I was recently invited to a Callebaut Chocolate demo In Atlanta. The demo by Callebaut Chef Derrick Tu Tan Pho took place at Atlanta food in downtown Atlanta and was both informative and interesting. The Chef who showed a great amount of knowledge about chocolate displayed some great techniques for making ganache and demonstrated some great showpiece techniques. One of the more interesting things that were discussed was a major misconception about tempering using the seeding method. Chef asked the room “how much chocolate should he melt and how much should he add as seeding chocolate?’ Almost everyone answered melt 2/3 and seed with 1/3. This is where chef Pho pointed out that this is a common misconception and that what that really means is that you are seeding with 50% which is way too much. Chef recommended using about 30% meaning add about 300 grams of seed chocolate per 1000 grams of melted chocolate.
Chef then went into detail about his technique for making ganache. He recommends making ganache in a robot coupe. There are a few differences in his technique than others. First he heats the liquids and most of the remaining ingredients to 65C OR 149F. Another difference is that he recommends melting the butter as well. This differs from other people who have you add the butter at the end. This is usually to add to the texture by keeping the butter lighter. Chef then adds the hot liquid to the chocolate pistols that are in the robot coupe and lets the mixture site for a moment to allow some heat transfer to take place. He then processes the chocolate and is looking for a final temperature that is below 32C. This creates a tempered ganache with an improved shelf life and texture. In the particular ganache recipe that chef used for this particular demo which was a tea ganache in which he used tea from china which is picked by monkeys. Part of why he only heated the liquids to 65C is to avoid losing  any flavor by releasing the pheromones which dissipate at higher temperatures from the tea and to also keep from getting a bitter flavor. Chef Pho also touched on some basic rules for a balanced ganache which I summarized in the chart below.

GANACHE BALANCING

Based on 1000g of liquid

Liquid (cream, puree, juice etc...)	1000g
cocoa butter	400-450g
Butter	10-20%
Total sweetness	15%
Invert sugar	6-8%
Glycerin to trap free water	up to 2%

 
A few notes of interest

The water activity in his recipes is around .67
Invert sugar is added to invert the sugar crystals in the chocolate, which is not inverted in the chocolate making process.
When using acidic ingredients like passion fruit or lime invert sugar is not needed as the acid in the purees inverts the sugar naturally.
Glucose is used for texture and elasticity and softness and is calculated in the total sugar amount.

        The last part of the seminar was for teaching some techniques for chocolate showpieces. The chef demonstrated many techniques. He showed how to easily make twisted flower petals by cutting an entire sheet of acetate in a certain way. This makes many petals and makes assembling a flower for an amenity or showpiece a very quick process. He also demonstrated a much more time consuming technique using cold fusion chocolate. In this technique the chef rolled out many fine individual pieces and curved them around a ramekin. Then the chef assembles each one onto a cut out circle to create a flower (PHOTO BELOW). The chef also used some molds from the Chicago School of Mold Making. These molds are a great time savers and allowed the chef to create many different shapes without much extra effort. Using noodles (long food safe silicon strips) and some other artisan molds designed by Michael Joy, Chef Pho was able to easily to enhance the look of his showpieces.  Another interesting technique that chef Pho used is to make a very large rectangular mold out of a cake board by strategically cutting the box and taping the pieces together. This technique of both easy and money saving, since the cost of silicone molds of this large size can be cost prohibitive. Chef achieved some texture on the round support piece of his smaller piece by pouring chocolate into a rolled up piece of texture rubber office mat. The results of this piece are pictured below.
         Chef spent a great deal of time explaining the reasons behind doing certain things. Chef Pho is well informed and is very approachable and great at answering questions from people at all skill levels. If you have a chance a would recommend taking one of his classes at the Callebaut School. My favorite part of the seminar was his story about his training for the Frankfurt Culinary Olympics as part of the Canadian Team. His story was both entertaining and inspiring. I Hope to get the chef to share this story with Pastry Profiles at a future time.  Thanks Chef, for a great seminar.
By Paul Bodrogi CEPC

 

Tea Gancahe

275g Heavy Cream
50g glucose
30g tea
500g Lactee Barry Chocolate
100g Gianduja
150g Butter
Preparation

1. Heat the cream, glucose, butter and tea to 65C
2. Place the chocolate in a robot coupe.
3. Add the warmed liquids.
4. Process until below 32C.

About the Chef

Derrick Tu Tan Pho

Derrick Pho began his apprenticeship in his hometown of Montreal, where he completed numerous courses on sugar, chocolate and ice cream. In 1990, Derrick was awarded "Apprentice Chocolatier of the Year" and continued to excel in his field where in 1994 was recognized as one of the Ten Best Pastry Chefs in Montreal.
In 1994 Derrick began work at the Scarborough Golf and Country Club. His attention to details and his enthusiasm to teach soon led him to hold a position at George Brown College. While balancing his duties at the Scarborough Golf and Country Club, Derrick was also the Creator & Instructor of the Chocolate and Creative Dessert Classes. With an opportunity to introduce his desserts to the general public, Derrick accepted a manager position with Costco Canada in 1998.
From 2001 up to 2006, Derrick presided over the Niagara-on-the-Lake Vintage Inns Pastry Department; Derrick brought his formidable gifts to Niagara, creating the finest confections in the region.