January 5th, 2009
Dear Chocolate Connoisseur,
Spoiled after three months of well-spaced, food-focused holidays, we frantically scan the new page of our un-marked, mint-condition calendars for a reason to dress up, feast and have fun. But oh cruel January! Although your thirty-one days are marked with moments of happiness — Martin Luther King Jr.'s Day, Inauguration Day, and a few scattered birthdays of loved ones — you do not entice us to the market, the table or the cookie jar. Feeling a bit frantic, we restlessly flip ahead to February and March, where we are soothed by the promise of Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, and Purim! We smack our lips imagining (not all at once) chocolates, fried foods, cabbage and prune hamentaschen. All these things... just one or two calendar pages away!
And so courage! Courage friends! We can endure January not only with thoughts of good things soon to come, but also with regular doses of sweets and treats! Get a group of friends together and come to one of our upcoming tastings — Valrhona on January 13th, Zingerman's Gelato on January 28th and Askinosie Chocolate on February 5th. Or stop by the Next Door to try one of our six different cocoas and drinking chocolates this month! Snowed in? Don't want to shed your bathrobe? There's no reason you can't enjoy café-quality hot chocolate at home. I've included a recipe here that is easy and fast — soon instant cocoa will be a distant memory!
Wishing you only great things for 2009,
Chocolate Lady Duff
Chocolate Tastings
Valrhona Rendez-Vous
Tuesday, January 13th, 7-8 PM, Upstairs Next Door
$15 advance/$20 at the door
Valrhona is a juggernaut in the chocolate world. They produce thousands of tons of chocolate every year at their factory in France, yet despite their size they continue to maintain the highest level of quality. We will taste our way through a selection of blended, single-origin and single-estate offerings from Valrhona. If you've never been to a chocolate tasting before, this is a great place to start!
Proposed tasting list: Jivara Lait, Le Noir Amer, Manjari, Abinao, Ampamakia 2008, Gran Couva 2008
Chocolate Gelato Tasting
Wednesday, January 28th, 7-9 PM, Upstairs Next Door
$20 advance/$25 at the door
A spoonful of summer in the middle of winter! A chocolate-lovers paradise! Join Zingerman's gelatier Josh Miner and Deli Gelato Maiden Emily Hiber for a sneak-peek tasting of our seven chocolate gelato flavors, debuting for the rest of the world February 1st! Chocolate Balsamic Strawberry, Turtle, Rocky Ride, Chocolate Heat... these are flavors that the Creamery makes but once a year. But they are so good, that they're on our mind year-round. This tasting sold out last year, so sign up early!
Askinosie Chocolate Tasting
Thursday, February 5th, 7-9 PM, Upstairs Next Door
$30 advance/$35 at the door
Sign up by January 29th and you'll be entered to win one of Askinosie's Chalk-Late boxes! Just in time for Valentine's Day!
Here is your chance to meet a real-life chocolate maker! Shawn Askinosie of Askinosie Chocolate is a small, bean-to-bar chocolate maker, specializing in single-origin, sustainable sourced cacao. When Shawn visited the Deli last year, he got a standing ovation at the end of his tasting. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll love the chocolate! In addition to tasting his dark chocolate and white chocolate bars, we'll bake up some treats using his bulk chocolate and cocoa powder for you to try. And you just might be on hand for the debut of a very special new Zingerman's exclusive chocolate bar... something very different than you have ever seen or tasted before!
Six ways to drink hot chocolate at Zingerman's this month
It is the eternal question of the winter café-goer: Coffee or Hot chocolate. Caffeine or Cocoa. Personally, I gave up the fight long ago and indulge daily in several ounces of each. But even those of you with more willpower than me, who limit yourself to one toasty morning beverage, need not choose between the two. Just ask us to add a shot (or two) of our delicious, creamy espresso to any of these cocoas or drinking chocolates. It will be coffee. It will be chocolate. It will be the mocha of your dreams! Add a little whip cream or foam on top, and you are approaching perfection.
All of our drinks in the Next Door are made to order. We don't steam the milk, pull the shots or mix the drink until YOU say so. If you would prefer soymilk or skim milk in any of these drinks — just ask!
1. Zingerman's Hot Cocoa. Made with all natural, unsweetened cocoa powder from Scharffen Berger. Served with Calder Dairy milk and our homemade whipped cream or marshmallows (available in chocolate or vanilla!) Sweet, but not too sweet.
2. Mexican Hot Chocolate. We chop up our Zingerman's Exclusive Mexican Chocolate, mix it with cool water and then steam it until it is frothy, thick and fragrant. All the richness of a hot chocolate, with the lighter body of a hot tea!
3. Vosges Aztec Elixir Couture Cocoa. This cocoa is inspired by the recipes of the Aztecs. Dark chocolate, ancho and chipotle chilies, Mexican vanilla beans, cinnamon, and cornmeal to thicken. Steamed with our Calder Dairy milk and a splash of 1/2 and 1/2, this drink is silky and rich.
4. Ecuadorian Drinking Chocolate. 65% Vintage Plantations Ecuadorian chocolate, mixed in equal proportion with whole milk and steamed until warmed, but not hot. Just a few sips are all you will need of this one!
5. Costa Rican Drinking Chocolate. If we added any more chocolate to this recipe — it would be pudding! 75% Paris Flyer Costa Rican chocolate and whole milk, served in a demitasse. Sweet and smooth, this is perfect for your first serious drinking chocolate experience.
6. Spanish Drinking Chocolate. Breaking news! I've just received word that the Chocolate à la Taza Amargo from Enric Rovira has finally landed in the United States and is COMING SOON to the Deli. This is one of the most luscious & rich chocolates to ever be sipped from a demitasse! After you taste it you will agree: It was worth the wait.
A simple recipe for great homemade drinking chocolate
Put the Swiss Miss away! You treat yourself to great chocolate — it's time to treat yourself to great hot chocolate, too. Making a cup of rich, decadent hot chocolate at home is very, very easy. No mixes, powders or packets required. No fancy espresso machine or frothing tools. Just great chocolate and a little milk. The best thing about making hot chocolate at home is that you can choose your chocolate! Want to use Cluizel's Single-Estate Los Ancones? No one is stopping you! Curious to try one of the Pralus 75% bars as a drink? Go for it! Pick out five different bars and invite your friends over for a hot chocolate tasting!
Duff's Hot Chocolate
Time: 5-10 minutes
Servings: Half of a coffee mug
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup finely chopped/shaved chocolate
(a few pieces from a dark chocolate bar
of your choice — I love Cluizel and Pralus)
of your choice
- 1/2 cup milk, preferably whole
- A splash of 1/2 and 1/2
- Cocoa powder and confectioners sugar (optional)
Mix the milk, 1/2 and 1/2 and chocolate together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the chocolate melts and then continue whisking and agitating the mixture periodically as it heats. Remove the pan from the heat just as it begins to boil. Whisk the hot chocolate vigorously — as if whipping cream — for about 30 seconds, until the mixture is frothy and foamy. Pour the hot chocolate into a mug and whisk one more time in the cup (use the whisk like you're trying to start a fire) until the foam rises another 1/2 inch or so. Let the hot chocolate "rest" for a minute or two (it will thicken) and then taste. Add cocoa powder (for flavor) or confectioners sugar (for body) to your liking.
