Wesleyan Argus students got the scoop on what its like to do business selling chocolate. Below is the interview of Rob, Head of Tschudin Chocolates conducted by Hannah Lewis and Kristen Raddatz:
Students flocked around the “Tschudin Chocolates” table at the WSA Fair last week, which showcased owner Rob Tschudin’s ability to create delicious desserts. We sat down with Middletown’s own Willy Wonka to learn more about the art (or science) of chocolate making.
Argus: Why did you decide to open a chocolate shop in Middletown?
Rob Tschudin: I had no reason for opening a chocolate shop. I was working as a pastry chef, and when things started getting slow after Christmas, I decided to take a course in chocolate. I took the class, went and bought chocolate, but I couldn’t get anything to work. I suspected I had no idea what I was doing. So I took up an apprenticeship with the old shop owner here [and] three weeks later the owner offered me the opportunity to take over the shop. At first I wasn’t sure [if I was going to take over], but I decided it was put up or shut up time.
Argus: So, making chocolate is not as easy as one might think?
RT: Well, I’m much more comfortable than when I first started—I’m learning the art. It’s like firefighting. Your first time out on the job you learn to connect the hose. Your next step is lining to the second floor, and then cutting a hole in the roof. You gain experience and knowledge as you grow more comfortable with the subject matter.
Argus: When you’re not making chocolate, what do you do with your time?
RT: I have a split day—I’m working at my law practice while I get the chocolate shop going. Half of my time is at the practice, the other half at the shop. I’m also a firefighter—I work and teach classes.
Argus: How do you find time to do all of this?
RT: For me, it’s all about schedule juggling. I juggle things and try not to miss deadlines. I have a huge to-do list for life, law and shop.
Argus: How has business been so far?
RT: My main priority when we first opened was good quality chocolate. I knew our reputation would be made or broken [by this]. People like our quality, and we have a lot of repeat customers. I like interaction with people. It’s not just the chocolate but also the experience of being here. When we first opened, some skateboarders came and sat down at these tables, and I didn’t shoo them away. I invited them in and built them a chocolate skateboard.
Argus: What are your plans for the future?
RT: My primary goal is to build on the support we’ve been receiving. I want to develop our Wesleyan relationship. I already have a Wesleyan student working for me—Diana Hubbell [’10].
Hubbell: What is your favorite chocolate?
RT: I love the chocolate-dipped marshmallows. We make our own marshmallows using honey, and they’re dipped in either French milk chocolate or dark chocolate. I also like the Boriqua Bars, which are filled with marshmallow, caramel (which is also home-made), candied orange peel and fresh-roasted almonds. And Guerilla Bars (which are a mixture of everything that is leftover) are perfect for college students. There are 16 squares for $15 dollars, so everyone can pitch in a dollar and buy them together.
Hubbell: Anything in particular you want kids from Wes to know?
RT: If you want to learn about science, come down here. You can learn about the chemistry and physics of chocolate and sugar—for example, there are six different crystal stages for sugar. You have to achieve a certain stage to make it possible for chocolate to stay dry and not liquefy until it hits your mouth. Cocoa butter helps drive that equation.
Hubbell: Maybe sometime in the future you could be a Visiting Professor of Science for Wes, and teach a class on “The Chemistry of Chocolate”?
RT: Sure, why not?
Archive for the ‘Gourmet Chocolate’ Category
The Chocolate Biz: Interview with Tschudin Chocolates
Monday, September 28th, 2009Venezuelan Chocolate Provokes Dirty Power-Play
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
The New York Times reports that local thugs and global chocolate producers alike are eager to get their hands on Venezuelan cacao:
Kai Rosenberg acknowledges that he might be a little insane. He owns a cacao plantation in this swath of untamed cloud forest in northern Venezuela, where ocelots dart under towering saman trees and howler monkeys shriek at visitors.
So far this decade, squatters have tried to wrest control of his land, a fungus nearly wiped out his entire crop, government inspectors have solicited bribes and export officials have given him countless headaches with demands for a barrage of permits.
Even worse, intruders armed with machine guns broke into his house one night. In the struggle that ensued, he said, one shot him in the throat. Evacuated by helicopter, he recovered after six operations. But he went back to growing the Venezuelan cacao bean, the raw ingredient for chocolate coveted in Europe and the United States.
(more…)
Gourmet Chocolate from Costa Rica
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Cafe Brit boasts gourmet chocolate products from Costa Rica from dark chocolate covered guava to white chocolate covered lime jelly. Have a look… just don’t drool on your computer!
Not Willie Wonka But Willie Harcourt-Cooze
Monday, July 20th, 2009
There’s a new Willie who’s making a big splash with chocolate. The following excerpt is from The Times:
Remember Willie Wonka, the king of the wondrous Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Well, meet a real life Willie — and he’s nearly as odd.
