Valrhona Blonde chocolate
Blonde chocolate, as distinct from dark, milk or white is the latest unexpected food product to reach us from France. It is produced by Valrhona, the French chocolate maker, and was found completely by accident, as if written in a Joanne Harris novel.
The story begins eight years ago, early one spring morning. The setting is Valrhona’s Ecole du Grand Chocolat. Chef Frédéric Bau put into a bain marie some white chocolate, to be used for a pastry demonstration. He forgot all about it, only returning to it after 10 hours to find that the chocolate had become a honey/butterscotch shade of blonde which smelled like toasted shortbread with a unique taste: creamy, sugary and slightly salty.
Fast forward eight years to 2012 and the chocolatiers have discovered a way to produce this confection on a larger scale. It is available to buy in bean shape and bar from Harvey Nichols, Fortnum and Mason and also online.
Chocolate was first discovered when an Arab nomad transported milk in an animal’s stomach as a container, which was complete with rennet – the curdling enzyme. By lunchtime the liquid was solid, much to the Arab’s surprise. He ate the produce and enjoyed it.
A failed attempt by Messrs’ Lea and Perrins to recreate an Indian sauce led to the manufacture of Worcestershire sauce. They stored it in the basement instead of throwing it out. As it aged and changed in the two years they kept it the experiment became a hit with customers.
Chef George Crum invented the potato crisp during a fit of pique. One of his customers at the Saratoga Springs restaurant said that the French fries were too thick. The chef sliced potatoes as thinly as possible before deep-frying them until hard. When they were sent out the customer loved them.
