View allAll Photos Tagged chocolatemaker
Een doorkijkje vanuit de middeleeuwse burcht Gravensteen, die midden in de stad ligt. Met natuurlijk een chocolatier. Want België = land van de chocolade.
Gent, België
A view from the medieval castle Gravensteen, which is located in the middle of the city. With of course a chocolate maker. Because Belgium = country of the chocolate.
Ghent, Belgium
The drink had a heavenly aroma and a captivating taste. Great for revitalizing the senses and energizing your mind!
Re-posted.
I always liked this image, as much as I like Mayan hot chocolate.
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
A small chocolate cake accompanied by Perrier water with Sirop de Menthe Verte (in English "mint sirup") at the Pâtisserie and Chocolaterie Lionel Raux, Rue Bernadou, Bayonne, Pay basque region, France
Some background information:
Located at Rue Bernadou right opposite of Bayonne’s indoor market Carreau des Halles and the Nive river, the Pâtisserie and Chocolaterie Lionel Raux is a revelation in the city’s old town. Although we already had a lunch at a restaurant belonging to the Carreau des Halles, our French friends moved us to have a sweet dessert at this location just a few footsteps away from the restaurant. And although I was already stuffed, I can tell you that the small chocolate cake, I had there, was absolutely sensational. It had a crispy base, a fluffy chocolaty structure and a soft inside consisting of liquid dark chocolate. Of course, the chocolate was of superior quality.
Never ever have I eaten anything made from chocolate that comes even close to this chocolate dream. And believe me, I am a real chocoholic who has already eaten lots of different chocolate in his life. The Pâtisserie and Chocolaterie Lionel Raux has two floors, where you can enjoy your sweet delicacies. Needless to say that you can also take them away. So if you should ever visit Bayonne, remember that the city is also the French chocolate capital and Lionel Raux opposite of the Carreau des Halles is one of its master chocolatiers.
Incidentally, I should perhaps have kept a warier eye on what's mirroring in the spoon. ;-)
Bayonne is a city and commune and in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. It has more than 51,000 residents and is located at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers in the northern part of the cultural region of the Basque Country. Bayonne is also situated in the southern part of the historic province of Gascony, where the Aquitaine basin joins the beginning of the Pre-Pyrenees. Together with the nearby towns of Anglet, Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, as well as several smaller communes, Bayonne forms an urban area with about 289,000 inhabitants.
In the 1st century AD, during the Roman occupation, Bayonne already seems to have been of some importance since the Romans surrounded the city with a wall to keep out the Tarbelli, Aquitani and proto-Basques. In addition, a Roman castrum was exacavated that dates from the 4th century. This Roman settlement was strategic as it allowed the monitoring of the trans-Pyrenean roads and of local people rebellious to the Roman power, like the tribes mentioned before. After the Romans had left the city at the end of the 4th century, the Basques, who had always been present, began to dominate the former Novempopulania province between the Garonne, the Ocean and the Pyrénées.
When the province of Labourd was created in 1023, Bayonne was its capital and the viscount resided there. In 1056, Raymond II the Younger, Bishop of Bazas, had the mission to build the Church of Bayonne. A Romanesque cathedral, the rear of which can still be seen today, was constructed under the authority of Raymond III of Martres, Bishop of Bayonne from 1122 to 1125. In the same period of time the first wooden bridge across the Adour River was built, extending the Mayou bridge over the River Nive, which inaugurated the heyday of Bayonne. From 1120, new districts were created under population pressure and defence works were modified to protect these new districts.
In 1130, the King of Aragon Alfonso the Battler besieged the city without success. In 1152, Bayonne came under English rule when Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry II of England. This alliance gave Bayonne many commercial privileges. The Bayonnaises became carriers of Bordeaux wines and other south-western products like resin, ham, and woad to England. But Bayonne also became an important military base. In 1177 King Richard separated the Viscounty of Labourd whose capital then became Ustaritz. In 1215, Bayonne was emancipated from feudal powers and obtained the award of a municipal charter. Bayonnaise industry at that time was dominated by shipbuilding, with oak, beech and chestnut from the Pyrenees, as well as pine from Landes being overabundant. There was also maritime activity in providing crews for whaling, commercial marine or the English Royal Navy.
