A Bean-to-Bar Experience
Let James Beard Award-winning Pastry Chef Michael Laiskonis give you a complete, one-of-a-kind introduction and overview of the bean-to-bar chocolate-making process. In this lecture/demonstration class, he will start with a discussion of chocolate production, broadly covering agricultural aspects, post-harvest treatment, and a preview of the processing steps covered during the session. Students will observe each stage of production, from roasting of the cocoa beans, winnowing, and grinding the winnowed nibs into chocolate liquor, to refining, sifting, and final production of finished bars. Chef Laiskonis will close with a short guided tasting of several chocolates of varying origin and formulation. Students will leave the class with samples of the chocolate produced, plus an assortment of exclusive bars available only at ICE.
