September 1, 2007
In August, you saw new treats like Sweet Botanicals Herbal Candies and Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops make their debut at the Deli. This month, we're adding three amazing caramels from Béquet Caramels to the all-star confection line-up. We're also featuring a new truffle from Ann Arbor chocolatier Nancy Biehn, thus kicking off our "Truffle of the Month" program.

Upcoming events are beyond exciting. Right after the Labor Day weekend, I'm trying something new and hosting a savory chocolate tasting with the help of Deli Chef Aaron Stek. We've done a bit of research and created some exciting recipes to share with you. Hopefully you will enjoy learning about Cooking with Chocolate and get some inspiration for things to try at home. Then, at the beginning of October, Zingerman's is hosting world-renown chocolate expert Chloe Doutre-Roussel for two nights of choco-learning, tasting, and discussion... read more about her visit to the right!

New stuff Duff is really excited about:
(1) Caramels from Béquet Confections
A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. After a nearly three-year search, I believe I've found the perfect caramels for Zingerman's Deli! My search ended with Béquet Confections, a small caramel company in Montana. Reina and I met Robin Béquet and her devoted team at the Fancy Food Show in NYC this summer and it truly was love at first bite.

Béquet Confections was started by Robin Béquet out of necessity, and love of confections. After spending nearly 25 years in the technology/telecommunications industry, Robin found herself out of a job with the telecom crash of 2001. At that point, she began to think seriously about starting a caramel business — after all, everyone raved about her homemade caramels and there really wasn't an extraordinary caramel on the market as far as she could see. So she decided to make one.

She spent the next several months tweaking her recipe and doing blind tastings. (Hey Robin, if you need an extra taster next time my email is eanderson@zingermans.com. I'll be out to Montana in a heartbeat!) When she began selling her caramels in 2001, she had an exceptional product. But she didn't stop there. Over the course of the next five years, she modified her recipe four times, each time with the intent of improving the taste and texture of her caramels. And it paid off! In 2006, Béquet's Soft Caramel and Celtic Sea Salt Caramel won two NASFT finalists awards for Outstanding Food Gift and Outstanding Confection. Then this summer, her Chipotle Caramel won the 2007 NASFT product award for Outstanding Confection. These are some of the highest honors a confectioner can win.

You might be thinking, "What's all the fuss! How hard can it be to make caramels? Just add some sugar, some more sugar and a bit of cream. Heat. Stir. And Voilà!" Well, the truth is that caramels are not easy to make. To achieve the perfect texture and flavor requires nothing less than obsessive attention to detail and endless experimentation with ingredients and methods. "There are a great many products easier to make than caramel," Robin admits. "Those that have made caramel know that in the blink of an eye you can go from potential greatness to complete disaster. Great caramel doesn't happen by accident."

There are two things that make Béquet's caramels so darned good.

1.) Ingredients. In an effort to "maximize the creaminess" of the caramels and achieve a luxurious texture and flavor, Robin uses three different dairy ingredients in very specific ratios; heavy cream, butter and concentrated whole milk. Similarly, her choice of sugars — a special combination of brown and white sugars — contributes significantly to mouthfeel and taste. As she puts it, "The only product we make is caramel. This allows us to invest our energy and resources into which sugar ratios work best in caramel. It is far more complicated than I had ever imagined, but interesting too."

2.) Methods. Béquet's caramels are made the traditional way — in copper kettles, stirred by hand and judged "done" by the eyes of a dedicated chef (watching both the caramel and the thermometer). If a batch doesn't turn out right, they give it to the local food bank. "Every member of our team is empowered to question the quality of any raw material or finished product," Robin wrote me. "After all, our reputation is built on every piece of caramel you buy... every one counts."

Starting the first week of September, you'll find Béquet's Soft, Celtic Sea Salt and Chipotle Caramels for sale individually and in little gift bags at the Deli. Life as you know it is about to get a lot sweeter!

(2) Sweet Gem Confections
Zingerman's teamed up with local chocolatier Nancy Biehn a few months ago, choosing to carry a few of her fantastic truffles and her toffee. Nancy is the owner of Sweet Gem Confections, a small chocolate business based out of Morgan & York in Ann Arbor.

For me, finding a local chocolatier is really a dream come true. First of all, buying locally means fresher chocolates. Quite simply, they just don't have to spend as much time in transit! Now, this is not to say that our goodies from San Francisco, New York City and Italy are of lesser quality. Why, in this day and age almost any foodstuff can ship safely (and quickly) almost anywhere in the world! But there is just something special about knowing that Nancy (or Mimi, in the case of Grocer's Daughter Chocolates in Empire, MI) made the chocolates the day before... just for Zingerman's. It is also wonderful to be able to work closely with Nancy to develop recipes — like the Chai Latte truffle — that she makes especially for us.

One of Nancy's favorite things about making hand-made chocolates is "mixing all the flavors I've loved the most in my life, like fresh raspberries and yummy rich cream and farm fresh butter with the very best base chocolate that I can find." Her chocolates are 100% preservative free — which means they are best eaten within days (or minutes, if you prefer!) of receipt. She uses a variety of chocolates, ranging from El Rey and Valrhona to Steve DeVries, a small chocolate maker out in Denver, CO. Nancy makes everything my hand — and for a chocolatier, that means lots and lots of technical know-how combined with push-your-sleeves-up hard work. Nancy makes it look easy... but anyone who has tried making ganache, tempering chocolate, and dipping or molding truffles at home knows that it is anything but!

Raised on a farm in Wisconsin, Nancy didn't fully realize how lucky she was to grow up eating great, local food until she was much older. "Probably 90% of the food that I ate came right out of our garden, fields, woods and barns. Eggs, milk, butter, berries." That explains why Nancy puts so much effort and energy into finding "precious local ingredients, that are grown and nurtured with heartfelt care." Whether it is mint, berries or cream, Nancy is very proud of the fact that she sources locally and that "each and every chocolate that comes out of the Sweet Gem Kitchen has been ‘raised' by me, from my hands in small batches."

Starting this month, Zingerman's is going to work with Nancy to bring in a different truffle every month. The "Truffle of the Month" will change as we go through the year... it might feature a flavor of the season, a new recipe, or one of Nancy's most popular pieces. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate... it will always be changing! So don't forget to stop by each month to sample what is new! September's "Truffle of the Month" is Mint and Milk Chocolate, with fresh mint infused in a milk chocolate ganache and dipped in dark chocolate.

(3) One-year anniversary of Chocolat Moderne at the Deli
That's right! One year ago this month Zingerman's started carrying Bistro Bars and bonbons from Chocolat Moderne, in NYC. And although the Bistro Bars have a new look (snazzy new packaging), the insides are the same. Great chocolate from Valrhona, real fruit purées, top-notch spirits, perfectly roasted nuts, etc. My favorite remains unchanged: The Parlez Pistache praliné, with white chocolate, crisped rice, caramelized sugar and ground pistachios covered in dark chocolate. The overall favorite at the Deli, however, appears to be the Caramel Caresse, a soft caramel with pear purée and Poire William eau de vie. If you haven't had a chance to try these and other treats, handmade by chocolatier Joan Coukos, simply ask for a taste the next time you are at the Deli. Our eyes will light up.

Thanks for Joan and Bohdan for a wonderful year — here's to many more ahead!

Best,

Chocolate Lady Duff