Love for the Locals: JACEK Chocolate Couture

Tonight, chocoholics from all walks of life had the opportunity to take a peek behind-the-scenes of JACEK Chocolate Couture at their open house. JACEK's Cocoanista, Jacqueline Jacek opened the doors of the studio location in Sherwood Park this evening for all to witness and taste the bean-to-bar process first hand.

P and I jumped at the chance and headed east. I have to mention that before P introduced me to JACEK about 2 years ago when the shop on the 4th Street Promenade opened, I didn't really like chocolate. Turns out, I just hadn't tasted the real deal yet. Since that fateful day, JACEK has become my go-to chocolate shop, where I purchase chocolate for myself and ship some to my friends across the country. It is clear that Jacqueline pours her heart and soul into the product of combining her two joys; fashion and chocolate.

A few months ago, Jacqueline graced the crowd at Nerd Nite with her presence, where she gave a 20-minute run-down of the process of chocolate making in a talk entitled, Chocolate: Sweet truths, bitter myths, and tantalizing wonders. At the open house, we got to take our sweet time, literally every step of the way.

A storm may have been brewing outside, but another chocolatier storm was brewing inside this fine establishment.

The self-guided tour started with a bottle of water and some hand sanitizer! Don't worry - neither of those go into the chocolate. They just help us prepare for what's to come.

Crack open a cocoa pod, and out pour the cocoa beans!

After the cocoa beans are sorted and roasted, the bitter outer shells are removed to reveal the delectable gems that are cocoa nibs.

Behold! The result of 6 hours in cocoatown.

After 72 hours, the cocoa nibs become this glossy, magical goodness. It's wrapped and rests for about a week, and then it's ready to be transformed into one of the many confections that JACEK offers on the regular.

The tasting continues... samples of chocolate from cocoa beans of varying origins - the 90% and 70% Dominican Republic, 70% Colombia, 70% Peru, and 70% Venezuela (i.e. JACEK's fabric chocolate - the bases for the bean-to-bar products). Alike wine tastings, and apple picking farms, until you taste them one after the other, you don't really get the chance to pay attention to the different notes of fruitiness and richness. By far, the favourite for both P and I was the 90% Dominican Republic! It was very rich and intense in a very, very delicious way. 

Samples of fabric chocolate paired in ingeniously simple ways; the Venezuela with aged Gruyere de Comte cheese, the Dominican Republic whipped into a chocolate mousse topped with chocolate-coated wafer balls, and the Peru melded with scalded cream to make the perfect sipping chocolate.

The fabric line, "accessorized" - the Venezuela with Fleur de Sel, the Peru with Almonds, and the Dominican Republic with Rock Sugar. All 3 were amazing, but the Dominican Republic remained the front runner for P and I.

I came away from this open house, feeling even more knowledgeable about the process and passion that goes into JACEK Chocolate Couture. The moral of this story: if you haven't already, I highly recommend trying any one of JACEK's products. You can start off with JACEK's newest line from this summer, the Picnic Basket Collection! 

Left to right: Lemonade, Chocolate Dipped Strawberry, Citrus & Basil, Olive Oil & Balsamic, Carrot Caramel, Classic Truffle - 70% Dominican Republic. Photo from JACEK Chocolate Couture shop website.

Just beware... once you start, you might never stop.

-M