Local Find: Laurent Vals Chocolates
Monday, September 20, 2010
It’s a well-worn cliché that the French are tops on the planet when it comes to sweets – but with good reason. When it comes to technique and ingredients, few know as much about how to make sugar and chocolate and pastry come together to form something…life-altering.
Chef Laurent Vals knows. Vals, the former pastry chef at Newport’s Spiced Pear, was raised in the south of France and started studying culinary arts in his homeland at the age of 16. It’s hard to argue that he hasn't perfected the art. Vals’ collection of handmade (and it doesn’t get any more handmade than these) chocolates rival the finest artisan collections in both America and Europe, with flavor profiles that delight and ingredients that are farm-fresh.
Science and art
For Vals, chocolate making is about the science as much as the art. “It can be difficult to get the balance correct,” he says in a thick French accent. “Sometimes it can take weeks of practice and trial to get a chocolate to taste right.”
But right it is! A bright-red box full of Vals’ treats might include a perfected domed raspberry and vanilla truffle, a tart passion fruit covered both in dark chocolate and his signature gold leaf, and a ridiculously good banana and caramel. There’s a mango and passion fruit, several caramels, and a hazelnut that will send you straight to heaven. All are made with top-notch Belgian chocolate.
More sweets to come
Best of all, Vals’ next move involves the productions of traditional French macarons. Not to be confused with the sticky-sweet coconut confections available stateside, true French macarons are light, airy and distinctively delicious. Vals has just perfected his first batches - all chocolate - which are available at Le Petit Gourmet (across from the Hotel Viking on Bellevue Ave) as well as Newport Chocolates on William Street (near the Tennis Hall of Fame).
Check out Vals’ complete collection in person at Newport Chocolates, 82 William St, Newport, 841-8975, or order online here.
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