HOMAGE TO “THE EGG”
Created by chef mlaiskonis …
Milk Chocolate Pot de Crème, Caramel Foam, Maple Syrup, Grain of Salt...we never set out to create a 'signature dish' but this one became iconic. Le Bernardin

I never really got to know Gael Greene that well, but there were a few times while working at Le Bernardin I’d get overwhelmed in day-to-day minutiae and I’d go back to her amazing 1986 review, to be reminded of the big picture and how special LB was/is.

insatiable-critic.com/Article.aspx?i…

Michael Laiskonis, former pastry chef at Le Bernardin, makes various chocolate bon bons in the latest episode of BA Handcrafted.

Next week we have Michael Laiskonis mlaiskonis in studio. He runs the Chocolate Lab for Institute of Culinary Education - NY & LA, in addition to the projects throughout the world pastry and confections.
So now is the time to ask any questions related to that field of cooking.

It’s the United Nations General Assembly week here in NYC and we were honored to be guests of Ambassador Paulauskas for a small gathering with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėdas and First Lady Diana Nausėdienė. And I brought chocolate - perhaps the best form of diplomacy…

One of my favorites - milk chocolate and star anise ganache - super simple, but a synergy that becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

#ICEChocolateLab

I wouldn’t say I’ve become obsessed, but I’ve been busy refining a base gummy candy formula to apply across a range of different fruit purées, all with no added coloring or flavoring…

In this line-up: Strawberry, Apricot-Bergamot, Pineapple, and Blackberry.

Les vergers Boiron

Leaning into autumn and the peak of fig season with variations on the classic Basque tart - a starring role is given to a fig jam, made with help from Les vergers Boiron and the purple Provençal varieties they source, offering a natural sugar content clocking in over 22° Brix.

Coffee break with a view, from the 35th floor of WTC 1.

Recording voiceover for a project hitting small screens near you soon…

There’s following Ari Melber in the normal course of things to get legal analysis on the day’s news (Hip-hop references an interesting bonus).

But then the chocolatier in me sees gets the added value of digging into the replies for some real-time market research.

Fascinating.

This is, oddly, kind of a genius approach to a no-machine ‘ice cream.’

Aeration and structure from the whipped cream. Built-in stabilizer from the gelatin in the marshmallow…

I almost want to try this.

Another notable day from a recent visit to Dominican Republic - meeting Yluminada at Cacao Florencio Ortega, a young entrepreneur pushing an old family business forward, replanting parts of the decades-old farm and investing in new post-harvest infrastructure.

A few mages from a visit to Zorzal Cacao near San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic in January 2022

Caught buzzing around in a ray of of sunshine near Gaspar Hernandez in northern Dominican Republic - tiny flies, or midges, that are the primary pollinators of cacao flowers.

Emptied pods replenish nutrients in the soil and provide habitat and breeding ground for the midges.

Cool, rare opportunity this week to get an up close, after-hours look at several pieces, including this 1300 year old Mesoamerican drinking vessel - part of the ‘In the Service of Chocolate’ lecture hosted by the The Metropolitan Museum of Art and FINE CACAO AND CHOCOLATE INSTITUTE

Visit this week to the storied Bachelor’s Hall Estate run by Desmond Jadusingh - whose efforts were instrumental toward putting Jamaican cocoa ‘back’ on the map within the last decade.

Factory session in Centeno, Trinidad - working with Mary, lead chocolate maker, on comparing some trials I made back in NYC with more test batches before we start a scaled up run this weekend.

Getting a better understanding this week of ‘Trinitario’ varieties, at origin - the past, present, and future potential.

TTFineCocoa.Co