Chocolatier

A Chocolatier (from the French ) manufactures chocolate products. He is a pastry chef or confectioner, specializing in chocolate and candy made ​​from chocolate. Chocolatiers craft work with pre-made chocolate mass and are therefore to be distinguished from industrial chocolate manufacturers.

In the food industry, it is in the large well-known chocolate brands mostly food technologists or engineers of Food Technology ( FH), which deal with development and advancement of chocolate products. For the industrial manufacture of chocolate and chocolate products, a three-year training for the profession has been established as a specialist of confectionery technology in Germany. The central College of the German Confectionery Industry (ZDS ) in Solingen offers further training and further education.

Education and training

Chocolatier is no separate training profession. Usually start chocolatiers as confectioners, but by a recognized school education and self-learning, anyone can become a chocolatier. Adequate training is necessary in order to obtain a job as a chocolatier or work as an independent master chocolatier can. A master chocolatier has perfected the craft art of working with chocolate, he creates beautifully designed and skillfully crafted works of art made ​​of chocolate. This requires years of experience and good background knowledge of confectionery and bakery products.

There are a variety of culinary schools and even special chocolate schools, such as the Ecole Chocolate in Canada or The Chocolate Academy of Callebaut with thirteen different schools in the world. The French Culinary Institute in New York City offers courses at for future chocolatiers.

To be Chocolatier, one must first learn how to make chocolate. In increasing levels of difficulty to learn the techniques for the creation of handmade works of art that must be palatable especially. Normally, the training starts with how to make chocolate from a variety of ingredients. If the trainees have learned how to make chocolate and begin to understand the physical and chemical aspects of chocolate, they can work with chocolate in many different application areas. Since chocolate is a versatile food, various courses provide knowledge on different techniques of processing of chocolate. Only if one is to all applications well trained chocolate or focused on a specific application, you are regarded as a chocolatier. Further training and courses can lead to a better understanding of the ingredients of chocolate and how to create admirable masterpieces from chocolate through sculpture.

Professional chocolatiers have knowledge in

• The History of Chocolate
• Modern techniques of processing and refinement
• The chemical properties of tastes and textures of chocolate
• Tempering, glazing, decorating and molding of chocolate
• Confectionery recipes with ganache, sugar syrup and / or fondant
• Business knowledge in the areas of marketing and production.

Competitions

The best of the chocolatiers compete in competitions such as the World Chocolate Masters, which was launched by French and Belgian chocolate manufacturers. The competition evaluates in four different categories, including modeled pralines, glazed by hand chocolates, gourmet chocolate desserts, small and creative chocolate showpieces. Some of the best chocolate makers of today are Naomi Mizuno from Japan, Francisco Torreblanca, Spanish master chocolatier, Pierre Marcolini from Belgium, Yvonnick Le Maux from France and Carmelo Sciampagna from Italy. These master chocolatiers are among the best in the world when it comes to designing and sculpting with chocolate.

Techniques

Tempering: Under the temperature control means the thermal and mechanical treatment of molten chocolate to affect the formation of the crystal structure of cocoa butter during cooling. This is necessary for example, to provide it with a shiny surface without fat bloom and a crisp mouthfeel. A chocolate maker needs to know how to temper chocolate is correct for different applications or desired properties. There are machines that can take over the tempering, but most chocolatiers use marble slabs and hand tools, to cool the chocolate and to work with her.

Casting: The casting is a design technique to mold chocolate on a fast repeatable manner. Liquid chocolate is poured into a mold ( Model) and hardens there.

Sculpture: sculpture is a form of three-dimensional craftsmanship and in the case of a chocolatier only chocolate is used to create the artwork. Sculpture, the use of molds and chocolate pieces and decorating with chocolate decorations include.