A Day at the Chocolate Factory

There is an organization called "Americans in Alsace" that operates as a mutual support group for folks like us. The group has breakfasts and book clubs and other activities to allow foreigners to get together and speak English. Every now and then they arrange a demonstration by a local chef.

Recently, the AIA group arranged a demonstration by a legendary local chocolate maker Christophe Meyer. That's him in the intro photo. Meyer is the creative force at Patisserie Christian, a local shop that specializes intricate sweets, some of which are shown below.Theresa, Mindy, and Wade spent the afternoon at the patisserie watching a demonstration by the master chef and then sampling what he made. They made a chocolate mousse and a chocolate mille-feuille. They walked in not knowing exactly what to expect. They walked out with a sugar-overload and a deeper appreciation for chocolate.Meyer has dedicated his life to chocolate since he was 14 years old, which would be for nearly 30 years now. He speaks of chocolates like fine wines - describing them by the subtle flavors and overtones within the flavors. He says Haitian chocolate is the best but very hard to obtain now because of political unrest. Venezualen chocolate is a decent substitute. He says the cream from Alsace that you buy straight off the grocery shelf is the best you can get. Don't go for the local butter though....it's junk compared to the butter from Normandy. He can tell you the temperature of a batch of chocolate...to within a degree...by putting a dab of the stuff on his upper lip.

Chocolate is his passion, and he is passionate about it. And he makes a darn good desert too. Or so I've been told by Theresa, Mindy and Wade.