After almost 12 hours of sleeping (I can't even believe it myself...12?!?), I started my first full day of living in Saint-Dizier. The day started off with Origami. I taught ma petite fille, Louise, how to make a paper crane while speaking French, English and Spanish. It was quite entertaining! Spanish rolled into French and French into English, but we understood each other so the rest is history.
Ma papa, Jean-Louis and I picked Louise up from school and we went to his factory. Jean-Louis is a chocolatier, and is the co-owns his business with his brother, Henry. As soon as we stepped into the factory, I could smell the chocolate and I melted in the aroma. We walked through the storefront first and I saw just some of the 120 varieties Jean-Louis makes. I was a kid in a candy store! I didn't even want to touch or taste anything because it was all perfect - in appearance, arrangement. How could a sweet tooth like me possible choose just one piece of chocolate to taste?!? Jean-Louis offered for me to try anything and the first thing that caught my eye was a dark chocolate disk with nuts and raisins popping out of it, a Mendiant. Mendiants are made with one hazelnut, one almond, one pistachio and a few golden raisins atop a dark bittersweet chocolate disk about 1/2 a centimeter thick. It was heaven in my mouth!
Then, we were off to the wrapping area where their best selling chocolate are individually wrapped and packaged for shipment. Bouchon de champ or "corks" filled with different liquors are the best sellers and what the company is known for. They are wrapped in golden wrappers and resemble a tiny cork. What's amazing is the liquor inside is still a liquid and still as fresh as a bottle of champagne that's just been popped!
In the next room were the molding and coating belts. I felt like a queen as I walked with the owner around the factory, tasting whatever chocolate tickled my fancy and the employees all greeting me with an eager smile and a polite, "Bonjour." Past the five chocolate belts, was a huge room (new perhaps, because the tile looked fresh and the ceilings were high with sun roofs.) In this room, there were four bronze coating machines that twirled the chocolate round and round. It's at least a two step process because today what I saw was a nougatine center with a thin dark chocolate layer around the nougatine. To get the final product, they added sugar and whatever color they chose for the chocolate (in this case, a light caramel color). These little bits were named Oeufs de Grues or stork eggs, a regional specialty.
Finally, a prized gem, Capsules de liquor. These were insanely good and I'm not a fan of much liquor these days, but my my, what a rare commodity! They looked like blown glass that had been unpolished. It's a mixture of sugar, water and something else (my mind fails me) that's blended together at a certain temperature, then a liquor at a lower temperature is added and the whole mixture is poured into molds that sit in cornflour at 111 degrees Celsius so the mixture can crystallize. What a process! They didn't look edible, but as you crack the shell in your mouth, you have to tilt your head back and swallow the liquor so not to lose one bit. I was astonished at how the liquor did not harden inside the shell, and how it was so fresh (and strong - even the Champagne!) I am definitely going to try and bring these home as souvenirs :b
Upon our exit, Louise showed me the chocolate reserve where they made huge figures for Christmas out of chocolate. I saw a manger made of dark chocolate and it was still sturdy! Jean-Louis told me because they don't use any vegetable fat or oil the chocolate will not melt, and because water is used to make the chocolate there is no contamination or possibility of spoiled, rancid chocolate. Jean-Louis had a piece on his desk that was nearly 10 years old! Unbelievable!!!
I met my Uncle Henry, who handles the business side of the chocolate manufacturer. I hope to sit down and talk to him once my French is up to par. And right before we left, un peu homme, Jean-Louis's father-in-law - a jolly man, indeed.
Finally, before our trip home...Arikka testing out Jean-Louis's manual minivan! That's a train-wreck in itself as I type away, haha! Never in my life have I driven a manual car, but since it's part of my job to take Louise to school and pick her up, I'd better learn fast. Let's just say, demain (tomorrow) I will be on the road again (and don't worry I'm on deserted streets so I won't harm anyone!)
A demain!
;p
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