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The 11th-Annual Chocolate Show

Posted by Kathy YL Chan, November 10, 2008 at 6:00 PM

Sweet freaks and chocolate fanatics in New York City filled Pier 94 this weekend in search of the latest trends in chocolate sweets and confections. This year's 11th Annual Chocolate Show was held in a significantly larger venue than previous years, so despite heavy crowds, space was never tight. Vendors gave out plenty of samples, some more generous than others.

The wide range in chocolate novelties—from the pig's bacon, to chocolate sake ganache, chocolate "sushi," and firecracker truffles—ensured a good time for those with an open mind and high sugar tolerance. The Viking Range demos featured appearances from an impressive repertoire of chefs—Nick Malgeri, François Payard, and Jacques Torres to name a few. Certain vendors from previous years were missing, including the much anticipated John & Kira, but we didn't dwell on the losses for long.

Though there were many vendors, it was difficult not to play favorites. Roni Sue's booth was filled with the perpetually curious; everyone wanted a taste of her now-famous Pig Candy (which our head honcho, Ed Levine, covered back in August). Though delicious, I'm equally torn by this new novelty and her over-the-top, buttery and luxurious buttercrunch. It's worth a visit to her shop in New York City's Essex Street Market for the Pig Candy and buttercrunch, in addition to an autumn collection of truffles, including seasonal flavors pecan pie, caramel apple, and pumpkin spice.

Guittard, Green & Black's, and Berkshire Bark came with quality samples aplenty.

Of all the booths at the show, Jacques Torres takes the cake for best customer service; they're always helpful and full of genuine smiles. They sold mini versions of their famous chocolate chip cookies for just $1 a piece and handed out a steady rotation of chocolates—I stopped in for a taste of the ginger truffle.

Valrhona came to introduce a new collection of bonbons—pralines, ganaches, marzipan, and giandujas. True to Valrhona tradition, the bonbons were simple quality takes on classics

I've always been a fan of Fairytale Brownies—soft and more like fudge than most brownies I've encountered. Be it the mint chocolate or espresso nib, I embrace them all. Cream cheese brownies are the newest addition to their line.

Mary Chocolate Co., straight from Tokyo, never ceases to impress year after year. Half the fun is watching them make the chocolates on the spot, from enrobing the ganache centers in chocolate to slipping on the intricately designed tops. The other half of the fun is in the samples: ganaches flavored with sake, green tea, and black sesame. Gorgeous bites of rose (strawberry with white ganache), violet (bitter ganache and cognac), iris (red wine ganache), and Japanese Plum made nearly all the other flavors seem boring, but I found the cubes of soybean flour-dusted ganaches and pastel-colored fruit ganaches most beautiful.

Charles Chocolates, founded by Charles Siegel, was another easy-to-love favorite. Passion for the field of chocolates and quality items were apparent in both his enthusiasm and the chocolates themselves. At the show, we tasted sublime roasted almonds covered in bittersweet and milk chocolates, and caramel almond sticks in addition to a sampling of truffles. I have extra sweet affection for his bittersweet peanut butterfly: a dark chocolate shell harboring crunchy peanut praline and milk chocolate.

Paris-based Boissier featured light, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate petals and flower-flavored white chocolate petals packaged in pale pink and gold tins—fanciful enough to store perfumes and other feminine whimsies. The chocolates sat alongside light pastel-colored marshmallows.

I'll admit that I returned to Éclat more than a few times for tastes of their wafer-thin mendiants. The spicy aleppo pink peppercorn was my mendiant of choice, but that didn't stop me from oogling the mélange version, fully equipped with crushed walnuts, orange peels, cocoa beans, and cranberries. Purists are best advised to stick with Éclat's single origin mendiants from far off lands such as Alto El Sol and Sao Thome.

Many were delighted by the firecracker truffles over at California-based Chuao Chocolatier. The haute result of Pop Rocks and chocolate truffles, the firecracker is a two-bite bonbon with popping candy, caramel fudge, chipotle, and salt. The folks over at Chuao somehow managed to combine the two trends of salty-sweets and spicy-sweets to create a truffle both salty and spicy, and now, literally, poppy. Shots of spicy Maya hot chocolate were also for sale at $1 per cup.

There were plenty more vendors abound, such as well-known classics Christopher Norman Chocolates and Payard Patisserie, participating alongside newer companies like TCHO Chocolates whose founders carefully roast cacao beans to make "flavor-driven" chocolates.

Making our way through the show, we were delighted to spot a hint of politics in play with chocolate Obama sculptures. One mother had her two children pose in front of the sculpture: "This will make a very memorable photo," she proclaimed. Those in the know arrived to the show equipped with plenty of water bottles and a pre-padded stomach filled with food of the savory sort. Times flies by quickly, truffle after truffle, and although it was a rather difficult task to taste everything, I say we did a mighty fine job.

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Tags: chocolate, Chocolate Show