In 1451, Jean de Dunois – a former companion at arms of Joan of Arc – captured the city and annexed it to the Crown "without making too many victims". In the following years the city continued to be fortified by the kings of France to protect it from danger from the Spanish border. In 1462, King Louis XI authorized the holding of two annual fairs. At that time the Spanish Inquisition raged in the Iberian Peninsula, Spanish and Portuguese Jews fled Spain and also Portugal. They settled in Southern France, including Saint-Esprit, a northern district of Bayonne, located along the northern bank of the Adour River. These Iberian expatriates brought with them chocolate and the recipe for its preparation.
However, the golden age of the city ended at the end of the 15th century with the loss of trade with England and the silting of the port of Bayonne. At the beginning of the 16th century the province of Labourd suffered the emergence of the plague. In 1518, the plague was present in Bayonne to the point that in 1519 the city council moved to the district of Brindos in Anglet. In 1523, Marshal Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, resisted the Spaniards under Philibert of Chalon in the service of Charles V and lifted the siege of Bayonne. In 1565, a meeting between Catherine de Medici and the envoy of Philip II, Duke of Alba, took place, which is known as the Interview of Bayonne.
At the end of the 16th century, the course of the Adour River was rearranged by creating an estuary to maintain the river bed. The river then discharged in the right place to the ocean. As a consequence, the port of Bayonne reattained a greater level of activity and fishing for cod and whale ensured the wealth of both fishermen and shipowners.
During the sporadic conflicts that troubled the French countryside from the middle of th 17th century, Bayonne peasants were short of powder and projectiles. They attached the long hunting knives in the barrels of their muskets and that way they fashioned makeshift spears later called bayonets. In the same century, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, the famous French military engineer, was charged by Louis XIV to fortify the city. He added a citadel built on a hill overlooking the district of San Espirit.
Activity in Bayonne peaked in the 18th century. The Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1726. Trade with Spain, the Netherlands, the Antilles and Newfoundland, as well as several construction sites maintained a high level of activity in the port. In 1808, the act of abdication of the Spanish king Charles IV in favour of Napoleon was signed under the "friendly pressure" of the Emperor at the Château of Marracq . In the process the Bayonne Statute was initialised as the first Spanish constitution.
In the 19th century, the city’s trade suffered greatly, severely sanctioned by the conflict with Spain, its historic trading partner in the region. The Siege of Bayonne marked the end of the city’s second heyday with the surrender of the Napoleonic troops of Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, which were defeated by the coalition led by Wellington in 1814.
In 1854 the railway arrived from Paris bringing many tourists eager to enjoy the beaches of Biarritz, while nearby Bayonne turned to the steel industry instead. Even the port took on an industrial look but its slow decline seemed inexorable. In 1856, the Treaty of Bayonne was concluded. It overcame the disputes between France and Spain by fixing the Franco-Spanish border in the area extending from the mouth of the Bidassoa to the border between Navarre and Aragon.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the city built three light railway lines to connect to Biarritz. During World War II, Bayonne was occupied by the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" from June 1940 to August 1944. On 5th April 1942 the Allies made a landing attempt in Bayonne but after a barge penetrated the Adour with great difficulty, the operation was cancelled. On 21st August 1944, after blowing up twenty ships in the port, German troops withdrew.
Today, Bayonne has developed important activities related to tourism due to its proximity to the ocean and the foothills of the Pyrenees as well as its historic heritage. Furthermore, Bayonne is known for its fine chocolates, produced in the town for 500 years, and Bayonne ham, a cured ham seasoned with peppers from nearby Espelette. It is also said that Bayonne is the birthplace of mayonnaise, supposedly a corruption of the word Bayonnaise, the French adjective describing the city's people and products.
