Michel Cluizel – Chocolatier Extraordinaire

Patrick Skene Catling wrote in his book The Chocolate Touch: “Other things are just food. But chocolate’s chocolate.”  However, as all true chocolate lovers know, not all chocolates are created equal. There are chocolates and then there are CHOCOLATES!

A partial view of the 5th Avenue store…

Nestled in the midst of the sparkling glittering bejeweled jungle known as the diamond district; sits a truly priceless holding. Enter the rich, luxurious, intimately French walnut interior of Michel Cluizel chocolatier extraordinaire (584 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. Adorning the shop are vitrines of some of the very finest chocolate made in the world. From cocoa bean beginning to the end of process, Michel Cluizel produces an array of kosher pareve chocolates with 85% and 99% cocoa content.

Jacques Dahan, who directs the company’s American operation

Through the unrelenting efforts of Jacques Dahan, the manager of the company’s American operation, Michel Cluizel  now produces a line of French pastries prepared fresh daily by an award winning French pastry chef.

Opera, Ganache, Napoleon…

We sampled the Napoleon, the chocolate ganache, a coffee éclair, an opera, and the chocolate crisp (which was my personal favorite). They all did what chocolate is meant to do but rarely accomplishes these days, they were mouth- watering explosions of delight. I was there with Geila Hocherman, author of Kosher Revolution, and Lévana Kirschenbaum, author of The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen and more. There is nothing as delightful as a group of girls sitting together and eating the most delicious chocolate and chatting about it. Meanwhile, CS was taping a conversation with Jacques Dahan, for his upcoming Wednesday BlogTalkRadio.com broadcast.

The above cappuccino was indescribably delicious, as were the macchiato and the espresso.

Please listen to The Kosher Scene’s two broadcasts this week:

• Monday, December 19th, 8:00pm, Eastern Time –The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts

On Monday evening you will hear a prerecorded conversation with the Dean of CKCA, Chef Avram Wiseman and Jesse Blonder, the school’s founder and director. On Wednesday evening, you’ll get to hear about our tasting at Michel Cluizel.

SYR

Banging The Drum Slowly

Mom turns 87 this year, ad meah v’esrim. Her pride and joy revolves around her children, grandchildren, home, and her Hungarian rooted cooking. She was the renowned master balabusta of the neighborhood. When she made a Kiddush, everyone came. Her kugels, kishka, holoptzes, homemade sweet cabbage strudel, rum ball cookies, rum mousse, napoleons, chestnut cakes, oron-golushkas, kokosh, markosh and diosh were devoured in minutes. Her challas stood tall and statuesquely braided.

I still remember how barbaric her scraping walls of the intestines looked, as she prepped them to be stuffed with gelinglach (lung, rice and lots of pepper), and those sweet breads looking like splattered brain matter, before she sautéed them with mushroom and onions, smelling heavenly- later to become one of my personal favorite delicacies. She made Jewish classics like p’tchah and roasts that melted in your mouth, brust-deckle, tzimmes, Hungarian goulash, and chicken paprikash, and homemade pickles, beets and ugorkashalata (cucumber salad). You name it  she could make it.

I don’t think she ever looked in a recipe book, she measured by eye and taste and what made innate sense to her. She had an uncanny sense for putting together ingredients be it for cooking or baking. Without knowing the chemistry of why she knew how and her tables were overflowing with amazing dishes. And I honestly can’t remember a time when something didn’t come out right, her consistency was truly remarkable. She used to raise thousands for Hadassah and UJA with her luncheons. I remember being floored when all these fancy clad high falutin American women came pouring into our house for her sit down dinner fund raisers. All cultural barriers disappeared as they sat and enjoyed the never ending multi course meals served on Herendi dishes and those blue or forest floral china with the gold accents that are so popular among the Hungarians. The lively chatter and coming together around delicious food in a homey environment was a fabulous success, each and every time. Her Shabbos and Yom Tov meals were no different. Relatives could call up a few hours before Shabbos to say they were coming, and two hours later between the freezer and adding to fresh dishes already on the stove a feastele was ready.

Mom lost cerebellar function close to twenty five years ago, and though it slowed her down, she found a way to continue cooking. It kept her sane, and proved each day that she was still the balebusta of the house. Nowadays, mom’s still at it. She makes the most delicious aromatic chicken soup; you would smell the parsley and dill welcoming the Shabbos malachim into our home every week. The freezer is till filled with plastic containers filled of her golden elixir, in case anybody gets hungry or needs a refuah.

This year she announced that she’s giving up baking. So this past Purim, I baked mom’s markosh and diosh and brought the loaves down and she prepared plates for her few surviving Hungarian friends and close neighbors. One of the delicacies mom served on Pessachwere her drum cookies. I’ve made a batch in her honor and lovingly share them with you now. I warn you, they are decadent and outrageous.

Drum cookies, addictive, delicious...

Drum Cookies

Yields 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 6 egg whites, at room temperature
• Pinch of cream of tartar (à la Levana) Or use Kosher for Passover baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. potato starch
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely ground nuts- preferably filberts or pecans, for rolling the cookie sandwich

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
2. Whip eggs with the cream of tartar and the salt until fluffy and shiny.
3. Gradually add the sugar, starch and vanilla, and continue whipping until very stiff peaks form.
4. Fold in the nuts gently, until thoroughly incorporated
5. Spoon half dollar dollops onto a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. you will get approximately 20 -24 drops.
6. Bake 30 minutes, or a little longer, until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown and the tops feel firm.
7. Set aside to cool

Cream Filling

Ingredients

• 1 stick margarine
• 1 cup real chocolate melted
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 tsp. instant coffee powder
• 2 tbsp. water

Directions

1. Whip the margarine in mixer, slowly add the chocolate and the rest of the ingredients.
2. Chill for an hour before filling.
3. Spoon about a tbsp. of filling onto cookie ( flat sides of cookie on outside), place another cookie on top and then roll in ground nuts.
4. Chill before serving.

Enjoy!

SYR