A lovely box of chocolates arrived at my door a few days ago. They were kindly sent to me by Laurent Rossi who is chocolatier at Chocololo.
Laurent’s chocolate passion began at the young age of ten whilst helping out at the patisserie of a family friend. He went on to learn his craft as chef in Michelin starred restaurants across the world whilst developing his chocolatier expertise.
Laurent’s collection of fine handmade chocolates are inspired by Provence where Laurent grew up and perfected by his chefs attention to detail and excellence.
Laurent is constantly searching for new ingredients to make chocolates using both classic and contemporary recipes and producing collections that change with the months.
The lovely box I was sent is the summer 2013 collection – Taste of Provence.
. There were 8 fine chocolates in the box and I thoroughly enjoyed trying them all. I certainly did not share these and waited until the kids were tucked up in bed. Anyway here are the chocolates I got.
Piment d’Espelette not too sure what this translates to but had a little white dot on the top with 33% grand cru chocolate from Madagascar and underlying caramel notes. Tasted delicious and had a slightly spicy edge to it.
Francoise de Champagne named after Laurents mother Francoise. Champagne mixed with 66 % grand cru Caribbean chocolate tasted creamy and lovely.
Salted Caramel was one of my favourites. I’m not too sure what it is about this amazing blend of saltiness with caramel that I like but it’s. very unusual amazing flavour that blends so well I think. The taste is amazing.
Lemon Thyme has a pattern on top of a white T with three dots. 62% dark chocolate and home grown lemon thyme to give a lovely summer taste.
Lavender made with the finest Provençal lavender, a fine smooth ganache tastes lovely and sweet.
Basil Unfortunatly this wasn’t a favourite of mine but everyone has different tastes. It’s a basil infusion blended with white chocolate and copper powder. A very unusual taste that wasn’t quite for me.
CotΓͺ de Provence 62% chocolate blended with wine. This one was lovely. Fruity and a strong chocolate taste.
Olive Noir Black olives with white chocolate. I didn’t think I would like this but I was wrong this was one of my favourites too and tasted heavenly . I loved every mouthful of it.
I really enjoyed trying my chocolates. They tasted lovely and were very well made. Well presented too in a nice gift box with detailed descriptions of every one too.
Laurent is currently in the process of finalising his Christmas collection. The theme is Woodland Christmas and will feature chocolates and caramels made with nuts, berries, orange, lemons, chocolate slabs and a very unusual blend of mushrooms- I can’t quite imagine how that would taste tho based on the chocolates I tried I’m sure it will taste just as good if not better. The Christmas range is due to be launched in October at the Salon du Chocolate in Earls Court / London.
To find out more about Laurent and his chocolates visit http://chocololo.com/.