So you’re starting in the world of chocolate.
Maybe you’ve just opened one of my free basics videos. Maybe you’ve made your first bonbon. Or maybe you’re considering selling your first chocolates!
No matter which category you fall under, here are my top tips for easing into chocolate.
1. Who you learn from matters
The quality of your teachers makes a world of difference in the chocolatier you become. Back when I started in pastry, it was relatively easy to know who the best pastry chefs and chocolatiers were. You’d look for classes with MOFs (Meilleurs Ouvriers de France); they would recommend books and other professionals whose work they also admired, and you would go to their classes. It was a simple and reliable cycle.
But today, with social media, it’s easy to assume that someone with lots of followers is the best professional out there without any concrete proof of their skill.
So if you’re looking for mentors who can properly guide you through the foundations of chocolate, I’d suggest doing a little bit of what I mentioned in the first paragraph. Look for books in Books for Chefs, browse a So Good magazine, visit École Valrhona or Chocolate Academy, or reach out to me. There you will find chefs who have been doing this for years, motivated by more than a few likes.
2. Foundations first, creativity later
Being creative is the end goal of working with chocolate, of course, but you can’t get there before mastering the foundations and without understanding why we do or don’t do certain things.
Before you attempt to pull a creative act, refer to step one. Learn from the best. Master the basics. Then you can start infusing the classics with your memories, your favorite dishes, your culture, a song, or a painting.
Translate who you are through your work. But just like with any good translation, you can’t do it if you don’t have a good command of the language in the first place or, in this case, of the techniques every chocolatier should know.
3. Define what you want to get out of chocolate and find your people!
Not everyone gets into chocolate for the same reasons. It can be the hobby that makes you your friend’s favorite. It can lead to you selling thousands of chocolates to supermarkets. Or it can also be something you do for the pleasure of seeing how sharp your pre-crystallization skills have gotten! There’s no point in pressuring yourself into one narrow definition of what it means to be a “good” chocolatier.
Whichever path you choose, however, I can’t recommend you enough to create a community around you. Collaborate with that coffee shop down the street, reach out to other professionals whose work you like, join that group of chocolate lovers who want to try different cocoa beans from the world! These networks are vital to building something meaningful without having to do it alone.
Personally, my colleagues and my students are the most rewarding aspect of my work, and the people you meet when you start in chocolate can be that for you, too.
-Melissa
*PS: Pre-crystallization is the foundation of any great chocolate product. If you want to learn more about this essential step, click here for my class!