Photo credit: internationalchocolateawards.com

I was invited to serve on the Grand Jury for Canada to select our country’s entries into The International Chocolate Awards (www.internationalchocolateawards.com) World Final to be held in London, England October 15-18, 2013. As a passionate long time student of dark chocolate I accepted and I really enjoyed this recent experience. The 20 separate categories included plain/origin bars of white, milk, and dark chocolate, flavoured bars, ganaches, pralines, truffles, caramels, bonbons, and spreads. Scorecards had four sections:

1. Taste (40%): Personal based on the flavours with sweet, salty, and bitter elements – sour and umami less involved.

2. Formulation (35%): Quality of ingredients and balance of the recipe.

3. Interpretation (15%): Style and original creativity.

4. Execution (10%): Texture, tempering, composition, and separation of ingredients

Impressed with the knowledge and conscientious attention to detail of everyone on the Grand Jury including Martin Christy (England), Monica Meschini (Italy), Aubrey Lindley & Jesse Manis (USA – both of www.cacaodrinkchocolate.com in Portland), David Mincey (www.cookculture.com), and Eagranie Yuh (www.thewelltemperedchocolatier.com – who has her Chronicle Books publication The Chocolate Tasting Kit coming out Spring 2014). Our spirited dialogue about the quality of the entries that had survived the earlier Selection Rounds of judging was really a stimulating delight to this former litigator. Discussion included debate on textures, melting feel, over roasting, uneven tempering, air gap between shell and filling, harmonious chocolate/filling match, visual beauty, and so much more. Like the fruit acidity of the grapes in judging wine the fruit acidity of the chocolate can be an important factor to consider in assessing overall balance. I also was fascinated by our palate cleanser of “soupy polenta” from Mulino Marino.

In the result we recommended 24 entries (8 gold, 5 silver, and 11 nominations) to go forward representing Canada in the approximately 170 World Final entries. Monitor the winners!

The awards were presented at Hodie Rondeau’s www.xoxolat.com (sho-sho-la) for the love of chocolate who even produce 100% edible chocolate shoes coming in many colours, designs and flavours. Vancouver’s Beta 5 (beta5.myshopify.com) collected 3 golds (and a silver) including a dark ganache with a subtle flavour of Fisherman’s Friend (yes the usually strong menthol lozenge), another with bay leaf, and an amazing white chocolate bar so delicious containing EVOO & crunchy pieces of candied black olives. Christophe Morel Chocolatier from Montreal (www.morelchocolatier.com) also did very well with his Palet Or pure Chuao and his “pecan pie”.

Maybe even harder more intense work than judging my usual plethora of wine and chef competitions but I really learned a lot that I can muse over while enjoying my daily addiction to quality dark chocolate.

What is your favourite chocolate?

We all know how frustrating it is to open that treasured bottle only to discover it is corked. Is there a solution?

For the last 10 years or so I have experimented with Saran Wrap but any plastic food wrap will do nicely. I have had mixed results but a few weeks ago I opened several hours before dinner at home a bottle of cellared 1996 Barbaresco Pora from the Produttori del Barbaresco. An excellent vintage with no rush to drink them up. This bottle however was badly corked on opening and decanting. I immediately tried this trick. Crumbled up quite a bit of plastic wrap into another wider mouthed decanter and swirled around the wine and the immersed plastic. Then stoppered the decanter and put in the frig for 2 hours. Brought it out and allowed it to warm up and decanted it back into the original decanter. Presto! It worked fantastically this time – best yet – as the TCA was absorbed by the plastic and it turned out to be an amazingly clean bottle of wine. Other wines for shorter periods of plastic exposure have brought mixed results. I have even boldly asked to try this procedure with expensive wine I brought to a restaurant that turned out to be corked. It always seems to help to a certain extent but not as perfectly as on this recent occasion. Good luck!

I recommend you try it. If you have already please let us know of your results. Any other ideas of trying to improve corked bottles of wine – other then switching to screw tops or sending it back for another wine in a restaurant?

