La Maison du Chocolat

Once again, The Beer Boor strays from his regular duties as a beverage correspondent to discuss indulging his sweet tooth, and learn a bit in the process. This time around, it’s chocolate — specifically, the production of chocolate and one chocolatier’s opinion on how to best savor the experience.
Recently I was invited to attend class at La Maison du Chocolat. Tamanaco, as the class is called, offered the opportunity to learn about the chocolate-making process in great depth, from the cacao trees and their differences through the production of chocolate for chocolatiers industrial and artisanal alike.

The tables in back [...]

Product Review: Roni Sue’s Pig Candy

I recently attended the Chocolate Show, and was happy to see not only that Roni Sue had a booth, but they were selling packets of their Pig Candy.  A year or two ago, the entire food-blog-world lit up with talk of this – chocolate covered bacon! – but it was really hard for me to get over to Essex Market, where their shop is, before they closed on weekdays, so I never managed to go.  But here it was!  Ready for my $5!  Unfortunately, she only had mixed bags (milk & dark chocolates), as opposed to just dark, but [...]

Scharffen Berger’s Chocolate Adventure Contest Launch

I was recently invited to attend another Scharffen Berger chocolate event.  I’d so enjoyed the last one, of course I jumped at the opportunity to attend this one as well.  Passed hors d’oeuvres came around; mini egg rolls with a chocolate dipping sauce were definitely interesting.  I really wanted to try this appetizer – little lettuce cups with beef and fragrant rice – but one of the ingredients was coconut, to which I am allergic.  Boo.  Eventually, it was time for us to all file into the kitchen for our hands-on cooking demo.  I admit I [...]

Feisty Freebie Giveaway!

My life is truly blessed.  I have wonderful friends, an incredible boyfriend, a fantastic family, and I am surrounded by amazing people in nearly every aspect of my life.  Scharffen Berger unsweetened cocoa powder, tasting squares of varying percentages of cacao, and baking chunksOn a more material level, I am constantly surrounded by awesome food and more.  I simply can’t eat or use it all.  Being that it’s my birthday month – both for The Feisty Foodie and myself on the 27th – I’ve decided to go beyond just spreading the love and sharing the wealth with my friends [...]