Happy mistake | Borneo Online Bulletin

AFP – A fourth chocolate, blond, is slowly making its way into French confectionery, but has failed to obtain official recognition and faces competition from a Swiss pink variety.

The choccy blonde was born from an accident.

French pastry chef Frédéric Bau was demonstrating his know-how at an exhibition in Japan and left his white chocolate to heat up a little too long in a bain-marie… four days to be precise.

“By chance, by magic… she became blonde!” This chocolate appeared with an incredible color and smell,” recalls Bau, creative director of chocolatier Valrhona.

Bau immediately sensed the commercial potential of this happy mistake, but it took seven years of testing to perfect its unique aromatic qualities and consistency.

The recipe remains secret but is officially registered by Valrhona and has been marketed under the name Dulcey since 2012.

However, the basic chemistry is well understood. This is the “Maillard reaction”, a sequence of chemical reactions between amino acids and reducing sugars, causing browning and aromas close to toasting.

To taste, blond chocolate has the milky fat of white chocolate but is much less sweet, with a mild caramel flavor and a roasted coffee aftertaste.

French pastry chefs tend to snub white chocolate, associating it with the big slices they devoured as children.

But blonde opens up new possibilities.

“It’s very different from other chocolates. It gives a very biscuity taste, very delicious,” explains Nice pastry chef Philippe Tayac to AFP, who combines it with hazelnuts for a tartlet.

Bau combines it as a pure fondant dessert with freshly roasted apples and Tahitian vanilla cream, and he also recommends “breaking up” with more pronounced fruity combinations, such as citrus or red fruits.

SWISS COMPETITION

Despite its efforts, Valrhona failed to convince French lawmakers to reopen its legal definitions.

Blonde therefore formally remains another type of white chocolate, which was the last to be legally recognized – after dark chocolate and milk chocolate – after its invention in the 1930s by the Swiss Nestlé.

And France’s Alpine neighbors are not waiting to be beaten head-on on a fourth variety.

Valrhona’s main competitor in the world of professional chocolate, Swiss giant Barry Callebaut, launched a marketing campaign in 2017 for its own fourth type: this bright pink one, made from ruby ​​cocoa beans grown in Ecuador, Brazil and Ivory Coast.

Barry Callebaut calls its ruby ​​chocolate “the greatest innovation in chocolate in 80 years”.

The company was diplomatic when asked about the rivalry AFPdeclaring in a press release:

“The best chocolate in the world is the one that offers you a moment of indulgence, no matter where it was produced and whatever its color. »