It has been awhile since I have been able to update this, but thankfully it is because I was actually making chocolate! I am not just a slacker! I had a great opportunity thanks to Linda Gerloff at Let's Talk Wine (www.letstalkwine.net). I can't thank her enough for believing in what I do enough to schlepp my wares to a few people to taste. I also took the opportunity
to experiment with shipping the chocolates as
well.
I have received a few questions, so I will try to answer them here, in addition to explaining what it is exactly I did for this sample run.
This fall sample run included 6 flavors: hazelnut, pumpkin, chai, pomegranate, espresso and the ever popular marshmallow. Naming the chocolates was the most difficult process of this entire job. I wanted the names to reflect my love of Art Nouveau (which led to either cities with major Art Nouveau influence or artists), seems simple, but I wanted there also to be a connection between the flavor and the name. My many advisers kept saying that I was making the job too complicated, not everyone was going to make the same connection to the places or flavors that I did. To me though, if there was no connection, I didn't need to name them (which may have been
the easier road to take all along). So, here is my explanation for each of the flavors. The fall for me, is like plumping up your pillows and getting cozy, settling in for a nice nap. Aside from any signature chocolates, the flavors in these truffles are brought to us in the fall.
Espresso/Milan: The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Italy (flavor wise) is Espresso.
This flavor is a signature flavor, meaning it is really popular and not really seasonal.
Turin/Hazelnut: Again, this is
a flavor I came across frequently in Italy, whether it was Nutella,
or gelato hazelnuts are very common.
Tiffany/Pumkin: This I must admit, was a stretch. Pumpkins come from
all over, are used in sweet and savory foods across the globe. I live in Virginia and recently saw some pumpkins from upstate New York. L.C. Tiffany was one of a handful of artists that were important in the Art Nouveau movement here in the states, make sense??
Istanbul/Chai: I didn't realize that Art Nouveau made it quite this far east,
I love to learn these things. The chai flavor has been one of my most popular, so I knew I needed to include it. There are various traditional Turkish teas, and this tea included the warm flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, pepper and cloves.
Pomegranate/Rossetti: It was really difficult to link pomegranate to Art Nouveau for me! While I was doing some research, I came acrosse Dante Rossetti , an Englishman, he was a London born son of Italian immigrants and was among the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which the Art Nouveau movement favored. He has a painting called Poserpine, in which a woman is holding a pomegranate.
Last but definitely not least, Lyon/Marshmallow: It may be a slight exaggeration, but it seemed every cafe or patisserie that I was lucky enough to run into in France had
a marshmallow concoction of some kind. I once saw this beautiful glass jar with a long rope of marshmallow in it, and when it was served, it was cut with beautiful tongs and snippers, marshmallows are very french to me.
This is my third draft of this update, and it has been a few weeks since my samples were sent around. It is very discouraging to say that while the chocolates were very well received, I still have no orders. This might not be the best time, economically to be starting a business. . . we'll see!
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