Paris Chocolate

Marché aux Chocolats, Paris 

© 2005 Victor Vianu

Chocolate is a traditional end of the year gift in France. No holiday meal ends without the presentation of a coffret of chocolates.  Robert Linxe, master chocolatier and founder of La Maison du Chocolat, was instrumental in releasing chocolate from the confines of the Christmas and Easter seasons.  Thanks to him, we now have access to the most exquisite chocolates year round. Now that the excesses of the holidays are behind us and our New Year’s resolutions are beginning to get a little fuzzy around the edges, it’s time to explore the pleasures of fine ganache and praliné and perhaps indulge in a few truffes.

The chocolates of Robert Linxe are truly among the finest in France and are worth seeking out at one of his Paris boutiques.  Chocolate appreciation classes are held intermittently at the François I shop.  The Parcours Initiatique tasting and discovery seminars are a treat.  I attended one course in which one of their cakes was deconstructed and each element presented – the genoise sponge cake, the mousse filling, the ganache.  It was magical.  My husband and I attended another course on serving chocolate with wine and tea.  We were most enamored with the pairing of the Maison du Chocolat’s Rigoletto and a glass of Toro Alba Don Pedro Ximenez Gran Riserva 1985.  My chocolate tastes run firmly to all noir, all ganache, but I was seduced by this combination of airy caramel mousse encased in a fine layer of milk chocolate and the sweet caramel notes of the Spanish sherry. 

The Maison du Chocolat offers cakes and pastries as well.  The Entremets Salvador with its layers of raspberry purée, cake and chocolate mousse is one of my favorites, along with the macaron au caramel au beurre salé, an addition to the enduring craze of all things salty caramel.  In the winter, you can enjoy several crus of hot chocolate and in the summer, several different takes on chocolate ice cream and sorbet.

You can find Maison du Chocolat in New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong, but in order to maintain quality control over these delicate chocolates, they are all manufactured in France and shipped overnight to their destinations.  However, I find that the freshness of the chocolates is not the same in New York as at the Paris boutiques.  Furthermore, I have not been totally satisfied with the freshness of the chocolates at the smaller Louvre boutique, or the airport where the chocolates are all pre-packaged.  To benefit from the full sensory experience, select your own chocolates at one of the Paris boutiques below.

La Maison du Chocolat, www.lamaisonduchocolat.com

The Paris boutiques are open Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

            -  52 rue François 1er, 8^th, M: FDR, Tel. 01 47 23 38 25

- 8 blvd de la Madeleine, 9^th, M: Madeleine, Tel. 01 47 42 86 52
(Closed on Sunday).

You can pick up a bottle of the Don PX Gran Riserva at the Lavinia shop just across the street at #3.

            - 19 ave de Sèvres, 6^th, M: Sèvres-Babylone, Tel. 01 45 44 20 40.

            Near the Bon Marché’s Grande Epicerie

            - 120 ave Victor Hugo, 16^th, M: Victor Hugo, Tel. 01 40 67 77 83

Marché aux Chocolats, Paris 

© 2005 Victor Vianu

 While La Maison du Chocolat may be the summit of le chocolat français, it’s not what I, or your budget, would call an everyday chocolate. The Comptoir du Cacao makes an original confection of flaky praline squares with either hazelnut, pistachio, salty caramel, raspberry or banana.  These chocolates have a homemade feel to them and are priced very reasonably for the quality. I have found their little wooden crates to be the perfect gift for friends and family who enjoy chocolate but do not appreciate the subtleties of more refined French chocolates.  While these chocolates are sold at the Grande Epicerie in Paris, and now at Zabar’s in New York, you’ll find peak freshness and flavor at the boutique. 
            Comptoir du Cacao 

www.comptoircacao.com

194 ave de Versailles, 16^th,
M: Porte de St. Cloud,
Tel. 01 42 24 09 58,
Tuesday to Saturday,  10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Chocolat Chapon is a regular at the annual Salon du Chocolat, held in Paris every year the last weekend in October. Patrice Chapon offers lovely liquid caramel filled chocolate disks, ganache-filled chocolates covered with a sea salt-flavored praline, strong black tea ganache, and almond paste-based delicacies. Both stores also have chocolate mousse bars where you can fill a 400g carton with one of four different mousses.

Chocolat Chapon, www.chocolat-chapon.com

- 69 rue du Bac, 7^th, Tel. 42 22 95 98.
Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

- 52 ave Mozart, 16^th, M: Ranelagh, Tel. 01 42 24 05 05.
            Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.,
            Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sunday 10:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Marché aux Chocolats, Paris 

© 2005 Victor Vianu

Charles Chocolatier makes chocolats à l’ancienne.  As there is no cream or butter in their products, all of their filled chocolates are pralinés.  These are chocolates for purists.  Favorites are the mendiants, chocolate disks topped with caramelized almonds, pistachios and dried fruits, the diamants noirs, bûches à l'ancienne – a fine praliné studded with nuts and rolled into a log to be served in thin slices, and chocolate covered cherries.  
Charles Chocolatier,  
www.charles-chocolatier.fr
15 rue Montorgueil, 1^st, Tel. 01 45 08 57 77.
Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.

Le Furet-Tanrade, off the beaten track in the 10^th arrondissement specializes in chocolate and fruit flavored jams (chocolate-pear, orange, banana, raspberry, etc.). The cubes of rose petal fruit paste flecked with bits of cocoa nibs are a revelation and Alain Furet’s chocolate éclairs have a loyal following.  
Le Furet-Tanrade, www.lefuret-tanrade.fr 
63 rue Chabrol, 10^th, M: Gare de l’Est, Tel. 01 47 70 48 34.

While I do bring chocolates back to San Diego, they are quite perishable.  To tide us over between trips, I  travel with 6 kg. of Guanaja Valrhona Chocolate, the brand traditionally used by Robert Linxe, purchased at G. Detou.  3 kilogram packages of Valrhona chocolate sell for approximately 40€ (less than $10/lb.) and this keeps us in Gâteau au Chocolat for some months at least (see recipe on separate page above right).
G. Detou, a play on words (‘J’ai de tout’ means 'I have a bit of everything') lives up to its name and you can find here many baking-related ingredients such as candied violets, as well as chocolates, roasted cocoa nibs, candied chestnuts, and teas among other things.

            G. Detou

58 rue de Tiquetonne, 2^nd, Tel. 01 42 36 54 57.
            Open Monday to Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Valrhona Chocolates www.valrhona.com

Marché aux Chocolats, Paris 

© 2005 Victor Vianu

Chocolate Vocabulary

le chocolat noir/au lait/blanc – dark/milk/white chocolate

un ballotin – a box

un coffret – a decorative box

un sachet – a small plastic bag or sachet. If you want a small sample of chocolates rather than investing in a coffret or ballotin, just ask for a plastic sachet of 100 –200 grams of chocolates that you select. 
une ganache – a smooth mixture of chocolate and butter and/or cream

le  praliné – paste made of ground caramelized or toasted nuts, often hazelnuts or almonds, and mixed with chocolate.

le cru – denotes the origin of the cocoa bean.  The most well-known cocoa crus are from Venezuela (Chuao), the Antilles (Le Trinité), Africa (Côte d’Ivoire), Asia (Ceylan).