Truffle Tasting Results

Valentine's day is quickly approaching. It's time to share the results of the truffle tasting we did last month so you have time to buy your sweetheart a little something! Recall the following photos. This time I'm disclosing who each chocolatier is. I'm also disclosing some key comments made about each. I guess by the time you get to the 5th one, you'll have a general idea of who the winner is.

The final ranking is provided at the end, but if you want the real deal, as in a real in depth report, you'll find it in Discover Paris' newsletter (click there!). They share all sorts of discovered pleasures about this big village. I highly recommend it.

So, without further adieu, here we go:

















Maker: La Maison du Chocolat
Comments:
Crunchy shell; ganache is a bit dry; exterior is dry ; taste is neutral; "good, but not exciting". (My own opinion of this truffle was very low. This surprised me greatly since I bought their truffles before & thought they were great. Granted, this was a few years ago. What happened?)
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Surprise, Guest entry: Made by Alison Johnson, pastry chef of Michelin star Restaurant Jean
Comments:
Very good! Lingers in the palette which I like. Taste: acidic start that evolves to a fruity/floral end. Firm, dense chocolate that is moist & smooth. "This is a mini dessert in my mouth; "I love this!".
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Maker: Jeff de Brugges.
Comments:
Strange shape. (No comment!)
Hard exterior & inside is too light (like frosting). It's imbalanced & not like a truffle (too airy). "Decent for its complexity, but for as big as it is, it lacks character".

















Cross cut of the Jeff de Brugges truffle. The inside is really too much like frosting, even if it doesn't look so obvious from the photo. The outside is way to hard...This combo is no good!
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Maker: Jean Charles Rochoux
Comments:
Square & soft. Temperature is on the cool side. Exterior melts at your touch. Texture is extremely soft. It melts in your mouth immediately. Taste is nice, dark, rich. "The size is perfect for having after a meal, with an espresso....where you could just pop one in your mouth & enjoy it immensely without feeling like you're over-indulging". I like this shape - it's very modern! Surprisingly "untruffle-like in shape, but it's fun!"
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Maker: Wiess, distributed by Mococha on rue Mouffetard
Comments:
Shaped like gumdrops! Dense, dark interior. Light colored cocoa on the outside. Sweet chocolate taste at first, and then a cinnamon tone that lingers. Very good.
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Finally, here is how the chocolate stacks up (from most preferred to least preferred):

1) Jean-Charles Rochoux (16, rue d'assas, 75006) - go there & you won't be disappointed. This is true artisan chocolate making. A real treat.

2) Pastry Chef Alison Johnson (of Restaurant Jean, 8, rue Saint Lazarre, 75009) - a close 2nd by only a smidgen. Go to where she works...you'll love all of her pastries, and if you're lucky, she might just have chocolates on the menu.

3) Mococha/Weiss (89, rue Mouffetard, 75005) -- well worth the visit. A decent 3rd ranking. You shouldn't be disappointed with this chocolate shop.

4) La Maison du Chocolat (various addresses) - a surprising disappointment. Avoid, I say.

5) Jeff de Brugges (various addresses), who you might be surprised to know, is NOT from Brugges, but from France (with production in Belgium, or so I've been told). I didn't realize how industrialized this chocolate is because I had never tasted it before. Thought it had to be good....being from Brugges and all...(yep, I had been victim to its marketing.) Plus, the shops sure do look tempting... However, this was a big looser. Not even close to the rest. Better to not have any than to have this one. (Ouch. But, it's honestly how I feel about it. Sorry Jeff, if you even exist!)

There are lots of other chocolate shops out there....so there's plenty more for us to discover & to rank. Meanwhile, Happy Valentine's Day! And I'll leave you with this image of chocolaty treats, full of Valentine's sentiments.

Hand made by Alison Johnson

:/dma

Chocolate Truffle Tasting - Part 1

I was thrilled to be invited by Discover Paris! to a chocolate truffle tasting this past weekend. The people behind Discover Paris are Tom Reeves & Monique Wells, recent publishers of the book, Paris Insights - An Anthology.

They wanted to research different truffle makers for their upcoming February newsletter, just in time for Valentine's Day. I was more than happy to participate in such a difficult assignment!


Here's how it worked:

1) Discover Paris! collected "truffe nature" samples from five different chocolate shops in Paris. These are natural truffles, without any added flavorings such as alcohol, nuts, etc.

2) They assembled a few people around their table, including Pastry Chef Alison Johnson (of 1 Michelin star restaurant Jean), Michel Cloes (President of Chef Culinary Network), and myself.

3) The truffles arrived at the table, one at a time, identified only as Truffle A or Truffle B, C, etc. We privately commented on each truffle and rated it on appearance, touch, smell, taste, and mouth feel. We then compared notes & talked about our impressions. Finally, the scores were tallied up and a winner was announced.

Here are the truffles we tasted:

Truffle A

Truffle B

Truffle C

Truffle D

Truffle E

Unfortunately, I can't disclose the conclusions yet, because in all fairness, it is Discover Paris! who deserves those honors! However, I can share a few thoughts:

1. Side-be-side comparisons have a way of highlighting a flaw that might otherwise be less noticeable. It is perhaps for this reason that a well known chocolatier disappointed me so much. Either that, or they've changed their recipe (admittedly it's been 2 years ago since I last bought from them...).
   
2. No matter how many different people you have tasting something, everyone is going to have their own opinion!! That's the nature of something like cooking or pastry or chocolate making....these are highly subjective professions!
3. Despite these differences, a trend could be found.
4. There was a surprise entry in this tasting....it turned out to be quite the highlight of the event for me!

Well, that's all I can say for the moment. Look for Part 2 of this posting in early February. Until then, I wonder if you have any preliminary conclusions based on the photos alone? If so, please do share.

Thanks again, Discover Paris!, for hosting such an insightful & delicious event!


/ dma