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The New York Chocolate Show

The 7th New York Chocolate Show, held November 11-14, 2004, drew a record-breaking 30,000 chocophiles to the Metropolitan Pavilion. Sixty-five exhibitors, including chocolatiers and chocolate manufacturers, as well as numerous demonstrations and showpieces by top-named pastry chefs, delighted the crowds. The show is popular with both consumers and purveyors, and this year, its over-the-top, wearable chocolate fashion show raised more than $15,000 for the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS.

When CF toured the show last year, we found Jacques Torres gently stirring his new, thick and luscious hot chocolate and graciously serving it for multitudes of adoring fans to taste. (You could tell from their smiles and lip-smacking they loved it.) Nearby, an astrologer studied swirls at the bottom of a patron’s chocolate cup, no doubt finding promise and pleasure in store for the New Year.

Along one aisle, you could taste your way through Venezuelan, Bolivian, Ecuadoran, Ivory Coast and other varieties, including new “terroir” chocolates made from specifically designated estates and growing regions. Some were smoky, some astringent, and some deep and multi-layered in flavor. Numerous back-and-forth tastes and comparisons informed our palates as never before.

Pairings
Around a corner, Portuguese and American Ports were paired with dark and lighter chocolate.
Sandeman’s Founder’s Reserve and Quady’s rich and spicy, nicely complex Starboard were our favorite partners for Guittard’s dark couverture. (Starboard is the opposite side of the ship from port, and as Andrew Quady explained, choosing the name “Starboard” for Quady Batch 88 Vintage Character Port signifies “new world” Port as opposed to “old world" Port.) Many of the Quady dessert wines, especially Essensia, with its honey and orange overtones, paired equally well with both dark and milk chocolate.

Meanwhile, at the entrance, mannequins garbed in chocolate costumes continued to greet delighted visitors. Though having been modeled live at the kickoff fashion show that raised thousands of dollars for AIDS research, none of the outfits looked worse for the wear—each more beautiful, wildly creative, and delicious-looking than the next.

Along the aisles, were chocolate fountains oozing you-know-what (they’re popular rentals for dipping marshmallows at weddings and special events), books about chocolate by top chocolate artisans (Chocolat French by A.K. Crump is a guide to the best), and sculptures of Mayan pyramids, elephants, and even handbags made from chocolate.

Then we came upon the best Chocolate Martini anywhere. Made with Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur, it was light and just creamy enough, with a perfect, deep chocolate flavor—not at all cloying or overly sticky-sweet as some others we’ve tried. This was an after-dinner drink to remember.

Tips and Techniques
Meanwhile, a steady stream of artisans such as Francois Payard (Payard Patisserie and Bistro, NYC), Nicole Kaplan (Eleven Madison Park, NYC), Christophe Feyt (Four Seasons Hotel, Boston), Karen DeMasco (Craft, CraftBar and ‘wichcraft, NYC), Sherry Yard (Spago, Los Angeles) and authors such as Wayne Brachman (American Desserts) and Dorie Greenspan (Paris Sweets) busied themselves in two demonstration kitchens, sharing best tips and techniques while whipping out piles of inspiring ideas and offering even more delicious samples.

Surprising Flavor Combinations
State-of-the-art chocolates and pralines appeared everywhere, filled with surprises. Chocolat Moderne, a new company started by ex-banker Joan Coukos, presented Belgian style fillings in amazing sweet and savory combinations: green apple and Calvados caramel, chocolate and single malt scotch, chocolate with a hint of habanero peppers. Patrick Coston’s most notable inventions from his new enterprise, The Art of Chocolate, included “Dark Chocolate and Red Square with Jasmine Tea Ganache and Almond Praline,” and a delicate “Milk Chocolate Flower with Lavender Honey.”

Mary’s Chocolate, Japan’s premier chocolatier since 1950, presented their deluxe line of Seasonal Flower and Madame Setsuko Chocolates: delicate chocolate shells filled with fusions of Western and Eastern flavors. Some are topped with a delicately hand-piped confectionery flower arrangement, while others bear a simple design or fleck of edible gold. While the bittersweet chocolate ganache of one is flavored with plum liqueur, in others there are hints of teas: Darjeeling or Uji green tea. Other surprisingly complex combinations are black sesame seeds with chocolate, or a rum-soaked French plum surrounded by a cream filling and covered in chocolate.

Four Venues
There are now four annual Chocolate Shows, held in Europe, the U.S. and Japan. This past year, you could have joined 100,000 other chocolate lovers at the mother of them all, the Salon du Chocolat in Paris, or joined throngs of visitors at others in Lausanne, Tokyo, or New York, as we did. If you get a chance, don’t miss attending one. It may require a lengthy journey, but just as cacao beans travel far to be transformed by chocolate artisans, a Chocolate Show is likely to seed your most inspired culinary creations and transform your taste forever.

New York Chocolate Show
http://www.chocolateshow.com/
Chocolate Show/ Event International, Inc.
Contact: Sophie Urbain
34 E. 38th Street, Suite 4A
New York, NY 10016
Phone: +1-212-889-5112 (Exhibitors)
Toll Free: +1-866-CHOCNYC
Fax: +1-212-889-5113
Email: chocolateshow@aol.com

International Chocolate Shows
http://www.chocoland.com
Event International Europe/Asia
70, rue de La Tour
75116 Paris
France
Phone: +33 1 45 03 21 26
Email: infos@chocoland.com

Jacques Torres Chocolate
http://www.jacquestorres.com
66 Water Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Phone: 718.875.9772
Email: General: info@mrchocolate.com
Wholesale: wholesale@mrchocolate.com
Orders: orders@mrchocolate.com

The House of Sandeman
http://www.sandeman.com/ing/index1.html
3 Largo Miguel Bombarda
4400-222 Vila Nova de Gaia
Portugal
Phone: +351-22-3740500

Quady California Dessert Wines
http://www.quadywinery.com
13181 Road 24
P.O. Box 728
Madera, CA 93639
Phone: 559-673-8068
Email: info@quadywinery.com

Guittard Chocolate Company
http://www.guittard.com/
10 Guittard Road
Burlingame, CA 94010
Phone: 650-697-4427
Email: customer_service@guittard.com

The Chocolate Fountain
http://www.thechocolatefountain.com
3450 N. Rock Road
Bldg. 200, Suite 207
Wichita, KS 67226
Phone: 316-636-4443
Email: info@thechocolatefountain.com

Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liquer
http://www.vermeercream.com
Skyy Spirits LLC
2822 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94133
Phone: 415-315-8000

Chocolat Moderne
http://www.chocolatmoderne.com
Joan E. Coukos, Chocolatier
27 West 20th Street, Suite 904
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 917-488-9844
Email: info@chocolatmoderne.com

The Art of Chocolate
http://www.theartofchocolate.com
Patrick Coston, Chocolatier
Phone: 888.880.1472
Email: info@theartofchocolate.com

Mary’s Chocolates
http://www.mary.co.jp
7-1-14 Ohmori Nishi
Ohta-Ku
Tokyo 143-8508
Japan
Phone: 81-3-3763-5115
(and Madame Setsuko Chocolatier Tokyo, in French: http://www.setsuko.co.jp/french/index.html)

Chocolatier Magazine
Haymarket Group, Ltd.
45 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10001

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