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
A chocolatier's shop in the old town of Bruges, Belgium
Some background information:
The saleslady on my picture was filling a packet with a selection of dark chocolates resp. pralinés for my wife and me. Unfortunately they were eaten up much too fast. ;-)
Belgium is famous for its high quality chocolate and over 2,000 chocolatiers, both small and large. The country's association with chocolate goes back as far as 1635, when Belgium was under Spanish occupation. The Spaniards themselves learned about chocolate from the Aztecs during their first expeditions to what is now called Mexico.
In the early 20th century, the country was able to import cocoa from its colony, the Belgian Congo. Today, chocolate is very popular in Belgium, with 172,000 tons produced each year, which are widely exported.
What makes Belgian chocolate unique is the quality of ingredients and adherence to traditional manufacturing techniques. Many aspects of its composition are regulated by law. In particular, vegetable-base fats are not used. A lot of firms produce chocolates by hand, which is laborious and explains the prevalence of small, independent chocolate outlets, which are popular with tourists. But even famous large chocolate companies, like Neuhaus, Guylian and Callebaut strictly follow traditional (and sometimes secret) recipes for their products.
It was in 1912, when Jean Neuhaus fllled the first Belgian chocolate shell with cream and therefore created the first Belgian praliné. Nowadays in particular seafood pralinés (shaped like sea shells or fish) are popular with tourists and sold all over Belgium.
With a population of more than 117,000 Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country. The historic city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, Bruges is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North" due to its many canals. The town still has a significant economic importance thanks to its port Zeebrugge. At one time, Bruges was the "chief commercial city" of the world.
Today Bruges is not only popular for its historic appearance and high-quality lace, but also for its delicacies, such as beer, waffles, chocolate, seafood and chips. Therefore a visit to Bruges can always be not only a cultural, but also a gastronomic experience.
Soma Chocolatemaker is one of the few artisan chocolatemakers in North America making chocolate in small batches directly from the cacao bean. They buy cocoa beans from plantations around the world including Conacado from the Dominican Republic, organic Sambirano from Madagascar organic from Costa Rica, & Panama.
via Soma Chocolate
443 King Street West
Toronto, Canada '11
The gold winner of this year’s International Chocolate Awards’ Would Final competition have already started to produce their Christmas truffles. Their popular fig balsamic truffle and Garam Masala truffle are rumoured to remain in their permanent collection after this season.
25 of Toronto's restaurants, food services and Niagara wineries gather in this annual fundraiser, with all proceeds going to The Stop Community Food Centre’s critical anti-hunger programming.
Date: November 4th, 2015
Time: 7pm – 11pm
Location: Daniels Spectrum
Tickets: $300 (205 charitable tax receipt)
Gallery for TorontoLife.com:
torontolife.com/food/events-whats-on-the-table-stop-commu...
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
I never got a chocolate rabbit growing up. It's not that I never had one (I did buy one for myself in Grade 4, saving up my allowance and picking up some Mr. Solid or other, and even back then I didn't enjoy the taste and wondered what the hoopla was about), but I never had a good one. By the time I discovered that you could get bunnies made from good chocolate, unbeknownst to me, I only had a few seasons left to enjoy the chocolate beasts (high school was a very satisfying time for the chocolate lover in me). Sadly, I didn't take advantage it, consuming instead copious amounts of fine truffles. (Some argue that's potentially the reason why I became gravely allergic to cocoa in the first year of university. The sadness.)
I digress.
The one thing I never experienced myself was the whole: which end of the chocolate bunny to eat first? The ears or tail? (My lack of exposure to chocolate Easter rabbit consumption is plainly obvious here. Paws? How amateurish and embarrassing. It would be tough to chew on most bunny shapes when I step back to think about it).
So one can only imagine the joy I felt when I came across SOMA's tweet that they had Roasted Marshmallow rabbits this season!
The confection itself is made of white chocolate, not marshmallow as I had originally thought (confession, if it were the question to settle would likely be ears, whole head or a chomp in the rump first?). But what did impart that delicious campfire aroma was the torched finish (watch video here) of the rabbit's white chocolate surface. And on both sides(!). The toasty, slightly burnt, malty flavours were reminiscent of the caramelized crust of an evenly roasted marshmallow which complimented the inherent sweetness of the normally sweet white chocolate. The flavour was immensely pleasing, possibly due to enhanced methylbutanol (check this out), inspiring me to take every piece of white chocolate I might have or will encounter and to finish them the same way.
