Official website (English): https://www.internationalchocolateawards.com/
The International Chocolate Awards were launched in 2012 by members of the authoritative fine chocolate review website Seventy% and London's week-long celebration Chocolate Week. The competition aims to honor excellence in fine chocolate from around the world, at all stages from the cacao plantation to the chocolatier's kitchen.
In Japan, the fragrant of Kinmokusei hang in the air in early fall. For me, this is nostalgic aroma that opens a door to the memory of my childhood.
I combined Peruvian Chanchamayo (63%) with flavor like dried fruits and compote of apricot.
A washed coffee from Kenya Kainamui factory has nuance of acid taste like condensed Kyoho grape. I have combined this complex taste with milk chocolate (48%) of Peruvian Chanchamayo. This cacao have a feature of balmy tartness suggests dried plum and compote of Prune.You can enjoy gentle pleasant acidity and mellow spread taste.
This Panama Geisha coffee (by Natural method) harvested in the Panama Duncan farm is very precious. It has delicate complex flavor like cherry, lemonade, Jasmine and Lychee. I combine this coffee with Lychee and Peruvian Chanchamayo (63%) with dried fruits and compote of Prune.
I had an inspiration of this bonbon chocolat in a Sushi restaurant. There is a vinegar distillery run over 100Years in Miyazu, Kyoto on the Gulf of Wakasa.
This factory is the sole example that grows rice as base material for vinegar. Agrochemical-free rice is grown in the isolated terraced rice-fields. After the new rice harvest comes in, they ferment Japanese sake. To produce vinegar, the Japanese sake is fermented. Sake lees produced in this process is full of rice umami and rich taste. I got 3kinds of sake lees (a year aged, 4years aged and 10years aged). By aging them for a year, they increase more sweetness and umami. I have paired these fine sake lees (one year) with mild milk chocolate and a dark chocolate (64%) with flowery acid taste like red berry.
Rooibos is a herbal plant that grows only in South Africa. The Rooibos tea has the faint sweetness and refresh aftertaste. I chose Akajiso (mint family) that is used to dye umeboshi (pickled Ume) with refreshing flavor. Mild flavor of Rooibos and Akajiso combine with mellowness of milk chocolate will spread out into your mouth.
Kinpiragobo (braised burdock root and carrot in a sweet and salty sauce) is Japanese mom’s home cooking kind of dish. I was born in Kyoto and my mother’s made Kinpiragobo is always powdered Blackshichimi. From this image, I made praline of burdock from burdock powder and flakes and Blackshichimi (white sesame, chili pepper, Japanese pepper, green laver, poppy seeds, black sesame and hemp seed).To add beurre noisette(burnt butter), the flavor of burdock is emphasized and you can enjoy the rustic, earthy taste of burdock.
I combined bright fragrant and tartness of four fruits that representative of Amazonian fruits (Cupuasu, Passionfruit, Guava and Acerola) with elegant bitter taste of Matcha. In every bite, in the context of roast flavor of almond, sour taste and sweetness and bitter taste overlap one another.
Cupuasu is the family fruits of cacao and it is called “God’s fruit” and “large cacao “in the Amazon valley. When I visited to Colombia, province of Arhuacos, I had heard about their story about cacao and cupuasu. They told me when their village was invaded by Spanish people in 15th century; their ancestor had to run away to the mountain leave their belongings.
Ethiopian coffee “The Blue Nile “made by Natural process has powerful acid taste.
I extracted the Blue Nile with the Gasrovac (low pressure cooker) and blend into ganache of Venezuelan bitter chocolate (70%). For another layer, I put Guatemalan honey of coffee flower. You can enjoy time lag of coffee and the honey in your mouth.
White daikon radish is shredded into strips the dried in the sun.The drying process brings out the sweetness, and gains calcium, iron, vitamin B1 and vitamin B2.For us, Japanese, it is deeply familiar ingredient.
About 2 years ago, Mr. Martin Christy from ICA visited me and we went for dinner to a Japanese cuisine restaurant. As Mr. Christy is a vegan, the chef made a dish with dashi (broth) with kiriboshidaikon. Its deep, flavorful and nutritious taste gave me a vivid impression even though I, myself am not a vegan.
Besides, in another chance, I have encountered marvelous dashi in a Chinese restaurant and asked to the chef from “What ingredient you made this stock?” and the answer is kiriboshidaikon. We are apt to think kiriboshidaikon has no taste, and we need to season with soy sauce, but in fact, kiriboshidaikon itself has a powerful umami and high nutritive value.
In this bonbon chocolat, I mixed kiriboshidaikon into mild milk chocolate. Please enjoy the harmony of round umami and mellow taste.
In Vietnam, lotus tea that coaxed out lotus flower flavor was drunk as Royal tea for a long time. I have paired Raspberry with this tea that has pleasant flavor and delicate sweetness. The elegant acid taste and full of fruity aroma of raspberry and Vietnamese Chocolate’s flavor (spicy scent suggesting cinnamon and floral) led to the Oriental charm.
