPERATIONS OF A COMPANY WITH A GLOBAL PRESENCE?

‘Being an artisan, a craftsman has nothing to do with size. It’s a mindset. You can’t ever compromise on the raw ingredients. I believe that making chocolate means faithfully transposing all the flavours I identified on the plantation. In that sense, our company’s size is an advantage because when I visit a plantation to negotiate the delivery of four tonnes of raw ingredients, I know they’ll listen to me. In that sense, I also agree with Joël Robuchon, who thought that the difference between a two or a three-star restaurant could not be explained by technique only. It also was due to the access to better and different products. The other crucial element is people’s expertise. Our company employs eighty people, who produce two hundreds and ten tons of products ever year. You can continue to grow while focussing on craftsmanship but only if you don’t think of your workforce as a hindrance, as a disincentive. It’s actually quite the opposite: your employees are your added value, a unique capital you should cherish. Since the company was founded, we have continued to hire every year … This leads me to think that our approach is the right one’, says Pierre Marcolini (fifty-four years old).

FAIR TRADE

‘We pay 5,000 to 7,000 dollars a ton, sometimes even up to 14,000 dollars … whereas the market usually offers the planter 1,500 dollars’, he says. The notion of having the best possible relationship with the producer, so you can even intervene in the production process. And why not? An example? Cameroon, where Pierre Marcolini would like to use pepper instead of banana leaves, during the fermentation process. This is a crucial instant in the process, during which the flavours develop. What’s the purpose of this?

To contribute to the expression of a terroir that is labelled with a protected geographical indication (PGI – Black Penja pepper).

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Bean-to-Bar Generation

Nom

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Acknowledgements Thank you To Valérie, Jade and Sasha for giving me the time to fully live out my passion.

To my teams which share my enthusiasm and witness my disappointments on a day to day basis.

To Michel who trusted me on this rather crazy project.

To Éditions Racine for their foresight.

To my fellow chocolate makers, and to Cédric de Taeye and Philippe Darcis in particular.

Pierre Marcolini

I would like to thank: Laurence, Justine and Hadrien.

My parents.

My grandmother.

The indefatigable Pierre Marcolini.

The chocolate makers who were willing to spend so much time talking to me.

The entire team at Racine.

Without forgetting, André Dufourneau, a false nobleman and a debauched farmer, who was a good child, a cruel adult perhaps, who had strong desires and the only trace of whose existence exists in the fiction written by my teacher PM. Michel Verlinden

Photographies: Alexandre Bibaut Texts: Michel Verlinden Translation from French: Sandy Logan, Karine Leroux Proofreading: Jonathan Michaelson Editorial follow-up : Diane De Brandt, Laura Franckx, Colette Mennekens Design and layout: Delphine Volkaert This book is published by Éditions Racine. Éditions Racine is part of the Lannoo Publishing Group.

If you have any questions or comments about the material in this book, please do not hesitate to contact our editorial team: michelle.poskin@racine.be www.racine.be Subscribe to our newsletter to receive regular updates about our latest publications and activities.

Any reproduction or adaptation of any excerpt from this book, by whatever process, is prohibited for all countries. © Éditions Racine, 2018 Tour et Taxis, Entrepôt royal 86C, avenue du Port, BP 104A • B - 1000 Brussels D. 2018, 6852. 30 Legal deposit : November 2018 ISBN 978-2-39025-072-2 Printed in Slovenia