Delicious and thank you to Cynthia and David for helping make this possible.
Oh, that question of ears or tail first? Strangely all the bunnies tasted, er, tested, naturally seemed to lose their ears first. ;)
Soma Chocolatemaker is one of the few artisan chocolatemakers in North America making chocolate in small batches directly from the cacao bean. They buy cocoa beans from plantations around the world including Conacado from the Dominican Republic, organic Sambirano from Madagascar organic from Costa Rica, & Panama.
via Soma Chocolate
443 King Street West
Toronto, Canada '11
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
It all started with a chocolate maker! Thats right! A chocolate maker that had moulds where you can make heart shaped chocolates. It came from a department store a few days ago. Fluffy and I thought it was a lovely idea to make our own chocolates for Valentines Day. WELL!!! When we got home someone had only STOLEN the moulds from out of the box! So yesterday we had to go all the way back to the store to get one that no one had tampered with. On our way up the escalator I yelled: "LOOK!!!!!!! A VIOLET HAT!!!!!!!!" watching a man in a wheel chair trying it on, then a black one and then a red one. So on the way back down there it was: The ONLY ONE LEFT IN THE SALE!!!! It got even better......when I went to pay for it there was another 25% off the sale price!!!! YEEEEEE HAAAAA!!!!!!
So to add to my collection of hats here is my first ever violet hat that somehow seems to match my violet pashmina perfectly!!!!
The colours do look blue here but I can assure you, that when in the sunshine it glows of violet light!!!! And after all....if you think of the seven chakra colors, violet is the crown chakra colour and one of the greatest healing shades to meditate upon!
Thought for the Day: Healing comes from within, but a bit of retail therapy also goes a long long way in helping one to smile!
In 2003 Cynthia Leung and David Castellan were bitten by the cacao bug and the concept of Soma chocolatemaker was born. The idea was to make great microbatch chocolate from the cacao bean and create a little world to explore and share the possibilities of chocolate. Their first space was a tiny area in the back of a defunct whisky denaturing building in the Distillery District. Armed with some vintage chocolate making gear and a whole lot of gumption they began their journey. A line of microbatch chocolate, truffles, cookies, hot chocolate and gelato soon emerged.
Fast forward to 2014- They have since moved out that beloved little space, have two shop locations and a small cacao bean factory where they clean, roast, winnow, & conch cacao beans into chocolate. Cynthia and David employ in her words ” a small group of funky and creative souls who have a blast exploring new ways to enjoy chocolate”. I would also add they are a very talented group of souls.
A visit to SOMA triggers each of our senses; the air is filled with the sweet scent of cocao, our sense of taste is led to experiment and our eye is entertained. Trained as an architect, Cynthia is in charge of the visual and does not disappoint. Their delicious SOMA birch, modeled on a branch found in her father’s backyard is a thing of beauty. With Easter just around the corner, they will be offering a limited edition of Easter eggs. Only 200 are made each year; a beautiful and exquisite gift for someone very special.
My visit ended with a shot of hocho enroute. An intense, spicy and thick beverage served like an espresso. Cynthia tells me the spicy edge pays homage to the Mayan roots of chocolate.
If you love chocolate the way I do I strongly recommend popping in to SOMA chocolatemaker at the Distillery for a hocho enroute or a milky hot chocolate to take with you to the Leslieville Flea. Chocolate and vintage…..what could be better?
See you at the next Leslieville Flea, March 16th from 10-5pm at the Fermenting cellar, 28 Distillery lane
SOMA Chocolatemaker Locations:
Distillery District- 32 Tank House Lane, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 416.815.7662
King St Location- 443 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 416.599.7662
I never got a chocolate rabbit growing up. It's not that I never had one (I did buy one for myself in Grade 4, saving up my allowance and picking up some Mr. Solid or other, and even back then I didn't enjoy the taste and wondered what the hoopla was about), but I never had a good one. By the time I discovered that you could get bunnies made from good chocolate, unbeknownst to me, I only had a few seasons left to enjoy the chocolate beasts (high school was a very satisfying time for the chocolate lover in me). Sadly, I didn't take advantage it, consuming instead copious amounts of fine truffles. (Some argue that's potentially the reason why I became gravely allergic to cocoa in the first year of university. The sadness.)
