Winter 2007-2008
Vermont Eats
Small Pleasures
Chocolate and coffee taste even better in winter
By Marialisa Calta
We’re all for eating locally, but there are a few imports that we can’t live without. Chocolate is one. Coffee another. But just because there are no coffee or cacao plantations in the Green Mountain state doesn’t mean we can’t support our local producers. Vermont boasts a number of skilled chocolatiers and coffee roasters, so we can still help out our local businesses while indulging our palates.
And winter is the time to indulge. Nothing like curling up next to the woodstove with a steaming cuppa joe and a luscious, hand-dipped truffle (or two). Elegantly wrapped boxes of Vermont chocolates or coffee also work perfectly as holiday gifts.
The truffles I’ve seen…
Chocolate has an ancient history, involving the Aztec civilization, conquistadors, European royalty and Spanish monks. The Colonies had their first chocolate factory in Dorchester, Mass., by 1765.
By the 20th century, mass production of chocolate was in full swing, and as the century progressed, cheap production and long shelf life took precedence over handcrafted quality. In recent years, a segment of consumers has become interested in the complex flavors of high-quality chocolate, in natural ingredients and traditional techniques.
“Chocolate and candy making stand today where bread baking stood 20 years ago,“ writes Peter P. Greweling, who co-authored “Chocolates & Confections” (Wiley, 2007) with The Culinary Institute of America. They are, he says, “poised for a renaissance in their status and in public awareness, and for a revival in the use of traditional techniques to produce world class products.” In Vermont, the revolution has already begun.
■ That is nowhere more apparent than at Daily Chocolate in Vergennes (802.877.0087; www.dailychocolate.net) where lemongrass-sake-ginger chocolate, cognac Black Forest fudge, or a chocolate pomegranate truffle are the order of the day. You can watch chocolatier Floery Mahoney at work in the stone-and-brick shop, tempering her own blend of high-end, single-source, imported and domestic chocolates and hand rolling them into various concoctions. The shop’s white chocolate bark, flavored with lemon, lavender and almonds, is a revelation for folks who think they dislike white chocolate.
■ You can attend “Chocolate School,” buy bulk chocolate for home candymaking, or indulge your palate with a range of artisan confections from Linda Grishman Chocolates of Burlington (800-862-5814; www.vermontchocolate.com). Grishman, a native of South Africa, began her life as a chocolatier in New York City (where a colleague who worked as a chauffeur made her one of the few chocolatiers to deliver by limo). She has been in Vermont since 1991, winning acclaim for her chocolates, which have names like Mooonlight in Vermont and Peanut Butter Pigouts. Whimsical labels notwithstanding, this is serious chocolate: her new In the Dark line of 72 percent cacao bars are a dark-chocolate-lovers delight.
■ Leigh Williams, of Laughing Moon Chocolates of Stowe (802-253-9591; www.laughingmoonchocolates.com), went into the business because she figured that there was nothing better that she could do “on a daily basis to make people happy.”
“I know it sounds corny,” she says. “But it’s true.” Her handmade chocolate truffles, specialty candies and European hot chocolate have been making folks happy since 2001.
■ For sheer old-fashioned cheerfulness, Mother Myrick’s in Manchester Center (888-669-7425; www.mothermyricks.com) has it down. Husband-and-wife team Ron Mancini and Jacki Baker have been plying their trade since 1977, making hand-cut truffles, fudge, caramels and their signature buttercrunch, which is dipped in milk or dark chocolate and distinguished by a coating of crushed almonds and cashews.
■ At Vermont Chocolatiers in Northfield (802 485-5181; 1-877-882-4626; www.vermontchocolatiers.com), a café and confectionary, hand-dipped truffles and other confections are on tap, along with light lunches and specialty coffees in an inviting storefront. Northfield natives Jane and Walter Delia bought the company from a couple in the Northeast Kingdom in 2003, and moved it to their hometown.
■ Bob and Martha Pollak began Snowflake Chocolates of Jericho and Burlington (802-899-3373; 800-475-7167; www.snowflakechocolate.com) in 1986, inspired by the photomicrography of Jericho’s famous “Snowflake Bentley.” Handcrafted chocolates using family recipes (Bob is a second-generation confectioner) are presented with this motto: “No Two Chocolates Are The Same.”
■Tom & Sally’s Chocolates of Brattleboro (802.254.4200; 1-800-827-0800 www.tomandsallys.com) — once known for its novelty items like Vermont Cow Pies and Chocolate Body Paint — is ratcheting up its gourmet products line, with offerings like sweet pears in white chocolate and handcrafted dark chocolate bars.
■ The Ben & Jerry’s of Vermont chocolate is Lake Champlain Chocolates of Burlington (802-864-1808; 800-465-5909; www.lakechamplainchocolates.com), with nearly 100 full- and part-time employees. The company makes scores of chocolate products, and has recently introduced a line of organic chocolates, and single-source chocolates from Tanzania, Granada, and Sao Thome, Brazil.
Coffee: a higher ground
Like chocolate, coffee has ancient roots and has gone from rare commodity to a commercial product often manufactured with more regard to price point and shelf life than quality and freshness. Adulterated (one account of 19th-century additives lists more than 50, including brick dust and baked horse liver), poorly packaged, freeze-dried into “instant” and diluted to insipidity, coffee in America, by the 1960s, lacked romance and panache. Then came what Essex Junction author Mark Pendergrast, in his book “Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World” (Basic Books, 1999), calls “a scattered band of fanatics.” The seeds (or beans) of a strong coffee culture were sown.
