CHOCOLATE.

Our school offers a series of activities based on a given theme each month.  Well wouldn't you know that february just so happens to be "gastronomy".  We spent an afternoon at a chocolatier (Maison Pillon) learning all about chocolate (the process of growing, harvesting, processing, extracting the oil etc...).  But really.  We were there to see melted chocolate running endlessly out of machines and riding there, all aloof and delicious on conveyer belts.

This super nice guy gave us the tour and here is him snapping pieces of honey ganache onto the conveyer belt.  The little tablets of honey ganache ride patiently at the start of the belt, each waiting for their pass under the chocolate curtain.

 

Et Voilà.  Shiny and all chocolate covered.

Each chocolate has it's own mark or design.  The honey ones get a  diagonal line made by a little pick dipped onto the top while it's still wet.

The chocolate continues on the yellow conveyor belt through a cooling case, where it comes out on the other end PERFECT.   They get picked off the belt and packed onto a tray or boxes.  It was early February and the Maison Pillon was already starting their production for easter.  We got our fill of chocolates during the tour, but still picked out a few for tea treats at home.  Probably some of the best chocolate I've had.  Winners were: ganache of bergamot and passionfruit.   The texture of chocolate and the ganache was smooth and cool on the tongue.  The flavours were perfectly balanced, the chocolate didn't get upstaged by the flavoured ganache...like they were more than happy to be on the same team, think: Fresh Prince & Jazzy Jeff, Marx & Engels, W. Strunk Jr & E. B White, Penny & Brain, Monsieur & Madame Curie, Carl & Harriet Winslow, Austro & Hungaria...