Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to Fantasy

Martin Christy, Raffaella Baruzzo, Paul Young

Everybody loves chocolate. It is a uniquely resonant food. Moving beyond the ubiquitous treat, chocolate is capable of vivid expression of plant, place, and person. The work of a new generation of technically-minded chocolatiers is focused on expanding the boundaries of its potential flavour in a variety of bars and more exotic creations.

Join us for a panel presentation and discussion with three of London's top chocolate specialists:

Martin Christy, editor and founder of the website seventy%.com, is one of the world's leading bean-to-bar chocolate experts. Ten years ago, a music producer trained in IT, Martin founded the one of the first websites to specialise in fine chocolate. This obsession took him to cacao-growing countries, put him in touch with chocolate makers and led him to an exploration of the connections between these worlds. He says, 'The really exciting thing is the journey of rediscovery that many chocolate makers are embarking on. Now with DNA evidence, we have the opportunity to discover tastes that no one has ever experienced before. We are reaching back to the original Mayan and Aztec cacao, back to days when refined chocolate as we know it did not exist. But now with our artisanal industrial techniques, we are creating a completely new world of flavour.'

Paul A. Young is a creative and inspirational chocolatier who is at the forefront of the British chocolate scene. His passion for his craft and his cutting edge creativity have won him numerous awards and have led to him being ranked amongst the World’s best chocolatiers. Paul now has 3 chocolateries in London, has published his first book, 'Adventures with Chocolate' which won the Best Chocolate Book in the World at the Gourmand Book Awards and regularly appears on television. Paul has a reputation as an experimental chocolatier, combining unusual ingredients and developing flavour combinations that are daring test always perfectly balanced. www.paulayoung.co.uk

Raffaella Baruzzo got her start in chocolate working for Chantal Coady at Rococo. She recently launched her own company, Baruzzo, whose mission is to bring to the UK an exclusive selection of fine Italian chocolates.

Tickets £10.