Chocolate ♥ – Paul Young at Taste of London
Taste of London opened its doors yesterday for 4 days dedicated to your tastebuds.
THE place were most London foodie lovers will meet.
I resisted a long time before buying my ticket. £23.50 to get in. Once there, you still have to buy. Oh, and wait. You have to get the festical currency – the crown – which you will not be able to exchange back to crowns if you are left with any. I am left with the uncomfortable impression that they are doing quite a margin on bothe visitors and restaurants. The idea, financial issue apart, was quite clever. You will of course see and taste the new trends. Even better though is the selection of key restaurants presenting signature dishes – smaller portions meaning smaller prices. All this in Regent’s Park setting - wonderful on a sunny day but do bring your wellies if it is a rainy one.
Why did I go? I’m French. Good food is like a magnet to me.
But mostly to listen to Paul A Young, one of the most famous British chocolatiers. A guy who can make you fall in love with Marmite truffles when you originally are more hate it than a love it. His boutiques (the latest opened in Soho this week and is ever so buzy with customers) are a temple filled with pepper, lavender, chai, lemongrass, passionfruit… treats.
His specialty? Daring. Rose petal masala or Stilton and porto – you’re always in for a delicious surprise.
Like Trish Deseine, this sweet creator is close to his public – a simple and friendly approach, an excellent sense of humour and a wonderful way of teaching. His book, Adventures with chocolate, is meant for everyone. Are you more Cadbury than Vailrhona? No worry. He gently introduces you to basics, will make you drool in seconds, can convince you that good cacao is, yes, good for you and will give you tips to make the recipe successful while not spending 3 hours on a desert. he can also take you on a culinary safari: add a little salt to chocolate or why not add it to your salad dressing?
Quite an artist, really. He loves to play with textures too. He presented on Thursday a lovely twist to his famous brownies (voted the best in London by Time Out). To modernise them, he proposed a lemon, white chocolate, goats cheese and rosemary icing. Wow. The chery on the cake? Dig a small well and add a spoonful of basalmic caramelised syrup.
Rush to taste his Pimm’s chocolates too (whether at the Taste of London stand or in one of his boutiques). the crunchiness opens on the lightest chocolate mousse, concentrated in top quality cacao yet fragrant with the summer aperitif. The perfect cocktail-sweet to keep in your handbag for tough days…
10 Responses to “Chocolate ♥ – Paul Young at Taste of London”
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Alors je vote pour les truffes au Pimm’s plus que pour les Marmite ones … Le glaçage des brownies au chèvre, citron, romarin et chocolat blanc, c’est carrément tentant … avec le caramel balsamique … Va falloir que j’essaye ! ;o)
Bisous et bon week end
Hélène -
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Chocoralie says:
Chloe: yes, those are the Pimm’s ones – they are just asking to be devoured! *Hugs*
Hélène: Le cream cheese/le kiri marchent aussi dit-il. J’ai eu l’occasion de gouter des brownies ou la crème avait ete remplacee par du fromage de chevre, un tres beau moelleux et absolument pas le gout du fromage. A tester!
La souris: idem de ce cote, je suis du coup partie faire des pancakes aux pepites de chocolat pour compenser…
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Tout semble très bon Coralie, miam!
Bonne fête de pères demain. Bisous à Mathieu.
Et pour toi aussi…bien sûr. Ils sont papas grâce à nous, hi hi hi -
Paul is awesome and his rownies are delicious and now he is dangerously close to my work in soho
I agree with you about Taste of London though – I like the premise but dislike the crowns thing.
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Tu as bien résumé, il ose!!! Je serais curieuse de goûter tout ça car sur le papier j’avoue que je reste sceptique, moi qui ne suis pas fan du sucré-salé ;o)
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Elisa: merci, c’est tres vrai. Bonne fete de ton cote aussi!
Mostly about chocolate blog: how lucky! You have to resist: just one new flavour a day! Glad to know I’m not the only one thinking this about Taste of London. I probably will boycott it next year!
My little discoveries: il expliquait que son idee n’etait justement pas le sucre-sale mais d’adoucir le chocolat souvent trop sucre. A tester!
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J’avais envie d’y aller, et franchment cette histoire de sous et de couronnes ça m’a stopper net. J’irai voir Paul young à Soho…
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Meme s’il y a beaucoup de dégustations gratuites à l’intérieur… le plus intéressant reste payant. Et pas obligatoirement donné (bien que moins cher qu’en restaurant), puisqu’il faut, j’imagine rentabiliser la location de l’emplacement/l’investissement du stand. Il est peu de chance qu’il te reste des couronnes au final mais… je trouve cette étape franchement inutile voire carrément pénible pour visiteurs et exposants.
J’attends ton retour sur les délices de Paul A Young!
Ooooh… those truffles look amazing – are those the Pimm’s chocolates? Your description makes me want to put them on my list for my next trip! J’espere que tu vas bien, je pense souvent a toi!