Krak Chocolade – Papua New Guinea 70% Dark Chocolate

Description

Before he turned his hand to crafting chocolate, Mark Schimmel was a talented pastry chef. He trained in top 3* Michelin kitchens before eventually becoming head pastry chef in a 2* Michelin restaurant in The Netherlands. It was during this time that Mark developed a real passion for chocolate. He loved working with it as an ingredient, and he wanted to learn more. He wanted to understand the story behind the chocolate that arrived in his kitchens, ready for him to melt down and craft into spectacular creations. He was eager to discover the role of origin, and to understand how even the smallest change to a recipe could dramatically alter the flavour of a finished chocolate.

For this bar, Mark has sourced his beans from Papua New Guinea. Fermented beans dried in Papua New Guinea are often left to dry around open fires. This imbues them with a distinctive smokiness. Some makers choose to conche out this smokiness, while others elect to leave this note from origin in the finished bar. The Papuan bar from Krak is a rich, luscious bar with a creaminess. This texture suits the curl of smoke that rises from the Papuan beans to give a sweet smokey finish, reminiscent of smoked mesquite.