By Paul Mannix [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Wine being served from kegs in restaurants has really taken off over the past couple years. The younger demographics seem to prefer this easy casual style which makes the wine service simpler – like ordering a draft beer. This system has been around for a while in Europe and more recently in many major US cities. Vancouver Urban Winery has developed a growing business (a first in Canada) providing bars, hotels, and restaurants with kegs just under 20 litres in size with pumps and nitrogen for serving local wines from British Columbia. They also bring in New Zealand sauvignon blanc and Argentina malbec. A local Italian restaurant brings in Prosecco served on tap!

I believe this is a good idea for wines best enjoyed fresh and not requiring any bottle age. Fun comparing the same wine in the keg and in the bottle. The concept is green and eco friendly saving on handling, bottles, corks or screw caps, capsules, labels, transportation costs and provides consistency of product. Reusable kegs helps. Last week at an Air Canada En Route Restaurant Awards event the only wine choices were a white, rose or red from 3 different wineries all on tap.

A few issues including some whites being stored too cold precipitating tartaric crystals in your glass but generally well done. Recommended for fresh vibrant aromatic whites and roses. Less convinced for powerful tannic young reds that need some bottle age. Works better for fruity fresh less tannic Beaujolais type reds served cooler than room temperature.

What is happening in your region with wines in keg on tap? Do you like this growing trend?

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It was at the height of the Cold War and nuclear energy was everywhere.  As numerous power plants were built across North America, the USS Nautilus became the world’s first submarine to be fueled by the atom.  Considered both the safest and cheapest way to electrify towns and cities, experts predicted that you would no longer have to meter homes due to nuclear power’s outrageously low costs.

Workers pose for a Gamma Irradiation Experiment.  Cans of food will be lowered
to canal bottom, where MTR fuel elements emit gamma radiation.

So during this period, it was only natural that atomic science crossed paths with the food we eat.  Starting in 1953, the United States Army along with scientists at MIT began testing out whether using specific dosages of ionizing radiation would slow down or possibly eliminate the spoilage of food by destroying certain bacteria in it.  And although the technology had existed for nearly half a century before, Cold War geography now made food preservation a top government priority.

As the Korean War winded down and the American military extended its footprint across the globe, the issue of keeping food fresh for soldiers and personnel on the front lines was vital.  If war broke out in Berlin, Budapest or Beirut, meals could be brought from the other side of the globe just as fresh as the day they were picked or cooked.  With irradiated food, expiry dates could go from days to months — even without refrigeration. Food storage would be revolutionized for military and civilians alike.

More than half a century later, many of the foods and spices we eat use irradiation.  And while consumers have raised concerns about the safety of irradiating food, often confusing it with being radioactive (it’s not), studies have showed that more and more people are opening up to this concept.  What’s your thoughts? Pro or con?

The international Radura logo, used to show a food has been treated with ionizing radiation.

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This week is the one year anniversary of my presentation at the Vancouver IWFS International Festival on September 13, 2012 of the annual Andre Simon Lecture. My topic was Andre L Simon Partners (1951) Revisited and celebrated the thoughtful ideas in his “Game of Wine & Food Match-Making” with some suggested current updates.

My lecture can be referenced at http://www.iwfs.org/assets/upload/images/2012_Andre_Simons_Partners_1951_Revisited_S_Cross.pdf.  This year’s Lecture will be delivered by my friend the knowledgeable revered Michael Broadbent on November 13, 2013 at the Society’s 80th anniversary celebrations in London, England. This will be an encore appearance for Michael as he presented the Andre Simon Lecture at Christie’s London back on October 18, 1971.

I continue to offer frequently my thoughts on some wine and food pairings that I enjoy. Here is one posted this week in Eat Magazine about some possible best wines to go with duck recipes: http://www.eatmagazine.ca/what-to-drink-with-that-duck. Your thoughts appreciated.

This wine and food game is a very personal subjective topic. I am sure you all have discovered some magical combinations that work particularly well for your palate. Please share them with us by posting a short comment.