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| Bloggers' pic with Chef Lawrence Cheong |
I attended a Chocolate Demonstration by Chef Lawrence Cheong at Academy of Pastry and Bakery Arts in Makati. It was an interesting session that made me learn more about chocolate making. I learned from the best: Chef Lawrence is a 2015 World Pastry Cup Winner!
The Academy of Pastry and Bakery Arts Philippines offers full-time and part-time (weekend) programs. It's located at 4th floor Metro House Bldg., Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City. You may contact 0917-2039089 or visit: www.academyofpastryartsphilippines.com
Here's their post-event press release:
Academy of Pastry Arts Brings Asia’s Chocolate Prince
Twenty-seven year old Chef Lawrence Cheong Jun Bo started his career from a
humble bakery in Malaysia. With more than 10 years of experience in pastry and
baking for various prominent hotels under the mentorship of the industry’s Master
Chefs, he catapulted his career as Asia’s Chocolate Prince.
Early this year, he won the Coupe de la du Monde de Patisserie 2015 (World Pastry
Cup 2015 Lyon) held in France. Now, with the establishment of the Academy of
Pastry and Bakery Arts in the Philippines, Chef Lawrence will be teaching Filipinos
the techniques of a chocolate master. He is one of the many master chefs who come
to teach at the Academy, which recently opened at the 4th floor of the Metro House
Building in Gil Puyat, Makati.
During an event last Sept. 4, he shared some pointers on working with chocolates at
a truffle-making demonstration held in the Academy.
Seeds of happiness
Chocolate, he shares, is derived from the humble cacao beans of the Theobroma
cacao tree that grows in places near the Equator. These seeds of happiness are
covered with white pulp and grow inside a pod-like fruit.
Before the Europeans knew of its existence when the Spanish conquered Mexico in
the 16th Century, chocolate was a cold bitter beverage mixed of roasted, ground and
foamed cocoa called by South American Aztecs as xocolatl or bitter water.
In the middle of the 19th century, English Joseph Fry produced the first solid
chocolate that we know today. In 1875, Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter gave the
world milk chocolate by adding condensed milk to it.
So how is chocolate made? According to him, chocolate undergoes a complex
process before it turns into the heavenly food we are all familiar with. It all begins
with cocoa farmers cracking open the pods, scooping out the seeds, and eventually
fermenting and drying them.
These beans are shipped to factories, where they undergo cleaning, roasting and
grounding into a paste called chocolate liquor. Through manufacturers chocolate-
making pass a lengthy process that include pressing, rolling, mixing with sugar and
other ingredients, and heating and cooling to yield a delicious chocolate we’ve come
to love.
Selecting a chocolate
There are two categories of chocolate: real and compound. Real chocolate contains
cocoa butter, an expensive substance extracted from cocoa or cacao beans. Its
distinct nature requires it to undergo a special procedure during the melting
process called tempering. Compound chocolate, on the other hand, contains
vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter and tempering is not required. It’s affordable
and easier to use than real chocolate.
According to Chef Lawrence, there are three main types of chocolates: dark
chocolate, which mainly contains cocoa bean mass, cocoa butter, sugar, lecithin and
vanillin to enhance the flavor; milk chocolate, wherein a part of the dry components
of the cocoa are substituted with milk components; and white chocolate, which
undergoes the same process as dark and milk chocolate but does not make use of
cocoa bean mass or powder.
Among the three, he prefers to use dark chocolate, especially during competitions
because it has the “taste of real chocolate”. He also prefers to use Belgian chocolate
such as the Callebaut. “In choosing a chocolate, what’s important are the taste and
the texture,” he explains. Chocolate's taste and texture though are products of a
variety of cacao trees, where it was grown, and how it was processed (fermented,
dried, roasted, and tempered).
Although, he said, the type of chocolate that one should serve must depend on the
occasion.
Working with real chocolates
At the demonstration, Chef Lawrence emphasized the following:
When handling chocolate do not let it come in contact with water while
melting. Water droplets will cause it to turn hard or lumpy.
Keep track of its temperature to avoid over-heating. Otherwise, it will ruin
the taste and texture of the final output, which is the reason why he keeps a
thermometer while melting the chocolate in indirect heat or in short
intervals in a microwave.
Understand the relationship between temperature and crystallization.
Even a small amount of moisture from steam or a damp spoon can
contaminate chocolate and change its thickness.
Do not use a wooden spoon to stir chocolate, because it retains odor and
moisture, which will destroy the chocolate.
A good quality chocolate is dark brown, glossy, and makes a satisfying snap
when broken.
Poor quality chocolate is lighter in color, matte, and will crumble when
broken instead of snapping.
Tempering is the most critical part of making chocolate. Mistempered
chocolate will exhibit an unsightly white coating called fat bloom.
Chef Lawrence is a graduate of Food Science and Technology and Bakery in Taiwan.
He has worked in various prominent hotels in Malaysia such as One World Hotel,
Renaissance Hotel, Hotel Maya and Impiana KLCC Hotel.
He has an impressive credential that includes gold medals in chocolate showpiece
categories in the Culinaire Singapore Food and Hospitality Asia 2012 and Culinaire
Singapore Food and Hospitality Asia 2013.
Chef Lawrence is one of the many Master Chefs from across the world, who are
teaching at The Academy of Pastry and Bakery Arts Philippines. For the schedule of
short and full-time courses, visit our website academyofpastryartsphilippines.com
or contact the Academy at 0917-2039089 or 0947-7558979.
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