I digress.
The one thing I never experienced myself was the whole: which end of the chocolate bunny to eat first? The ears or tail? (My lack of exposure to chocolate Easter rabbit consumption is plainly obvious here. Paws? How amateurish and embarrassing. It would be tough to chew on most bunny shapes when I step back to think about it).
So one can only imagine the joy I felt when I came across SOMA's tweet that they had Roasted Marshmallow rabbits this season!
The confection itself is made of white chocolate, not marshmallow as I had originally thought (confession, if it were the question to settle would likely be ears, whole head or a chomp in the rump first?). But what did impart that delicious campfire aroma was the torched finish (watch video here) of the rabbit's white chocolate surface. And on both sides(!). The toasty, slightly burnt, malty flavours were reminiscent of the caramelized crust of an evenly roasted marshmallow which complimented the inherent sweetness of the normally sweet white chocolate. The flavour was immensely pleasing, possibly due to enhanced methylbutanol (check this out), inspiring me to take every piece of white chocolate I might have or will encounter and to finish them the same way.
Delicious and thank you to Cynthia and David for helping make this possible.
Oh, that question of ears or tail first? Strangely all the bunnies tasted, er, tested, naturally seemed to lose their ears first. ;)
In 2003 Cynthia Leung and David Castellan were bitten by the cacao bug and the concept of Soma chocolatemaker was born. The idea was to make great microbatch chocolate from the cacao bean and create a little world to explore and share the possibilities of chocolate. Their first space was a tiny area in the back of a defunct whisky denaturing building in the Distillery District. Armed with some vintage chocolate making gear and a whole lot of gumption they began their journey. A line of microbatch chocolate, truffles, cookies, hot chocolate and gelato soon emerged.
Fast forward to 2014- They have since moved out that beloved little space, have two shop locations and a small cacao bean factory where they clean, roast, winnow, & conch cacao beans into chocolate. Cynthia and David employ in her words ” a small group of funky and creative souls who have a blast exploring new ways to enjoy chocolate”. I would also add they are a very talented group of souls.
A visit to SOMA triggers each of our senses; the air is filled with the sweet scent of cocao, our sense of taste is led to experiment and our eye is entertained. Trained as an architect, Cynthia is in charge of the visual and does not disappoint. Their delicious SOMA birch, modeled on a branch found in her father’s backyard is a thing of beauty. With Easter just around the corner, they will be offering a limited edition of Easter eggs. Only 200 are made each year; a beautiful and exquisite gift for someone very special.
My visit ended with a shot of hocho enroute. An intense, spicy and thick beverage served like an espresso. Cynthia tells me the spicy edge pays homage to the Mayan roots of chocolate.
If you love chocolate the way I do I strongly recommend popping in to SOMA chocolatemaker at the Distillery for a hocho enroute or a milky hot chocolate to take with you to the Leslieville Flea. Chocolate and vintage…..what could be better?
See you at the next Leslieville Flea, March 16th from 10-5pm at the Fermenting cellar, 28 Distillery lane
SOMA Chocolatemaker Locations:
Distillery District- 32 Tank House Lane, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 416.815.7662
King St Location- 443 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 416.599.7662
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
Soma Chocolatemaker is one of the few artisan chocolatemakers in North America making chocolate in small batches directly from the cacao bean. They buy cocoa beans from plantations around the world including Conacado from the Dominican Republic, organic Sambirano from Madagascar organic from Costa Rica, & Panama.
via Soma Chocolate
443 King Street West
Toronto, Canada '11
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
Yup. The tail end is just as tasty. Sadly, no other shots follow this. It's wasn't pretty... tasty, yes. Bitten out chunks of chocolate, no.
