A Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Experience
Let James Beard Award-winning Pastry Chef Michael Laiskonis give you a complete, one-of-a-kind overview of the entire chocolate-making process. In this lecture/demonstration class, he will start with a discussion of the entire process, broadly covering agricultural aspects, post-harvest treatment, and a preview of the processing steps covered during the session. Roasting of beans will have begun by Chef Laiskonis at the beginning of the session, timed to finish at the end of the introduction. You'll then observe how to winnow the freshly roasted beans; grind the winnowed nibs into chocolate liquor; discuss the formulation and refining process; extract and sift the bean bath in the refiner; and temper and mold the finished chocolate into bars. Chef Laiskonis will close with a guided tasting of several chocolates of varying origin and formulation. Finished, prepackaged bars will be used to supplement what is produced during the session for you to take home.
