[pastry news / 甜點新聞] Valrhona launches two new cuvée chocolates Bali & Haïti / Valrhona 法芙娜推出兩款新產地巧克力Bali（巴里）與Haïti（海地）（中文請按「繼續閱讀」）
Got invited to Valrhona's event last Tuesday introducing its two new cuvée chocolates, Bali (68%) and Haïti (66%). I was really excited to meet Frédéric Bau, the head pastry chef and creative director at Valrhona, who is one of the best pastry chefs and chocolate specialists in the world. The event was held at Bistrot du Sommelier Philippe Faure-Brac, owned by Philippe Faure-Brac, who won the title of the best sommelier in the world in 1992. We were presented of course the two chocolates that were paired with different wines, finger food (savory), and pastries.
Since it was a collaboration between the top pastry chef and sommelier, you could imagine how exquisite the experience could be. Both of the two chocolates are very characteristic, but I personally prefer the Bali. Lightly acidic and round, it has an incredible fragrance of banana flambée and notes of caramel. Haïti is very chocolaty with beautiful nutty flavors and some hints of red fruits.
Pairing chocolates with savory food is not very familiar to me but I was really amazed with everything that we tasted that evening: roast chicken, roast mushrooms, steak, and foie gras. Their deliciousness was completely the next level, elevated by those two chocolates.
Mr. Bau has prepared 6 mini desserts for us and they were presented in the beautiful cave of the bistrot. The chocolate mousse (in fact a ganache montée) was definitely the best I've ever had. I think I'll just have to get his book to discover more secrets.
Although I didn't really had much wine because of my allergy to alcohol, It was really an extraordinary experience. Thanks so much to Valrhona! I'm sure the two chocolates would inspire many pastry chefs and chefs alike.
More information on the two chocolates: https://goo.gl/GPcvhL
法芙娜上週發表兩款新的產地黑巧克力「Bali」(巴里，68%)與「Haïti」（海地，66%），我應邀參加其中一場公關活動。這個活動由法芙娜的甜點主廚與創意總監Frédéric Bau（同時也是全球最佳甜點師與巧克力師之一）和曾經獲得全球最佳侍酒師的Philippe Faure-Brac合作，將這兩款巧克力設計應用在四款鹹點和六款甜點中，並與不同的酒互相搭配。
本來收到這個活動邀約時我有點猶豫，因為我一向不在晚上及照明不足的場所拍照、且對酒精過敏，不過可以參加難得的法芙娜新品發表、又能見到知名主廚還是非常動心。到了現場發現活動在地下室舉行，我又只帶了iPhone 6，心裡暗叫不妙，結果果然照片品質不佳事後也很難調整（只能跟大家說抱歉），但活動結束後真心覺得：「還好我有來！」
這兩款巧克力都是個性鮮明的黑巧克力，其中Bali有著不可思議的甜美與圓潤，和Muscat紅酒搭配，會在口中綻放出香甜的蘭姆酒烤香蕉味，非常適合搭配熱帶水果與香料；Haïti則有著堅果香氣與一些紅莓果酸調，與黑啤酒搭配會出現奇妙的烤蘑菇香氣。巧克力搭配鹹點雖然在一般場合較為少見，但是不少高級料理餐廳會使用，這兩款巧克力不管是與烤雞、牛排還是鵝肝搭配都非常美味，將這些食材完全提升到另外一個層次。甜點當然是不用說了，這次真的很幸運能品嚐到Bau主廚的巧克力甜點，有輕盈異常的巧克力慕斯（本體應該就是打發甘納許）、傳統巧克力慕斯、絲滑的巧克力凍、充滿奶油與巧克力香氣的巧克力小塔等，每一種都令人驚豔。我想我應該會找空去翻翻他的食譜書「Envies - Chocolat」，一定有很多值得學習的秘訣。
這兩款巧克力目前已經上市，不曉得台灣的廠商是不是有進，有開店的朋友們可以詢問看看！另外我剛發現法芙娜在台灣有代理進口，在新光三越信義新天地A4館B2有個櫃位，即使新品不見得有進，平常有空也可以去品嚐看看法芙娜其他不同產地與種類的高品質巧克力喔！
🍫 更多這兩款巧克力資訊（英文）：https://goo.gl/GPcvhL
👉🏻👉🏻 想更快看到我的巴黎近況與活動消息，記得追蹤Instagram @applespoon: https://www.instagram.com/applespoon
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