All About Fine Chocolate by Cat Black

  • Top Ten of 2015

    January 2, 2016

    As we launch into a new year, I look back at my highlights of 2015.

    Truly scrumptious! Nuff said.

    Happy New Year All! I hope you are all enjoying a little time off, and have had a great end of 2015, with plenty of fine chocolate. As the year ends I am again looking back at a year of stunning chocolate, wonderful things to taste, new makers, new flavours, and a thriving and growing global scene. Things just get better year on year. The future's bright. Who knows what 2016 could bring! [caption id="attachment_3033" align="alignnone" width="480"]...

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  • Christmas Chocolates 2015

    December 1, 2015

    Here is my guide to your Christmas chocolate shopping.

    Paul A Young Christmas chocolates.

    It's the first day of advent and the season to be jolly kicks off. It is also, depending on your organisational skills, the season to be downright stressed. Christmas shopping is not always the easiest of (multi)tasks. Take some of the stress out of it by answering your first dilemma - what to buy? - with the answer CHOCOLATE! Then take the rest of it away by following my guide on what chocolate to buy. There you...

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  • Sarah Barber at Corinthia Hotel London

    November 17, 2015

    Ones of the UK’s top pastry chefs sat down with me to talk and taste.

    Sarah Barber at Corinthia London

    In late October I had a very important date at the Corinthia London Hotel. Pushing out of the cold through heavy double doors, past smartly clad doormen in their essential thick coats, is to enter another world. I was on Whitehall place, hardly slumming it, and the 1855 façade is elegant and somewhat stately. And inside there is a hush, a calm, an air of ease and luxury, that set the scene for what was...

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  • Chocolate Week – London 2015

    October 20, 2015

    What with Chocolate Week, The World Finals of The International Chocolate Awards and The Chocolate Show, last week was pretty key in the world of chocolate!

    Friis Holm nominees

    Last week was Chocolate Week. Up and down the country folks were coming over all chocolatey! There were special afternoon teas, pairings, offers and treats galore. It is a glorious annual festival to my favourite foodstuff. My Chocolate Week was dominated by judging the World Finals of The International Chocolate Awards. Our biggest ever competition, the finals had over 400 entries, all of whom had qualified by being medal winners at one of the 9 heats...

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  • Books etc

    September 22, 2015

    Just a little message to my readers, to tell you all what I have been up to.

    Sex & Drugs & Sausage Rolls - FACE Publications 2015

    Dear Readers, This month, an apology and an explanation. Firstly, I apologise for not having a feature article for you this month. You may have noticed that my posts, which have been regularly twice monthly over the years, have become monthly. I have been lucky enough this year to be involved in various exciting projects that have just not allowed me the time to write here more often. And I would rather give you a proper feature...

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  • Paris Master – Philippe Conticini of La Patisserie des Reves

    August 25, 2015

    It isn't every day you meet one of the world's greatest masters of pastry.

    Longchamp Patisserie des Reves

    On my way to meet Philippe Conticini, chef and co-founder of exceptional and innovative patisserie La Patisserie des Reves, I had certain things in mind. I knew that each time that he and his business partner Thierry Tessier open a new shop there is genuine excitement that only builds once people have tried his recipes. I knew that the London opening was hotly anticipated and the Marylebone High Street store is now a must-visit for...

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  • The Best of Italy – Il Bambi

    July 28, 2015

    It's summer time, ice cream beckons. You may as well head for the best there is.

    Gelato!

    On my chocolate tour of Tuscany and Piedmont I inevitably learnt about and tasted much that was not chocolate. The chocolatier and the pastry chef are members of the same family, and as such often live under the same sweet roof. And an essential part of any exploration of Italy’s sweet food culture is gelato. You cannot move for gelateria, and every Italian will swear blind that they know the very best in the city,...

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  • An Interview with Franck Morin of Chocolaterie A. Morin

    June 30, 2015

    Fine chocolate making that combines great experience, refinement, and the excitement of the new.

    Franck Morin

    Franck Morin is the youngest in a long line of fathers and sons to uphold the traditions of fine artisanal chocolate making at his family’s Chocolaterie Morin in Donzeres, France. This interview is a follow up to my interview with Arnaud Stengel of Erithaj, in which I wrote about how excited I was by these two young chocolate makers, their collaboration, and their delicious chocolate. Erithaj is brand new, with Morin’s experience behind it. Chocolaterie...

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Cat Black

Cat BlackI am a food writer, with special interest in, and huge enthusiasm for, chocolate! This blog is where I get to tell you about all the wonderful tastes, events, and people I come across in the world of chocolate.

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