Coffee now has its own vocabulary, and people serious about their brew will speak at length about such concepts as fair trade (which deals with the social and economic health of coffee farmers, see www.transfairusa.org) shade-grown, single-source, and, of course, organic. Although not all Vermont roasters buy exclusively fair trade or organic beans, most seem concerned about social, economic and environmental issues, including the health of farmers. “It’s safe to say that most Vermont roasters are working toward transparency, trying to know where the beans are coming from and how the workers are treated,” says Pendergrast.
■ The first “fanatics” surfaced in Vermont in the persons of Doug and Jamie Balne, of the tiny Green Mountain Coffee Shop in Waitsfield. In 1981, says Pendergrast, entrepreneur Bob Stiller bought out the Balnes and founded Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Waterbury (888-879-4627; www.greenmountaincoffee.com). The company — by far the largest roaster in Vermont — sells an array of coffee from around the world, including its acclaimed new “Gombe Reserve,” which is harvested in collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute of Tanzania (for more, see page 8).
■ Not long after the Balnes were roasting beans in Waitsfield, Paul Ralston — then owner of the Bristol Bakery — began offering fresh-roasted brews to his clients. Flash forward to 2001, when Ralston, fresh from various other entrepreneurial adventures, opened The Vermont Coffee Company (802-453-2776; www.vermontcoffeecompany.com) selling 100 percent fair trade, organic coffee. The coffee was named “Best Coffee in New York” by New York Magazine in 2005. The instructions on every bag: Brew It Strong.
■ Brown & Jenkins of South Burlington (800-456-5282; www.brownjenkins.com) was started in 1984, but was purchased last year by former Manchester caterer Sandy Riggen and her husband, Rich Williams. The company offers dozens of coffees, including flavored blends like Riggen’s new Mountain Magic (caramel-rum-almond) and Vermont Maple Creme.
■ Mocha Joe’s (802-257-5637; 888-414-2551; www.mochajoes.com) has been supplying Brattleboro residents with robust espresso and other blends since 1991, when founder Pierre Capy began roasting beans in his Main Street café. He expanded to a separate roastery in ’96, and has a retail business throughout the Northeast and a mail-order business nationwide.
■ Speeder & Earl’s in Burlington (802-658-5149; 800-849-6041; www.speederandearls.com) may have two guys on the logo, but the company is “woman-owned and proud of it,” says Jessica Workman, who began the place with her mom, Jeannie Vento, in 1993. Their signature coffee is Speeder’s Blend, which Workman describes as a “very full-bodied, French Roast-based” brew.
■ The year 1994 saw the opening of Uncommon Grounds, a café and coffee roaster in Burlington (802-865-6227; ugroasters@globalnetisp.net). Research trips have taken owners Skip and Beverly Blakely from planting and picking to roasting, grinding and brewing. “We just keep learning,” says Skip. He sells locally and by mail order (no website, no credit cards). “We like to do things the old-fashioned way,” Skip says.
■ Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea Co. of Waterbury (802-244-8338, 866-882-7876; www.vtartisan.com) is owned by Mané Alves, a respected coffee consultant who began selling coffee and tea in 2002, and whose company won a silver medal in the 2006 Specialty Coffee Association of America competition (www.scaa.org). The company buys only from farms that pass certain environmental, social and product-quality screens.
■ Troy Griffis may not be the newest roaster on the block but he is likely the smallest. The owner (and roaster) at four-year-old Awake (802-453-2326; www.awakecoffee.com), Griffis roasts and packages his beans — 100 percent fair trade and organic — in seven pound batches from an 8- by 10-foot room in his South Starksboro home. Big Buzz, Dark Star and Tsunami Espresso are among his hearty roasts.
■ The newest roaster in town is Fresh Coffee Now (802-654-7100, www.freshcoffeenow.com), formerly a web-only coffee supplier based in Atlanta. Matt Sutte purchased the website and brought the company to Winooski, where beans are roasted in the basement of the Blue Star Café and sold both retail (organic and fair trade only) and wholesale.
The Inside Scoop:
Restaurants, cookbooks and foodie events not to miss
“I want to marry the home fries and have an affair with the French toast,” wrote one signer of the guest book at the Busy Bee in Glover (802) 525-9900. A ringing recommendation for new chef/owner Amanda Menard, who reopened the legendary 15-seat diner in June, after it had closed briefly after the death of former owner Edna Chamberlin, who ran the place for more than 40 years. “It’s really nice,” says Menard of the diner’s experience in the cozy space. “You come here and you make friends.”
Leigh Williams of Laughing Moon Chocolates in Stowe offers her popular, free candy-cane making classes every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.; Nov. 24–25, Dec. 1–2, 8–9, 15–16 and 22–23 this year at her Depot Street Shop. Space is limited, so get there early.
Nothing says ho-ho-holidays like a gingerbread house — or hockey rink, or cathedral, which are some of the past entries to the annual Gingerbread House competition held by the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury (802-388-4964; www.vermontfolklifecenter.org). This marks the ninth year; view submissions (there were more than 40 last year) from Nov. 30 to Dec. 22, or submit your own.
Hot off the presses and just in time for the gift-giving season is “Cooking with Shelburne Farms” (Viking, $35) by well-respected food writer (and Vermont Life contributor) Melissa Pasanen and Shelburne Farms chef Rick Gencarelli. Organized by local product, this handsome volume includes chapters on milk and cheese, lamb, wild mushrooms, game, pork, apples and maple (both sweet and savory). Food photographs by Boston-based photographer Susie Cushner give the reader an extra push into the kitchen to make Shepherd’s Pie with Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Smash while portraits of Vermonters like “wildcrafters” Les Hook and Nova Kim of Albany, who find and sell wild mushrooms and other edibles, immerse readers in Vermont’s vibrant food culture.
