|
Like Chocolate for Poetry
Sensual Chocolatier's ingredients read like artistic prose calling out for refined and inspired combinations. Consider 'Agave Azul' with its dark chocolate ganache, agave syrup, tequila, rosemary, pecans and a touch of clove, dipped in dark chocolate. It's a favorite of Michael McKenna's, founder of Sensual Chocolatiers, a Canadian whose passion for his work in chocolate led him to open his first Sensual Chocolatier's store in San Antonio this month. "I followed chocolate back to its original roots in Mexico where it was considered a food for the Gods. I still think it is. And, I was fortunate to have the time and opportunity to perfect my original recipes that some call art. "Michael draws his inspiration from anywhere, much like an artist is influenced by nature, or a woman's beauty," said Barbara Hartinger, a Partner. "For instance, he'll have Thai food and think about how those flavors would mix with chocolate. He files it away in his head, and then addresses it when 'the time is ripe'. Our chocolate called 'Camille' is named after a mutual friend. It's sassy, like her," said Hartinger, of their fusion of lemon cream ganache with perfume of rosemary, dipped in white chocolate and covered with rosemary sprinkles. Then there's the 'Maria', for Maria Elena Moreno, Sensual Chocolatier's Kitchen Manager who is as cool and calm as the truffle that carries her name - a subtle mix of mint/thyme tea steeped in a bittersweet chocolate ganache, dipped in bittersweet chocolate and sprinkled with sun-dried thyme. Maria worked with McKenna over the last four years to bring his passion for 'visions in chocolate' to life. "We experimented to find the right combinations and best ingredients," said Maria Moreno After not finding the taste he was looking for, Michael began blending his own chili powders to add to ganache and then the dusting on top of 'Andale'. He also developed adjustments for some recipes to incorporate the original coarse Mexican chocolate from Oxaca." This effort and creativity paid off, because 'Profundo', a synthesis of Oaxacan and bitter chocolate; and the 'Oxaca', a union of crude Oaxaca chocolate with coffee cream, pecans and almonds, dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with cinnamon, are two of McKenna's best sellers. Today, while McKenna is busy opening the first of the Sensual Chocolatier's Store, located in San Antonio Texas, and interviewing potential franchise owners, Maria Elena is overseeing her crew at as they meticulously blend ingredients that will become the signature heady concoctions of Sensual Chocolatiers. "Our ganaches are made in the afternoon, hand-rolled and dipped the following morning, and shipped that same day," Moreno said, as she and the young women she oversees work with the morning sun streaming into the spotless factory. Outside, Bon-Bon the burro, Sensual Chocolatier's local mascot is tied up but straining to reach the fresh rosemary, thyme and mint in the herb garden that will become future ingredients. Hartinger stops by the kitchen factory each morning. She loves it when they are concocting 'Paradise'. "I think 'Paradise' is one of our most amazing and unique chocolates, with the perfume of guava, which is really genuine. I know that Guava can be unpleasant if you're not used to it, but when merged subtly with white chocolate, it's like a dream, like an idea that floats by." She also swears by 'Picasso' with its creamy caramel, rolled in crushed pecans, and dipped in semisweet chocolate. "The cream here is extra-thick and rich, the sugars, including piloncillo and regular cane sugar, have more of a caramelly flavor which add dimension to our chocolates. In short, the fewer ingredients in a chocolate, the more important each ingredient is to the end result. Ganache is only cream, chocolate and flavorings, so each thing has to be perfect." Perfect…and poetic are what many who have tasted these chocolates claim they are.
|