Kikaijima is one of the Satsunan Islands, classed with the Amami archipelago between Kyushu and Okinawa. It is a raised coral island and its soil is suitable for agriculture. In the Keraji settlement of this island, “Keraji-mikan” (Keraji-mandarin orange) is cultivated. This Keraji-mikan is ancient Japanese citrus fruit that emits an aromatic odor.
Keraji ranks first in the production of white sesame in Japan. White sesame from Keraji-Island is tiny grain and fragrant. They also have keraji-pepper, a mixed seasoning of Keraji-mikan’s zest and its juice, green chili and local sea salt. I caramelized this Keraji sesame with Keraji-pepper and made roast praline.
In Itoshima(south-western part of Japan), there is a soy sauce brewery which produce soy sauce made from local soybeans, flour, and sea salt from Genkai open sea. The soy sauce is prepared in the wood tub for two years. Moromi produced in this process is full of malted rice and yeast.
Once you have it in your mouth, you will surprise spread of umami. In addition, the salty taste is not sharp but very gentle and natural. I combined this fine moromi-mash with Costa Rican milk chocolate. It is pair wonderfully with Japanese fermented foods.
Takuan is pickled daikon radish. Japanese have eaten them from 17th century.
It is made by first hanging a daikon radish in the sun for a few weeks. Next, the daikon is placed in a pickling crock and covered with a mix of salt, rice bran, optionally sugar, daikon greens, kombu/Dry seaweed, and perhaps chili pepper and/or dried persimmon peels/even flowers for colouring.
The taste of Daikon is condensed and the action of rice malt enhances the flavor of Takuan.
In this chocolate, I made takuan to freeze dried and mixed into Praline.
In every bite, you can feel the sweet taste and umami.
Narazuke (radish pickled in sake lees) has a long history.
In the 8th century Japanese have already eaten Narazuke.
Narazuke are deep brown pickles. Daikon is soaked in sake lees in a process where they may cure for several years. As a result the pickles have a strong, pungent flavor with rich umami.
I mixed Narazuke flakes into Costa Rican milk chocolate.
Please enjoy the rich taste and umami in your mouth.
Black soybean flour is made from grinding roasted whole black soybean. I blend black soybean flour and azuki (red bean) into milky white chocolate. This tablet reminds us ‘Milk-kintoki’ is one of Kakigori (Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with condensed milk and sweetened red beans on top).
Although Matcha is well known in the world, do you know Gyokuro? I have created this tablet to introduce the charm of Gyokuro differ from Matcha.
Gyokuro is a type of shaded green tea from Japan. To make Gyokuro, when a few new sprouts are budding, the tea farm is covered with straw for about 20days. To limit the light leads to grow less astringency sensation and deep taste.
This time, a farmer from Kyoto brought me superfine Gyokuro that is never gone on sale. In this Gyokuro, we can find pronounced umami and mild sweetness. Even I as a Kyoto born person, this experience was sensation. To blend granular Gyokuro and tea leaves, you will enjoy the crispy texture and refreshing aftertaste.
Matcha is already well known all over the world and I think many people have had many times. But this matcha is for even I as a Kyoto born person, this experience was sensation. This Matcha only from shoots is never gone on sale. Its colour and the refreshing aroma are so juicy and full of fresh taste. I combined this matcha with Hazelnuts praline mixed with passion fruits.
In every bite, you can feel acid taste of passion fruits, rich aroma of Hazelnuts and refreshing flavor of matcha.
Originally, cacao is a family of southern fruit. I blend cacao fruit(cacao pulp) and cacao nib of Tumaco into chocolate(Tumaco 66%) . You will enjoy the three elements of cacao that sort of like Parents and children. Colombian Tumaco has powerful woody aroma and fragrant of citrus fruits, spice and caramel lap over each other.
Kanpyo (dried gourd shavings) is originally from North Africa to China through the Silk Road. To Osaka in Japan it arrived via China in the 8th century.
Interestingly, the origin of Kanpyo and “the cacao belt” have overlapped. In Sushi restaurant we can find “Kanpyo maki (Kanpyo roll)” a simple dish. Kanpyo is soaked in water for up to 24hours to soften, and then salted, boiled a number of times until very tender, and marinated in soy sauce and sugar.
People tend to think of Kanpyo as it has no taste, but in fact it has full of umami and we prepare stock from kanpyo. I asked the chef of Sushi restaurant that offers my favorite Kanpyo roll to boil Kanpyo for me and made it for flakes by under high pressure in a flash(1-3 seconds) while baked it over a temperature of 200 degrees.
Due to Maillard reaction, the flakes tasted like interesting caramel. To put them into Costa Rican milk chocolate, I dress flakes with Sicilian extra virgin oil. The oil from handpicked organically grown olive is so fruity and it has aftertaste like green apple add a delicate pungency.
