The idea of making a warm chocolate mousse with chocolate out of a package, which for me was standard for almost 20 years, is now ridiculous. If you don’t want chocolate fresh for you, (you) probably shouldn’t be a pastry chef.
Will Goldfarb, Chef/Owner Room4Dessert
Fresh chocolate really does taste so much better. Good chocolate contains about 200 different flavours but many of these are volatile and so disappear with time. To ensure you get fresh chocolate we make our chocolate in 4 kg batches and keep very little stock, so please be patient when you order.
As every chef will tell you, high quality ingredients are crucial for high quality food so we strive to find high quality cocoa that also matches our requirements of no involvement with slavery and no deforestation. Currently we source our cocoa from the Philippines, Ecuador, Colombia and Madagascar.
We use two types of Filipino chocolate: single origin Davao and award winning single estate Paquibato, grown by Jose Saguban. The Paquibato, in particular, is notable for its fruity overtones. Our South American cocoa is Fino de Aroma grade (top 8% of cocoa). The Colombian has prominent coffee notes while the Ecuadorian is more balanced and creamy.
When we first started making chocolate we were puzzled to be asked if it was vegan and/or gluten free. This seemed strange to us because our dark chocolate contains only cocoa, sugar and sometimes cocoa butter and nothing else. It was only after looking at the ingredient labels of big brand chocolate that we realised how many additives are used.