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Report: eG Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2016

RobertM

By RobertM
in Pastry & Baking

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RobertM

RobertM

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It began early early this year for me, up at 2:30 am to catch a plane to Toronto.  Choclatier are very, very dedicated group of people.

 

I got in earlier than the "Party Plane" so after I got to the hotel I walked across the street to this Mall of America sized hopping district in search of sustenance.  11 1/2 hours without food was a bit much even for me.  Found a cute little salad/sandwich place so I settled on a Caesar Salad and Tomato Bisque 

 

Meanwhile, I'm getting dozens of updates from the "Party Plane" and they do look like they started early....image.jpeg

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RobertM

RobertM

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image.jpegEvidently there was an issue with my room, nothing dramatic but, while I sat and waited, and waited ...... and waited, I got a tad thirsty, so, I figured it was time for BLB

 

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RobertM

RobertM

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The room issue finally was peacefully resolved and both parties are completely satisfied with the outcome.  

It was time to focus on the afternoon demo featuring Ramon Morato.  He signed his new book, for those that had ordered it, and was very humble, gracious and knowledgable....he went a little long, but, no one seemed to mind, he held our 

attention the entire time.

His formulas are different, and during the reception that followed we were able to taste them....some amazing combinations of flavors and textures. 

 

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

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I'll have to get others to post pictures of the Morato demo - I was too busy gabbing to everyone I hadn't seen in a year, and people I 'knew' but had never met to remember to take any pictures.

 

But I've got a couple of pictures of dinner at Mengrai Thai

 

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All that was left on the appetizer plate by the time I remembered to take the picture.

 

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Number 54 for me - the red thai curry with lychee and pineapple.

 

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What ever Rodney chose for dinner - did I mention I'm bone tired and my brain isn't functioning. It looks darn good what ever it was.

 

 

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the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

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RobertM

RobertM

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Chocolate Caviar Dessert

courtesy of Chef Morato

the Caviar is Passion Fruit Caviar, he gave a full demo on how to prepare it and use it....

The dessert itself is a multi layered piece topped with the "caviar"

image.jpeg

 

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Deryn

Deryn

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Thank you, Robert (and Kerry) for the pictures (and report). Robert, for some reason though I am only able to see some of your pictures. Any idea why? The ones I cannot see are represented by a circle with a diagonal line through it but I see the can of caviar for instance quite clearly (but not a dessert unless you only posted one picture and the 'dessert' is in the can under the caviar?

 

At any rate, I am thankful for whatever news we get from the Chocolate Gang this weekend - and hope you are all having a wonderful time!

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DianaM

DianaM

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I took some pics, and some brief notes too at the Moratò demo. I will post the pics later today or tonight, and if someone is interested in the notes, I can post those too. 

 

Off to have some breakfast before heading to Soma. 

 

DianaM

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RobertM

RobertM

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Cocoa-Hazelnut-Saffron Cream

i luckily was able to obtain a jar of this decadent deliciousness....I've had to protect it carefully from doing amHoudini and disappearing

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RobertM

RobertM

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And a little something from dinner last night....my phone was down to 2% charge and I didn't dare try to take more pictures, hopefully someone got a shot of our group....

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teonzo

teonzo

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10 hours ago, RobertM said:

It was time to focus on the afternoon demo featuring Ramon Morato.  He signed his new book, for those that had ordered it

 

New book by Morato? Can you give more infos please? Thanks!

 

 

 

Teo

 

Teo

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DianaM

DianaM

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Here we go. I am adding only one pic from the Moratò demo, since RobertM has pretty much covered it. 

 

The rest of the pics are from our visit today at Soma.

The first one is of David, explaining how cacao beans get from farmers in cacao-growing countries to chocolate makers like himself. The roasting machine is a very old one, but judging from the taste of the chocolate we sampled, it still does an excellent job. Before they go into the roaster, however, every batch of beans are visually checked for quality with the use of the guillotine - David is placing a random sample of a batch into it. 

We were quite surprised to see such a variation in the colour of the beans within a single batch (they were all coming from the same country, and were meant for the origin chocolates Soma makes). You can see it even better in the close-up. We then went on to see the grinder, the conch, and all the other machinery which help transform the beans into chocolate. The visit concluded with a sampling of three kinds of chocolate: a 70% from Venezuela, a 62% blend of beans from Dominica and Equator, and a milk gianduja. All three were exquisite, imho. 

One thing that the pictures cannot convey is the intoxicating scent that hit us as soon as we stepped into the lab, it was quite memorable for me. I am so grateful to have been there to experience it. 

 

DianaM

 

 

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

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After Soma several of us headed back to the Master Class and the rest of us to the distillery district for lunch and visit to a few shops. Lunch was at Cluny - Rodney's BFF is the pastry chef there and he arrived part way through our lunch so came out to say hello.

 

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Bread basket - the smell was quite amazing.

 

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Most of the gang had the braised short rib sandwich. 

 

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I chose frites

 

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And asparagus frites. 

 

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Tea is served in a proper tea pot - what's not to love.

 

And pastry chef Chris Kwok sent us out two of these lovely platters of goodies topped with a cloud of grape candy floss.  

 

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the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

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curls

curls

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Tonight's dinner at Rodney's shop (the site for the master class & workshop). Make your own pizzas!

image.jpegimage.jpeg

 

After dinner everyone had time to enjoy chocolates from the evening's show & tell.

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RobertM

RobertM

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The Master Class was a great deal of fun loaded with some great information.  Rodney did an amazing turn as our instructor - his knowledge and passion for what he does is truly evident - The amazing thing about working with Chocolate is that there always seems to be something else to learn, which keeps it fresh and fun, and keeps most of us humbleimage.jpeg

 

 

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