A Niche by Aneesh The Chocolatier
Last month we met The Chocolatier at The Cake & Bake Show, just as he was laying the foundations to his amazing dinosaur fossil sculpture - made completely from chocolate!
With the start of Chocolate Week 8th-14th October 2012 we caught up with The Chocolatier - Aneesh Popat and asked him about his chocolate creations, as well as his dinosaur sculpture, to find out a little bit more about the man behind the chocolates and the passion behind the man.
Chocolate is obviously your passion - what makes your chocolates different from those of other chocolatiers?
My chocolates are different because they are water based. Hence there is no cream, no butter, no eggs and no gelatine.
Why and can you tell the difference?
You can definitely tell the difference, because the taste is simply purer, better and does not leave stickiness on your palate normally experienced after having truffles. The water allows all the chocolate to do the speaking as water has no taste of its own - chocolate plus water equals chocolate.
What is your first memory of chocolate?
My first memory of proper chocolate is a Christmas origin selection from a fine chocolatiers. I read the information about the notes I was supposed to experience and I definitely did. I felt honoured almost, to be tasting something extracted from something as special as Theobroma Cacao.
Other than that…. It would have to be, aged four, licking out the caramel from "caramel barrels" at Christmas - yum!
For many people, chocolate is not chocolate without the milk. What can you say to convince them to try your chocolate?
I normally ask those who are reserved at first whether they like chocolate? "Yes" they answer. I then explain to them that if water is tasteless, then water and chocolate will taste of just chocolate - all I have gone on to do is soften the chocolate into a ganache using water instead of the cream! So other than the obvious advantageous health benefits - if you like chocolate then that's all you can taste - you are bound to love it!
There is milk in the milk and white chocolate of course but it is the fatty cream and butter which prevents a thorough taste experience and hence its exclusion.
You make free-from chocolate that will appeal to the many people who need to follow a restricted diet. Do you find that having an 'ingredient-free' produce can cause some people to be wary of trying your chocolate?
I am aware that "no this… no that…" can make people think "gosh it must be tasteless". However for the market I supply, people are clued on about chocolate.
You say you are self-taught - with a mathematical and scientific background - how does the science apply when creating chocolate flavour combinations?
I look at a variety of ingredients at any one time, analysing their compatibility based on the flavour components within them. Some of the combinations are most "interesting" and it's always nice to surprise the palate especially when the brain is expecting it to taste incompatible, when in actual fact - it works!
I am a Pure Mathematician - so I have been trained to think outside the box, to think in dimensions we do not experience. I feel this has helped to conceptualise in a much more efficient and effective way.
I guess that answers our next question - how do you create such 'out-there' flavour combinations and know they will work?
So as long as the ingredients share many flavour components they will work harmoniously. For instance dark chocolate goes well with balsamic vinegar - not something you would normally put together. However the analysis allows me to gauge what will work and secondly, be enticing.
The sculpture you completed for The Cake & Bake Show was amazing. How did you get started with the sculpture side of your business and are you again self-taught?
It's the reason I love chocolate so much - it is such a versatile ingredient. Sculpting is certainly a recently acquired hobby, I absolutely love it. I trained in the art of sculpting with chocolate with MOF Jean Francois Castagne, a living French legend and a teacher I cherish.
You offer a chocolate making experience for children for their birthday - do you cater for adult parties too?
Yes, we do parties for everybody. Everything is tailored and bespoke so we can do anything from hands on chocolate making sessions, to fine plated chocolate dessert demonstrations and chocolate with cocktail evenings.
Some indulgent chocolates can be divine but are sometimes a little too rich and leave a heavy after-taste. How does your chocolate differ?
Good quality chocolate is never heavy. Cream is heavy. Butter is heavy. The elimination of these ingredients gives you something that can really be tasted as it is not masked by anything. So at first there is high impact flavour and slowly as the chocolate melts this flavour develops, you can really experience the depth of the chocolate. I honestly believe the experience these chocolates provide is unique - in that it is indulgent, it is powerful, yet it is thoughtful to the palate and not heavy.
What is YOUR favourite flavour combination?
Banana and clove. Absolutely magical! Clove has this earthy mysterious depth to it. Again this combination is through analysing flavour components.
Your drinking chocolate combinations sound wonderful - especially the Cardamom and coffee, and the salted caramel - and the original. Actually who are we kidding - they all sound divine. Since they are all dairy and gluten free we note they can be added to water or milk. How well will they work with soya milk?
Well they work with any kind of milk. I myself drink them with either rice or almond milk and they work perfectly. Just to note, this October I am releasing my signature flavour in the drinking chocolate department - "Gold Dust" a blend of saffron, pistachio and cardamom.
Tell us a little more about who Aneesh Popat is - when he is not being The Chocolatier...
I love "action based philosophy": "the love and pursuit of practical knowledge". Philosophy is understanding science, understanding the world and introducing this knowledge into life to better the self. I love to be forced to internally question my understanding - essentially being inspired.
Without this element to my life I think everything would become dry and meaningless. Even my chocolate endeavours stem from wanting perfection in what I do and who I am. It is often thought that it is important to hold a prestigious title, I differ in that I think it is important to hold prestige in the self, based on your integrity to whatever it is you may do.
Ultimately life is for loving. Philosophy teaches you to love. At the end of the day a chocolate is a chocolate right? But what if somebody sacrificed something important to them and went out of their way to make this chocolate especially for you?
It now has value. It now provides you a means to experience love...
To find out more about The Chocolatier and to view the range visit www.the-chocolatier.co.uk