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Melting sweetness: Sinfully tempting
On World Chocolate Day, chefs express their love for chocolate and its versatility in both sweet and savory dishes. They discuss their favorite types of chocolate and share recipes for chocolate fusion dishes.
As long as there is chocolate, there will be happiness,” said award-winning author-actor Wayne Gerard Trotman.
That saying stands true for chocolate lovers across the world and chefs who use it to express their love for food. On World Chocolate Day today (July 7), we talked to many chefs to elicit their views on their love for the dark temptation.
Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor says, “For me, chocolate is pure love which is cherished by people across age groups. For chefs, it’s one ingredient on which you can work in various forms. Its origin is not Indian but has become an integral part of mainstream food.”
His personal choice is European and Japanese chocolates. “I love the chocolates which are available in small shops in Belgium. My kind is melt-in-mouth chocolate which is not too sweet nor too dark and its texture is silky.”
On the viral chocolate fusion dishes making news, Kapoor says, “Fusion is good but not confusion. We need to see if the fusion is making the dish better... zabardasti nahi hona chhaiye. ”
He recalls making Chocolate Golpappa Espresso Shots in New Zealand in 1989 and shared the recipe with us.
MasterChef India finalist and Lucknowite Sachin Khatwani says, “The best part is that it can be used as sweet as well as savoury. The basic ingredient, cocoa, is used in chocolate, cakes and other sweets but is also being paired with sea salt, chilly and other savoury ingredients. I love dark chocolate as it’s a very versatile ingredient. For birthdays of close ones, I prepare Salted Choco Chip Cookies and Chocolate Chilli-based Tarts. So, a lot can be done with chocolate by way of tempering. During my reality show journey, I learnt a lot about things we can do with chocolates.”
For Vikas Malik, primarily a bakery chef, chocolate is the highest form of artistic expression. “I love only couverture chocolate which melts in the mouth and is very different from the ones we eat in packs. It’s costly so we use very less in India but I learnt about it during my stint in the US. I have introduced it in Danbro by Mr Brown and people are now slowly opening up.”
Chef Dhruv at Mashup Café says, “I personally love my chocolate with a crunch so for me truffle cake is pure love as it has all the elements of chocolate. On this special day, I will prepare Ultimate Rocher Truffle which is a basic truffle cake with a crunch of hazelnut and it’s made with three different chocolates which includes white, milk and dark chocolate.”
Lucknowite and pastry chef, Shantipriya Manna, who recently joined a resort in Maldives, loves his Coffee Crèmeux with moist almond Choco Cake. “It consists of 70% cocoa textures, coffee crèmeux and moist chocolate cake. This dessert stands out
Recipe: Choco Golgappa Espresso Shots
By Chef Sanjeev Kapoor
Ingredients
16-20 crisp golgappa puris
2 espresso shots
1 cup chopped dark chocolate
3 tablespoons fresh cream
1 teaspoon + ½ cup milk
5-6 chilled motichoor laddoos
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
Ice cubes as required
Method
1. Place the espresso shots in a coffee maker and collect the coffee in a cup.
2. Heat a small non-stick pan. Add the dark chocolate, cream and one teaspoon milk. Mix
well and cook till the chocolate melts.
3. Take the chilled laddoos in a bowl. Add two tablespoons of the chocolate mixture and
mix well.
4. Break a little portion of the puris from top.
5. Pour the espresso coffee in a shaker. Add the vanilla ice cream, two tablespoons
chocolate mixture, ice cubes and half cup milk. Close lid and shake well.
6. Pour into individual shot glasses. Fill the laddoo-chocolate mixture in the puris and place
them on the shot glasses.
7. Serve immediately.
