Lindt & Sprüngli Chocolate Masterclass
Thanks to a competition on twitter, I ended up with 2 tickets to the Lindt Chocolate Masterclass at this year’s Good Food and Wine Show in Melbourne. Tickets were valued at $50 each and included entry to the show, which was fantastic since I hadn’t yet gotten around to buying my tickets.
I had no shortage of volunteers that wanted to come and join me. Hamsley was the lucky one though, as we both needed a day off as the event was on the weekend we moved house.
The class we attended was at 10:30am, and since we were going to a food expo, we didn’t have any breakfast. So essentially, it was chocolate for breakfast. Our chocolate guru was Thomas Schnetzler,Master Chocolatier for Australia and a Lindt Ambassador.
Lindt & Sprüngli is the full name of the company, but as not alot of people know how to pronouce Sprüngl, they just shorted it to Lindt.
When you eat chocolate, you need to use your 5 senses:
- Sight: is the chocolate glossy? does it have an even surface?
- Touch: is it silky and smooth? The chocolate should be below body temperature, so when you touch it, it leaves a mark.
- Sound: do you hear a crisp, clean sound when it breaks?
- Smell: can you smell the bittersweet cocoa beans?
- Taste: (the best part): take a small bite, chew a couple of times, then allow it to melt in your mouth. Experience the texture consistency, and subtle flavours undertones.
Some history notes I jotted down in between munching away:
- Chocolate was used as a way to pay taxes, and debts.
- It was the Spanish that introduced sugar to chocolate to make it taste less bitter.
- Chocolate was introduced into Switzerland in 1696.
- The first solid block of chocolate was made in 1828.
- Milk chocolate was invented in Switzerland in 1875.
- Lindt & Sprüngli was established in 1899.
The ideal temperature to store chocolate is 16°C.
We also tried the new varieties: Sea Salt and Blueberry Intense.
Both were both amazing. Whenever I tell people about the sea salt chocolate I tried, they scrunch up their face and in a high pitched voice ask “SEA SALT?!?”
Lindt uses the finest quality seasalt in the world, Fleur De Sel, and it provides just little bursts of salty flavour which just goes down so smoothly. The same people that shriek at the thought of salty chocolate are pleasanlty surprised, then ask for more.
The blueberry intense is just as amazing as it sounds, and with flaked almonds, it’s like a magical explosion to your tastebuds. Don’t believe me? TRY IT.Hamsley ended up winning the door prize; the Lindt chocolate cookbook. I’ll be making good use of that, don’t you worry!
And since people would have paid $50 to attend the masterclass, we got showbags on the way out. So between us, we probably came home with about 1kg of Lindt… never a bad thing.
Lindt uses the finest quality seasalt in the world, Fleur De Sel, and it provides just little bursts of salty flavour which just goes down so smoothly. The same people that shriek at the thought of salty chocolate are pleasanlty surprised, then ask for more.
The blueberry intense is just as amazing as it sounds, and with flaked almonds, it’s like a magical explosion to your tastebuds. Don’t believe me? TRY IT.Hamsley ended up winning the door prize; the Lindt chocolate cookbook. I’ll be making good use of that, don’t you worry!
And since people would have paid $50 to attend the masterclass, we got showbags on the way out. So between us, we probably came home with about 1kg of Lindt… never a bad thing.
For more information about chocolate or the Lindt range: http://www.lindt.com/au/
Kristy Sayer
I have chocolate envy 😛
This sounds like fun!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Oooh I bet you had a lot of volunteers to accompany you! A veritable stampede I'd imagine. it looks like fun! 😀
Miss Melbourne
I had the blueberry chocolate the other day. Oh my god. Intense pear is also fabulous. Not that I've tried them all or anything…
Made2Order
I use to buy cocoberry chocolates to teach my chocolate classes in Taiwan, lindt was a bit too $$$. But you are lucky!! what was your favorite and why?
hollypop
oh yum.. i want to try some of the sea salt choc. i love sweet/salty treats.
mademoiselle délicieuse
I have a block of that sea salt chocolate sitting in the pantry to try for myself. And congrats on winning the cookbook!
Jeanne
Great Chokee News Shelli, I am still hanging out for some of you great Choc/ Raspberry Muffins? 1kg Lindt, gee what a Gold Mine? Yom! 🙂
Hug, Jeanne.x:)
imasugarjunkie
oh my gosh – so jealous!! I bet you had just a horrible time sampling all that chocolate 🙂
Jo - SecondHelping
Chocolate for breakfast is a great reward after moving house!
Those 2 new flavours sound sublime! I will have to hunt them down.
Betty @ The Hungry Girl
Chocolate for breakfast = awesome!! I like your style!
Agnes
Hehee, I recently bought the sea salt and blueberry Lindt chocolate blocks – I'm a sucker for new flavours! I loved the sea salt one, but wasn't as big a fan of the blueberry one.
Phuoc'n Delicious
Lucky you for winning the prize, I had to pay for my class.. 😛
I'd say it was good, it doesn't look like you got to try the new Swiss Gold milk chocolate with hazelnuts, almonds or fruit and nut – it's absolutely divine. I almost finished my plate and couldn't believe there were people near me who only ate like a quarter of each block; made me felt like a piggy :S
How good is the goodies bag hey? 🙂
Jetsetting Joyce (MEL: HOT OR NOT)
Oh dear, seriously jealous! If I'd read this earlier I would have known that you were in fact a chocolate expert!
Jetsetting Joyce
My Restaurants Melbourne
Your lucky not to have payed for the class. That would have been great to go to. Looks fantastic. Yum!!!!
Iron Chef Shellie
Hi Kristy – haha I don't blame you! I would too!
Hi Lorraine – Oh did I ever!!
Hi Miss Melbourne – I still have to try the pear one… hmmm… today?
Hi Made2Order – They were ALL my favourite.. why? cos it's Lindt!
Hi Hollypop – I'm craving some now re-reading this post!
Hi Mademoiselle Delicieuse – mmm yum! I still have to make something from the cookbook!
Hi Jeanne – Oh yes… one day soon!
Hi I'm A Sugar Junkie – Oh it was just awful 😉
Hi Jo – So true! I shall have to hunt more down for myself 😛
Hi Betty – Me too, glad I don't do it everyday though!
Hi Agnes – The sea salt is good!!!
Hi Phuoc'n Delicious – I don't know if I would have gone to the class if it wasn't free… but it was lots of fun, and the goodie bag would have been well worth the ticket price!
Hi Jetsetting Joyce – haha, I consume enough to be some sort of expert 😛
Hi My Restaurants Melbourne – Indeed! And it was great fun =)
Spencer @ Moo-Lolly-Bar
This post has made me very jealous!