I never got a chocolate rabbit growing up. It's not that I never had one (I did buy one for myself in Grade 4, saving up my allowance and picking up some Mr. Solid or other, and even back then I didn't enjoy the taste and wondered what the hoopla was about), but I never had a good one. By the time I discovered that you could get bunnies made from good chocolate, unbeknownst to me, I only had a few seasons left to enjoy the chocolate beasts (high school was a very satisfying time for the chocolate lover in me). Sadly, I didn't take advantage it, consuming instead copious amounts of fine truffles. (Some argue that's potentially the reason why I became gravely allergic to cocoa in the first year of university. The sadness.)
I digress.
The one thing I never experienced myself was the whole: which end of the chocolate bunny to eat first? The ears or tail? (My lack of exposure to chocolate Easter rabbit consumption is plainly obvious here. Paws? How amateurish and embarrassing. It would be tough to chew on most bunny shapes when I step back to think about it).
So one can only imagine the joy I felt when I came across SOMA's tweet that they had Roasted Marshmallow rabbits this season!
The confection itself is made of white chocolate, not marshmallow as I had originally thought (confession, if it were the question to settle would likely be ears, whole head or a chomp in the rump first?). But what did impart that delicious campfire aroma was the torched finish (watch video here) of the rabbit's white chocolate surface. And on both sides(!). The toasty, slightly burnt, malty flavours were reminiscent of the caramelized crust of an evenly roasted marshmallow which complimented the inherent sweetness of the normally sweet white chocolate. The flavour was immensely pleasing, possibly due to enhanced methylbutanol (check this out), inspiring me to take every piece of white chocolate I might have or will encounter and to finish them the same way.
Delicious and thank you to Cynthia and David for helping make this possible.
Oh, that question of ears or tail first? Strangely all the bunnies tasted, er, tested, naturally seemed to lose their ears first. ;)
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
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Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
In 2003 Cynthia Leung and David Castellan were bitten by the cacao bug and the concept of Soma chocolatemaker was born. The idea was to make great microbatch chocolate from the cacao bean and create a little world to explore and share the possibilities of chocolate. Their first space was a tiny area in the back of a defunct whisky denaturing building in the Distillery District. Armed with some vintage chocolate making gear and a whole lot of gumption they began their journey. A line of microbatch chocolate, truffles, cookies, hot chocolate and gelato soon emerged.
Fast forward to 2014- They have since moved out that beloved little space, have two shop locations and a small cacao bean factory where they clean, roast, winnow, & conch cacao beans into chocolate. Cynthia and David employ in her words ” a small group of funky and creative souls who have a blast exploring new ways to enjoy chocolate”. I would also add they are a very talented group of souls.
A visit to SOMA triggers each of our senses; the air is filled with the sweet scent of cocao, our sense of taste is led to experiment and our eye is entertained. Trained as an architect, Cynthia is in charge of the visual and does not disappoint. Their delicious SOMA birch, modeled on a branch found in her father’s backyard is a thing of beauty. With Easter just around the corner, they will be offering a limited edition of Easter eggs. Only 200 are made each year; a beautiful and exquisite gift for someone very special.
My visit ended with a shot of hocho enroute. An intense, spicy and thick beverage served like an espresso. Cynthia tells me the spicy edge pays homage to the Mayan roots of chocolate.
If you love chocolate the way I do I strongly recommend popping in to SOMA chocolatemaker at the Distillery for a hocho enroute or a milky hot chocolate to take with you to the Leslieville Flea. Chocolate and vintage…..what could be better?
See you at the next Leslieville Flea, March 16th from 10-5pm at the Fermenting cellar, 28 Distillery lane
SOMA Chocolatemaker Locations:
Distillery District- 32 Tank House Lane, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 416.815.7662
King St Location- 443 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 416.599.7662
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large
In 2003 Cynthia Leung and David Castellan were bitten by the cacao bug and the concept of Soma chocolatemaker was born. The idea was to make great microbatch chocolate from the cacao bean and create a little world to explore and share the possibilities of chocolate. Their first space was a tiny area in the back of a defunct whisky denaturing building in the Distillery District. Armed with some vintage chocolate making gear and a whole lot of gumption they began their journey. A line of microbatch chocolate, truffles, cookies, hot chocolate and gelato soon emerged.
