(Above: Speaking to STL Slow Food at the Schlafly Tap Room)
Due to Valentine's craziness I am a week behind on reporting about the event, but it was so much fun that I'm going to belatedly share anyway.
The chocolate talk and tasting seminar was held at the Schlafly Tap Room in conjunction with the St. Louis convivium of Slow Food, and upon arriving, we--my wife and I--got a warm welcome from the Tap Room's head brewer Stephen Hale. Stephen showed us around the brewery as we got to talking about the combination of beer and chocolate and the difficulties involved in creating a chocolate-flavored beer, including issues such as iron content of chocolate--it's high--which could dissolve into the beer, oxidize, and create a hazy appearance--an unwelcome occurrence in most beers. After talking beer, we got set up for talking chocolate.
Following a brief Slow Food meeting things really got moving as a long and interesting discussion commenced, with participants asking countless perceptive and intriguing questions from the role that terroir plays in cacao flavor, even including natural yeast strains that could impact fermentation, to the various processes employed in small-scale or "micro" chocolate manufacture. After the discussion, we continued with the education by tasting the two currently available Patric Chocolate offerings as we talked about what tastes and aromas set them apart despite their shared origin--Madagascar. As usual, it was a true joy to see the expressions on people's faces as they searched for and identified various flavor notes and, often, realized that they had never tasted them in chocolate before.
If you would like to read more about the night and the reactions of some of the attendees, it has also been written about on the St. Louis Slow Food site, and a blog called the Cupcake Project.
Also, since--due to a recent article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch--many of you who are reading this blog are located in and around St. Louis, let me urge you to seek out Slow Food St. Louis if you are a lover of fine food. If you would classify yourself as gourmet, gourmand, or foodie, and you want to meet and talk with like-minded people who are making a difference in St. Louis food--and beverage--culture, then please contact them! It really will be worth your time.
(above: Trying to pluck a cacao pod off a photo of a tree
through sheer force of will--it didn't work)
I'd like to thank all STL Slow Food members, Sara Hale for organizing things, Rebecca Marsh for her input, and the aforementioned Stephen and Sara Hale for their incredible hospitality!