One of the world’s last great eccentrics, Willie Harcourt-Cooze — for whom chocolate is such a passion he bathes in the stuff (for the camera and his publicity shot, anyway) — is going to convince you in just four episodes that chocolate is good for you.
He claims most chocolate is nearly half sugar while his has healthy properties. He is so obsessed that he has his own Venezuelan cacao plantation and his own factory in Devon, England. From the raw cacao to delicious bars , Harcourt-Cooze believes that the product can be used and eaten every day…
His new series shows him at work from reaping the cocoa beans, taking them back to Britain to his chocolate factory, getting the machine to smooth the chocolate, making the mixture into bars and marketing it. His dream is to make the world’s best chocolate and to cook with it in every course from soup to puddings. He is such an odd character, though, that he hasn’t got rich trying. Maybe he’ll make a mint from television.
Click here to read the entire article.
Cold-Pressed Chocolate with More Antioxidants
Monday, July 20th, 2009
A new, patented cold-pressed method for producing chocolate reportedly offers a healthier alternative to chocolate-lovers. The excerpt below is from the Brazil Times:
An area resident may have the answer for chocolate lovers seeking a healthy alternative to products shelled out at local food marts.
Amy Jensen, Brazil, recently became heavily involved with the distribution of Xocai Healthy Chocolate, a 4-year-old company based in Reno, Nev…
The company produces a healthy dark chocolate product free of preservatives and with high levels of antioxidants…
According to Jensen, what makes her company product so health friendly is their patented cold-processed system that helps maintain high antioxidant levels, which are generally lost in the chocolate making process when the product becomes heated.
Jensen said Xocai chocolate, which isn’t heated, contains no preservatives or processed sugar.
She also said research provided to her stating the cacao bean and the acai berry, both prominent in her product, are two of the highest antioxidant superfoods in the world.
Xocai the company has been seeing solid expansion since its inception four years ago.
It was founded by Andrew and Jeanette Brooks. The company has 146,000 distributors in 10 countries…
Click here to read the entire article.
The Man Behind Brenner Chocolates
Monday, July 20th, 2009
A wonderful profile piece about chocolatier Max Brenner from theage.com.au:
“LIFE is like a box of chocolates,” Forrest Gump famously claimed, and for chocolate master Max Brenner, never were truer words spoken. Brenner believes his life mirrors the wonderfully varied incarnations of the sweet dark stuff.
“There is everything about chocolate that is identical to my life,” he says in his accented English. “On the one hand, it can be elegant and delicate, and on the other sensual and wild. I’m exactly like this. Some days I wake up and all I want is to be wild and crazy…”
While he enthuses about many of the products on sale at his cafes – chocolate pizzas, souffles and a new spa range – Brenner has a special fondness for the Belgium waffles that are so far exclusive to his Australian outlets…
Born in Israel 41 years ago, Brenner’s path to becoming a full-time chocolate creator and the force behind about 25 stores worldwide perfectly follows John Lennon’s claim that “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.
“My dream was to be a writer,” Brenner says. “After I finished my military service I needed to find a job to support myself while I wrote, and I did a course as a pastry chef. It was easy to get ahead in food if you’re willing to work cheap. And then I found chocolate.”
Working as an apprentice in Paris, Brenner met well-known chocolatier Michel Chaudun and convinced the maestro to take him on. On his return to Israel he opened a small chocolate shop, thinking it would leave him plenty of time to write. But as the popularity of his wares grew, the time to write shrank. Brenner found his dream of becoming a writer being replaced by dreams about chocolate.
“I think really I am still writing,” he muses. “It’s a beautiful 3D book all about chocolate…”
Click here to read the entire article.
Click here to read about the opening of the 23rd Max Brenner store in Philadelphia.
Chocolate for the Body
Saturday, July 18th, 2009
Ever dreamed of bathing in chocolate? You can with Coco-Zen‘s new line of Chocolate Body Treats. Examiner.com reports that Coco-Zen is a new company specializing in gourmet, Fair Trade chocolates. Its line of Chocolate Body Treats are reported to be all natural and made from organic and Fair Trade Certified™ ingredients. The new line includes: Chocolate Lotion in Chocolate Milkshake, Chocolate Salt Scrub in Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Lip Balm in Chocolate Mint Bliss, Chocolate Edible Lip Scrub in Chocolate Brown Sugar.
So, where did this all begin? A full line of truffles and chocolate body products, Coco-Zen was founded when new mother and admitted chocoholic, Joyce Kushner, decided to take a break from retail marketing to stay at home with her newborn son. After experimenting with different recipes in the kitchen she started Coco-Zen and happily left the corporate world behind. The philosophy that Joyce has employed throughout the company is that “all of our actions not only affect ourselves but also the world around us.” She says she stays true to that philosophy by using only organic and Fair Trade Certified™ chocolate in all Coco-Zen products. BTW, Joyce is also known for her fine chocolate truffles, which you eat, rather than use on your body.
Click here to find more information.