Ok, I admit it. It's been a while. (6 Months? Really?) There have been some big changes in the world of the Tasty Show since the summer. A quick rundown: since my last post, I wrapped things up with my boutique PR gig, packed up my stuff, moved across the country, set myself up in San Francisco, and started working with a tech PR firm called LaunchSquad.

And here we are in January 2009.

Much as I've been slacking in the blog department, I didn't waste any time bringing chocolate into the mix here at my new digs - the holidays put me in the spirit to introduce my fellow PR enthusiasts at LaunchSquad to my chocolate obsession. And behold - see below the menu for the very first chocoparty I've done for my own company (rather than other people's companies - which are good too, but, you know, different...) A momentous occasion, and a delicious one at that.

I created this menu based on the responses of a small group of friends during a last minute 'testing session' that we held in my little studio apartment two nights before my company chocoparty. I'm always amazed at the sheer range and intensity of the responses to the pairing menus I've presented. In any pairing, I find that it's less about pleasing everyone (which becomes more and more impossible as the group gets larger), and more about experimentation and discussion. Here is our full menu + a few of the tasting notes my co-workers jotted down on little notecards I handed out before our tasting:

Valrhona Jivara Lait 40% + Chimay: The Valrhona Jivara is a classic sweet milk - an excellent, relatively neutral place to start. The idea here was a simple pairing based on the sweetness of the chocolate and the sweet malts of the beer. This one got a pretty varied response, ranging from "Better separate!" to, "Although the Chimay on its own is a bit sweet for my palate, paired with the milk chocolate, I was better able to detect the subtler, maltier properties."

Michel Cluizel Mangaro Milk 50% + Anchor Steam Holiday Brew: This pairing was one of the most beloved of the afternoon. As for each element on its own, many loved the ultra creamy intensity that Michel Cluizel is so well-known for, and the beer, brewed right in San Francisco, got good reviews all around ("This beer is amazing!"). (On an unrelated note, one fellow taster offered an alternative non-chocolate pairing that she discovered last Christmas while she was, um, mildly intoxicated. If, by chance, you accidentally drop a candy cane into your Anchor Steam Holiday beer, don't fret. Just leave it there for a while, then drink and enjoy.)

Recchuiti Dark Milk 55% + Aventinus Eisboch: This pairing got some of the most contrasting responses of the six. Around half the people at LaunchSquad HATED the Eisboch. The other half LOVED it. People's written comments ranged from "Bark tasting" and "BAD" to the more middle ground, "pairing was a bit too sweet for my taste," to "Wow, this is fascinating!" And just a couple nights before, this pairing got rave reviews. Fascinating.

Amano 70% Madagascar + Westmalle Tripel: Quite different than all the others - subtlety was the theme in this pairing. Amano's Madagascar, with its soft, even notes of dried fruit and figs, needed a beer that wouldn't overpower. The Tripel is airy, lighter than the other beers in the pairing with a fruity note that mingled gently with the chocolate. A pretty popular pairing overall. One of my personal favorites.

Domori 70% Venezuela + Ommegang: I've been a raging fan of Domori's Madagascar bars in the past, but I have to admit that this particular Venezuela variety hit me like something of a bitter, rude awakening... it wasn't my favorite, nor that of most of my fellow tasters, that's for sure. I paired it with the ever honey sweetness of Belgian-style Ommegang Ale to bring the bitter notes down a notch, and would say that the pairing was relatively successful, though I did overhear a likening to "wet concrete." Ha.

TCHO 70% Ghana + Lindemans Raspberry Lambic: Always a classic. "The most delicious of deliciousness!" was one of my favorite comments of the afternoon. For the most part, you can't go wrong with raspberry and dark chocolate, and I often conclude my menus this way because it leaves my fellow tasters with a wholly pleasing sense of the experience. The chocolate in this pairing was most certainly one of the favored dark chocolates of the six we tried. It was one of the "beta" bars released by San Francisco's very own TCHO, one of the industry's newest chocolate-makers based not too far from my office.

My friend Irina has great taste in cake. For my birthday, she found the above caramel pear mousse torte at Athans, which wins the award for Best Place in Boston to Get a Birthday Cake for People Who Like Delicious Things. Then she put cute little candles that were wrapped in foil kind of like peanut butter cups.

OH and then there was this nice note on the cake box.

Beau-u-u-tiful!

This is a picture of Taza Chocolate's delicious, limited edition 75% chocolate bar that was made with cacao beans that came from a farming community in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. My bar, as you can see, was number 660 of the total 1,392 bars that were made.

Chiapas made it's own special mark on chocolate history in 1648. Here's the story: The ladies of Chiapas liked to indulge in their chocolate drinking several times a day, so much that they were having their maids bring it to church and serve it to them during sermons. The bishop didn't like that, and tried to stop them by excommunicating anyone who dared drink chocolate during church. They didn't like that, and sent him poisoned chocolate. Then he drank it and died! And so the saying went, "Beware the chocolate of Chiapas."

I learned about this story in this book, by Thomas Gage (who was there!) Pg 161.

