Port house Quinta do Noval has announced the finalists for its second chocolate matching competition.
Karl Berrie of Cocoa Red: finalist
This year’s entrants were invited to create chocolates to complement either the 2005 Quinta do Noval Late Bottled Vintage or 10 Year Old Tawny ports.
Judges from the trade organisation Academy of Chocolate chose 14 from 35 paper recipes.
‘I knew what I wanted to do fairly quickly,’ said finalist Melissa Paul of London-based chocolatier William Curley. ‘It’s not way off the map but it’s something we haven’t done here.’
Port was not a required ingredient.
‘The challenge is coming up with a filling that is complex but not overwhelming,’ said Szabad Zsolt of Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé in Budapest.
Winners will be chosen via blind tasting, alongside named ports, during the Academy of Chocolate conference at London’s RAC Pall Mall on 12 October.
Last year Laurent Couchaux, on behalf of London-based Rococo Chocolates, won the LBV Trophy, with a rainbow-striped raspberry and dark chocolate ganache, while the Tawny trophy went to Claire Gallagher for Bettys of Harrogate, for her gold-dusted Cru Sauvage ganache.
Finalists:
Quinta do Noval Late Bottled Vintage 2005 match:
Auberge du Chocolat, Gerards Cross (Jonathon Scott)
Artistry in Cocoa, Newmarket (Cheryl Brighty)
Baravelli’s, Conwy (Emma Baravelli)
Paul A Young, Islington, London (Jon Hogan)
Rozsavolgyi Csokolade, Budapest (Katalin Csiszar)
Theo Chocolate, Seattle (Audrey Lawrence)
William Curley, Twickenham (Alistair Birt)
Quinta do Noval 10 Year Old Tawny match:
Charlotte Flower Chocolates, Aberfeldy
Cocoa Red, Isle of Man (Karl Berrie)
Curiously Wicked, Morpeth (Krystyna Dodds)
Marasu Petit Fours, London (Gabi Kohler)
Paul A Young, Soho, London (Catherine Branch)
Rococo, London (Barry Johnson)
William Curley, Twickenham (Melissa Paul)
Written by Maggie Rosen
