When it comes to GODIVA, “exquisite” is the only word that pops up in our minds. With more than 450 retail boutiques and shops all over the world, there’s no denying the fact Godiva brings the best of Belgium chocolates to the world.
Founded in Belgium 80 years ago, GODIVA has a rich history of making the top quality chocolate with a touch of sweet aroma. Having perfected the art of chocolate making, the Beijing-based Godiva Chef Philippe Daue was recently invited to conduct an exclusive chocolate school session with the members of media on August 13th.
Born in Belgium, the capital of chocolate, Chef Philippe is a fourth generation chef and the son of a famous Michelin 2-star chef in Belgium. The multilingual chef has previously worked as an Executive Pastry in several leading 5-star hotels (Shangri-La Hotel, Mandarin Oriental, and Hilton Hotel) in many countries all over the world and provided the finest pastries for Belgian Royals in his own boutique hotel. Due to his culinary passion and creavity, Chef Philippe joined GODIVA as Chef Chocolatier in December 2012 and is currently based in Beijing. While his primary focus is on the pastry products for China and the whole Pacific Rim markets, he works closely with the team of GODIVA chefs around the world to develop new chocolates and assist in elevating the brand to new heights with the dedicated and professional craftsmanship.
It’s rare for us to witness a behind-the-scenes look at the chocolate making process but we managed to get our first-hand experience in making our own Godiva chocolates at the exclusive chocolate school session with Chef Philippe.
At the chocolate school session, all the materials and equipment were provided for the invited guests. Chef Philippe opened the event with a brief introduction of himself as well as a brief explanation on savouring the chocolates. Every little detail of savouring the chocolates were taken into account and the crucial part of savouring chocolates is to enjoy the moment of bliss while it slowly melts in your mouth.
Once the chocolate tasting session was done, the chef gave us an overview of the first part of the chocolate making process. The chef emphasised that the melted chocolate must be kept at a certain temperature to ease the process of moulding chocolate.
After filling up the mould with the melted chocolate, he demonstrated the way to level out the chocolate to get air bubbles out of the moulded substance by gently tapping the mould on the counter. The moulded chocolate was later put into the refrigerator to a build a thin layer of chocolate shell.
Before we sprinkled the toppings on the chocolate, the chocolate shell was filled with chocolate ganache that left enough space for another layer of melted chocolate to fill in the gap. We then proceeded to the third part of the chocolate making process, as Chef Philippe introduced us the toppings of Godiva chocolate. Almonds, pistachio, and cookie crumb crusts were some of the ingredients we used to sprinkle on the chocolate.
As Chef Philippe demonstrated the way to put the toppings on the chocolate, he said that patience is very important to make sure that the chocolate is presented in perfect form. There’s no cheat sheet in making chocolate with refined quality and seamless texture. Thus, it came as no surprise as the session took about 3 hours for us to master the art of making the chocolate.
The chocolate we made may not be in its best form but it is worth to note that Chef Philippe managed to create a fun experience in making our own Godiva chocolate!
Special thanks to the Valiram Group for inviting us to the exclusive chocolate session with Chef Philippe Daue.
For more information, check out GODIVA’s official website.