After a month-long hiatus from The Tasty Show blog, I'm back with this tidbit I found on Boing Boing today. A fascinating inside look at TCHO Chocolate's curious chocolate laboratory. TCHO Chocolate founder Timothy Childs talks about his converted turkey ovens, how he plans to run the chocolate factory from his iPhone, and NASA's role in it all, among other things. Also, at 4:58 there is an awesome explanation of what is really happening when chocolate is tempered.

Note that this is the second part of a 3 part Boing Boing series. The first part can be viewed here.

As of right now, the adorable and delicious Tasty Show Chocolate Tasting Kit for Two is available online in the Tasty Boutique. I am totally thrilled.

A short blurb about the kit that's in the current issue of Stuff@Night Magazine says, "These are no kiddie-birthday-party treats, either: paired with adult beverages (Zemack suggests a fullbodied red wine or dark beer), the tasting makes for an excellent stay-at-home date night or gossipy evening with friends." Stuff@Night also has a great pic of this newly available 'chocolate board game' (of sorts).

The "Amendoa" from Athan's, featuring alternating layers of vanilla sponge cake and vanilla mousse finished with chantilly cream and toasted almonds. Both lovely and delicious. My dad liked it, which means that it was a good choice.

My dad's birthday is on Saturday. I am in search of an impossibly beautiful extraordinary birthday cake. The two layer classic + frosting & piped roses is cool... but isn't quite what I'm going for. That said, here are some of the excellent options that come to mind:

Athans Bakery: This bakery always has a wonderful selection of French-style cakes and tortes featuring various combinations of creams, mousses, fresh fruits, and other elements. I LOVE the cakes here. But for once, this isn't about me. Will my dad love them too?

Tatte Bakery: This bakery is all about sensuous tarts, some featuring really rich fillings of almonds, pecans, or cashews with caramel and others on the lighter side with fresh fruits likes kiwis or figs. Very lovely to look at. I'd consider a fig tart, which looks and sounds pretty delicious. But it's not really cake. But does that matter? I'm not sure.

Burdick Chocolate: There's really just one cake here that's birthday style. It's got a raspberry chocolate ganache and is definitely quality but I've had it before (more than once!) and so has the fam, and I feel that we're all ready to move on to other things.

Truly Jorg's Patisserie: The first time I heard of Truly Jorg's was a few years ago when I saw this cake in the Boston Globe, which totally blew me away. Who knew cakes could be all slanted like that?? That might be a little much for this occasion though... I'm less familiar with Truly Jorg's than I would like, but I do know that I really enjoyed the napoleon I had there several months ago, and that they have a wide array of visually stunning tortes, tarts, and cakes, and there is a vanilla orange cake that sounds really delicious...

Sweet Cheeks Cake Company: I already know that these cakes are not an option, because they need to be ordered in advance, and apparently, I'm a big procrastinator. When I looked at their list of flavors, I saw one called Mom's Classic Birthday Cake... but nothing for Dad. However, the Orange Celebration Cake could be a strong contender (it's all about the orange flavors, really). But these impossibly cute, colorful little cakes might appeal more to the ladies... just a hunch.

Which cake will win?

My adorable friend Ariel drew the cake pictured above on my Facebook page using the graffiti application. See the little teacup sitting next to it? Hard proof that cake is best enjoyed with tea.

It's 90 degrees in my house, my car is in the shop until tomorrow, and it's a little late to be waiting outside for a bus to the nearest ice cream place. I searched through my fridge to see what I have to make it myself. I found a carton of heavy whipping cream that was 90% empty. I just made ice cream out of about 2 ounces of heavy whipping cream, 3 ounces of whole milk, a teaspoon of sugar, and a couple drops of vanilla. Total yield was about 3 tablespoons of ice cream, not counting the stuff that was frozen to the ice cream maker bowl. Better than nothing.

Last night I led a beer + chocolate tasting workshop at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. Around 20 of us tested out various pairings of pure chocolates, chocolate desserts and artisanal beers. I'm sad that I forgot to take a photo of the glorious array of chocolate treats that we sampled - but all I can do now is post a picture of the fabulous drawing of a cow saying "moo" that one of the participants in the class drew next to "Valrhona Milk Chocolate" on the pairing menu.

Here is the pairing menu in its entirety:

Ommegang + Valrhona Jivara 40% Milk Chocolate

Aventinus Eisbock + Cafe Tasse Milk Chocolate

Guinness Extra Stout + Valrhona Manjari 60% Dark Chocolate

Guinness Extra Stout + Theo Madagascar 65% Dark Chocolate

Chimay Ale Premiere + Fran's Chocolate Smoked Salt Caramels

Ipswich Ale Oatmeal Stout + Kickass Chocolate Cupcake

Left Hand Milk Stout + Petsi Pies Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie

Lindemans Lambic Framboise + Taza 80% Dark Chocolate

A few of these pairings are old favorites, and several others were a little more experimental. I tested out most of the menu at a pre-tasting tasting two nights ago with my friends David, Dmitri, and Brett, who were kind enough to swing by my house late night and super last minute to offer up their tastebuds for some chocobeer!

This is a picture of one of the pretty display cases at Aroa Fine Chocolate, which features truffles and confections made with Venezuelan El Rey chocolate. Aroa opened recently in Boston's South End. My friend Christine and I popped in there yesterday to keep the whole Venezuela theme going after having lunch at the nearby Venezuelan lunchspot Orinoco.