Fast forward to 2014- They have since moved out that beloved little space, have two shop locations and a small cacao bean factory where they clean, roast, winnow, & conch cacao beans into chocolate. Cynthia and David employ in her words ” a small group of funky and creative souls who have a blast exploring new ways to enjoy chocolate”. I would also add they are a very talented group of souls.
A visit to SOMA triggers each of our senses; the air is filled with the sweet scent of cocao, our sense of taste is led to experiment and our eye is entertained. Trained as an architect, Cynthia is in charge of the visual and does not disappoint. Their delicious SOMA birch, modeled on a branch found in her father’s backyard is a thing of beauty. With Easter just around the corner, they will be offering a limited edition of Easter eggs. Only 200 are made each year; a beautiful and exquisite gift for someone very special.
My visit ended with a shot of hocho enroute. An intense, spicy and thick beverage served like an espresso. Cynthia tells me the spicy edge pays homage to the Mayan roots of chocolate.
If you love chocolate the way I do I strongly recommend popping in to SOMA chocolatemaker at the Distillery for a hocho enroute or a milky hot chocolate to take with you to the Leslieville Flea. Chocolate and vintage…..what could be better?
See you at the next Leslieville Flea, March 16th from 10-5pm at the Fermenting cellar, 28 Distillery lane
SOMA Chocolatemaker Locations:
Distillery District- 32 Tank House Lane, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 416.815.7662
King St Location- 443 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 416.599.7662
I never got a chocolate rabbit growing up. It's not that I never had one (I did buy one for myself in Grade 4, saving up my allowance and picking up some Mr. Solid or other, and even back then I didn't enjoy the taste and wondered what the hoopla was about), but I never had a good one. By the time I discovered that you could get bunnies made from good chocolate, unbeknownst to me, I only had a few seasons left to enjoy the chocolate beasts (high school was a very satisfying time for the chocolate lover in me). Sadly, I didn't take advantage it, consuming instead copious amounts of fine truffles. (Some argue that's potentially the reason why I became gravely allergic to cocoa in the first year of university. The sadness.)
I digress.
The one thing I never experienced myself was the whole: which end of the chocolate bunny to eat first? The ears or tail? (My lack of exposure to chocolate Easter rabbit consumption is plainly obvious here. Paws? How amateurish and embarrassing. It would be tough to chew on most bunny shapes when I step back to think about it).
So one can only imagine the joy I felt when I came across SOMA's tweet that they had Roasted Marshmallow rabbits this season!
The confection itself is made of white chocolate, not marshmallow as I had originally thought (confession, if it were the question to settle would likely be ears, whole head or a chomp in the rump first?). But what did impart that delicious campfire aroma was the torched finish (watch video here) of the rabbit's white chocolate surface. And on both sides(!). The toasty, slightly burnt, malty flavours were reminiscent of the caramelized crust of an evenly roasted marshmallow which complimented the inherent sweetness of the normally sweet white chocolate. The flavour was immensely pleasing, possibly due to enhanced methylbutanol (check this out), inspiring me to take every piece of white chocolate I might have or will encounter and to finish them the same way.
Delicious and thank you to Cynthia and David for helping make this possible.
Oh, that question of ears or tail first? Strangely all the bunnies tasted, er, tested, naturally seemed to lose their ears first. ;)
Here is a selection of photos I captured of a chocolate maker in Brussels.
LEGAL NOTICE: This photo is a low resolution compressed version. It is a copyrighted image. To buy the rights to use and publish it, to obtain a license or to get a sharp version in super HD, please visit www.shutterstock.com/g/benheineart or contact info@benheine.com for a larger license
------
Voici une sélection de photos d'un artisan chocolatier que j'ai prise à Bruxelles.
NOTICE LEGALE: Cette photo est une version en basse résolution compressée, elle est protégée par droits d'auteurs. Pour acheter les droits d'utilisation et de publication et/ou obtenir une version nette en super HD, visitez www.shutterstock.com/fr/g/benheineart ou contacter info@benheine.com pour une utilisation plus large