Chocolate Showpiece Course

[Kerry Beal]

I finally got a chance to attend a chocolate showpiece course. It was in St Hyacinthe, Quebec (about an hour outside Montreal) at the Chocolate Academy at Callebaut. It was taught by Derrick Tu Tan Pho who will be coming down to Niagara in May for our chocolate conference.

I went with one of the students from Niagara College who had won a class at the Academy as part of her prize for winning the World Chocolate Masters - Ontario Intercollegiate Chocolate Competition earlier this year. We stayed in Montreal and were taxied out to St Hyacinthe early each morning (way to early each morning).

We arrived on Sunday afternoon - had reservations at Au Pied du Cochon for that evening. Looking at my pictures of the meals for 3 very nice dinners - only the pictures of the wine and a couple of other shots turned out due to low light conditions - so you'll have to live with descriptions only! At Au Pied we shared a lovely onion soup, an apple and bleu cheese salad and the plogue au Champlain - just enough food so we didn't leave stuffed. There were eels in a tank at the front of the restaurant - didn't see a whole lot of them going out.

One of the first things we did in the course was to prepare the structural pieces for our showpieces.

These are silicone plaques onto which you pipe chocolate.

Some gelatine molding was done.

A variety of little decorative objects were manufactured.

Here we are making the cylinders that will form the base for bamboo.

This is the beginning of a chocolate 'wood block'.

Another gelatine mold - this one a negative.

The result after molding.

The wood block a little further along.

Another item for gelatine molding and the resulting mold.

Making a transfer sheet.

Using the transfer sheet to make leaf shapes.

Bamboo under construction.

My showpiece before being sprayed - you might notice that it has a different base on it than when it finishes - broke it off taking it out of the spray booth!

A variety of flowers we made for our showpieces.

[Kerry Beal]

On Monday evening we went out for dinner at a small restaurant "La Chronique" recommended by our friend Chef Mark Picone - on Monday they do a prix fixe menu only - either 4 courses or 7. The wine pairings were all spot on with the dishes I chose. Again my pictures are not suitable for posting - for a main I enjoyed the sweet breads - perfectly cooked.

Tuesday evening it was Joe Beef. Pictures are even worse! Much less light there. We started with the potted cheese (I think they called it beer cheese), Ruth had ribs and I had a pork chop that would have fed a small third world country! We got chatting with the people at the table next to us - they were up from Toronto - and shared more wine and a ride home!

Day 3 of the course we got our showpieces put together with all the parts we had been assembling.

The 5 showpieces we assembled.

This is Ruth's showpiece - the out of focus picture is to show the face a little more clearly.

My finished piece - note it's now sitting on a chunk of chocolate granite instead of the chocolate wooden box it started on.

This piece won for most haunted - it was broken more than it was together - it had it's first major catastrophe coming out of the spray booth - then went downhill from there!

Emily from Burlington Vermont - panda's and bamboo - one of the showpieces with a theme. We didn't really get to choose what we wanted to do with our showpiece.

Another view of mine - after all it's my thread!

Muriel from Toronto had a piece with a theme!

At the end of the last day we had a bit of a visit with Derrick, hit the SAQ (the Quebec government liquor store) and stopped for poutine at the place recommended as having the best in town. The cheese curd were squeaky - a sure sign of quality poutine in my books.

[Chocolot]

Nice work Kerry. Emily from Vermont was in MY class at Callebaut. I think she lives close enough that she takes a lot of classes there:-) Do Canadians really like gravy over fries?

[Kerry Beal]

Nice work Kerry. Emily from Vermont was in MY class at Callebaut. I think she lives close enough that she takes a lot of classes there:-) Do Canadians really like gravy over fries?

Apparently it's only two hours for Emily to get to Quebec - vs the seven hours it took us.

Some Canadians do - I'm one of them - but not all the time! I like vinegar on my fries too.

[Beth Wilson]

Wow Kerry! Those look great! I feel for the person who had a hard time with keeping it together

Did it take long for the gelatin molds to set? Are they good for one use or multiple? Always wanted to try playing with a gelatin mold.

All the chip stands here are closed for the season so thanks for that great picture! Something to look forward to next summer.

[Kerry Beal]

Wow Kerry! Those look great! I feel for the person who had a hard time with keeping it together

Did it take long for the gelatin molds to set? Are they good for one use or multiple? Always wanted to try playing with a gelatin mold.

All the chip stands here are closed for the season so thanks for that great picture! Something to look forward to next summer.

The gelatin molds can be used more than once - apparently you need to keep the mixture in the freezer though - cause it gets moldy quickly. I discovered that all by myself the last time I made them.

They used the blast chiller to cool them - so not sure how long it would take in the 'real world' for them to set.

[ElsieD]

That is amazing work. "We won't be expectred to create this tyoe of masterpiece in May, will we" she asked with trepidation?

Edited November 7, 2010 by ElsieD (log)

[Kerry Beal]

That is amazing work. "We won't be expectred to create this tyoe of masterpiece in May, will we" she asked with trepidation?

Nope! - we'll just play with chocolate in May - no expectations whatsoever!

[ElsieD]

Whew!!!

[stuartlikesstrudel]

Interesting! I think I'd really like to do some showpiece work someday, I will have to keep an eye out for any opportunities

What kind of chocolate do you use for these pieces? I'm assuming it's not top quality stuff since it's not going to be eaten (right?).

[Kerry Beal]

Interesting! I think I'd really like to do some showpiece work someday, I will have to keep an eye out for any opportunities

What kind of chocolate do you use for these pieces? I'm assuming it's not top quality stuff since it's not going to be eaten (right?).

Funny thing is - they were using Extra-bitter Guayaquil for the dark, and good quality couverature for the milk and white. Of course they can afford to do that! I'll be using what ever I can find at the best price.

[tarko]

wow - thats impressive, very impressive:)

[E.T.]

Wow, gorgeous! Thanks for sharing, Kerry!

[formula400]

thats really cool, very good work and thanks for the pictures

[Kerry Beal]

I hit the pottery supply place today and got some different tools - and put in a big order at Chicago Mold School's online store that have apparently arrived already in Buffalo for when I have a chance to scoot down and pick them up. Can't wait to start playing with some stuff here at home.