180g cylinders of 100% pure cacao
I‘m obsessed by good chocolate. This time last year flying on the excellent Emirates I was entranced by the story of Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory, a TV documentary aired on Channel 4 in the UK. (Check him out on Youtube)
The storycentres on the trials of Willie Harcourt-Cooze who sold everything and planted 50,000 criollo cacao trees in Venezuala courting disaster at almost every moment.
Finally, he succeeds in securing retail distribution for his 180g cylinders of 100% – yes 100% which means its for cooking rather than eating straight – cacao. I got around to ordering some of this most excellent drug from his website in the UK.
It’s not cheap but the three cylinders – Rio Caribe Superior, Carenero Superior and San Martin – are worth it. The labels feature recipes inside but for now I’m ignoring them.
I’m shaving rough chunks of the chocolate and palm sugar into unpasteurized milk and heat until dissolved. It is very dark and energizing, the ideal way to start the day now I’ve strayed from my regime of porridge.
The downside is that, currently relocated to Collingwood while I solve my existential crisis, it keeps me away from Monsieur Truffe on Smith Street who serves the best (in flavour and presentation) hot chocolate in town.
Monsieur Truffe hot chocolate: the best in town.
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Excellent that you would take your glasses off to take the photograph.
What kind of recipes were in the labels? I remember that he’d put chocolate in some fairly random stuff on the show, but it always looked like it turned out well.
Chocolatarian here. Once you get a taste of the great stuff, you can’t go back. You have entered Chocolateland to the point of no return.
http://www.calorey.blogspot.com
I reckon chocolate is the best remedy for an existential crisis. (Though porridge is a good runner up. How about combining the two?)
I have also been watching Willie’s Wonky Chocolate – love his enthusiasm and would love to taste his ‘real’ chocolate.
Nola, I take my glasses off for all sorts of thing including eating and drinking.
Lindsey, in the one I’ve opened just cake, truffles and hot chocolate but you are right – some fairly random stuff on the show.
Cal, That happend to me 15 years ago with Valhrona. And I haven’t been back.
AOF, yes, I shall get some oats and try it when I’m over writing and can get to Vic Markets (I’m in Collingwood right now).
Chanel, Lovely to meet tonight. I can’t believe I haven’t found your blog before. Some cutting stuff there and I pretty much agree with most of it.
can you believe I havent been to Monsieur Truffe yet?! And I drive past it almost every day. The best hot chocolate in town you say…gotta try it.
Wow, that works out to be quite pricey.
Is that a chocolate motif on the side of the Monsieur Truffe hot chocolate glass?
I haven’t tried the hot chocolate of Monsieur Truffe, but my best hot chocolate experience was at Cafe Vue. A bit pricey at 6$ but oh so yum. That’s what I call a real hot chocolate!
It was a very good hot chocolate indeed.
Now…The Wire.
Have you tried the night time selection that’s just started up at Monsieur Truffe? Pierre Roelofs from Interlude, The Deanery, etc, is doing ‘desserts’. I went last night, desserts doesn’t really do it justice. Flirting with the savoury and the weird (yeast, carrot, eucalypt…), plenty of acid and aromatics gives crispness, but with enough sweetness to carry… and to justify the dessert classification. Not heavy, but satisfying. Put another way, bloody unreal. I haven’t had food that interesting for a long time, and I’m really not a dessert person 9 times out of 10.
Yoghurt froth with granny smith, granny smith granita and toasted cous-cous: win!
Hi Ed,
Sounds amazing. I have had a massive chocolate addiction for the past few weeks. I’m talking half a block a night. I alternate between white and 70% dark.
Anyhow, nice to meet you at sister bella’s last night. Cheers for the advice. Our little melbourne music nucleus is at northofantarctica.blogspot.com
Big word existential.
Wots this about you moving to the dark side though? Jackson St. wont be the same. I’ve always thought Smith St. Grunge was a bit more deliberate (faux?) than StKilda – I’m not sure you’re pretensious enough to last over there Ed! Sure you’ll be back in Sunny StKilda by the Solstice.
PS Equinox next week. 1st full moon after the equinox is the 4th. The old pagan festival of Oestrus, goddes of fertility – a time to give eggs as a symbol of fertility and to eat the last of the fruits you preserved for Winter…..and Chocolate
What a delicious blog – although reading on an empty stomach is not a good idea.
Off to make a hot chocolate
I do love Monsieur Truffe
Such nice guys in there too. And the croissants are incredible.
Very intrigued about this 100% cocoa business too.
I love hot chocolate and i’m interested in new recipes
Thanks for this great article!