From elegant chocolate drops to chunky dark bars, Chef Simon Badertscher lets us in on the secret of Swiss chocolate

Chef Simon Badertscher has a mighty good job. The Swiss gent makes a living melting and moulding chocolates. Currently in Mumbai to give those interested a quick lesson in chocolate-making and eating, Badertscher took a delightful class for some of us lately. “Women need a whole bowl of chocolate to be happy. Men can do with just a handful,” he says, commencing what can be called a chocolate tour.

A majority of Indians are unable to appreciate good chocolate but Badertscher says it’s no cause for concern. “If you eat chocolate everyday, you’ll be able to tell the difference easily. It doesn’t take much time to be able to detect a burnt-tobacco, pleasant grapefruit sharp flavour from a creamy-caramel vanilla flavour,” he says.

The pastry chef uses Felchlin, a Swiss chocolate, to prepare some divine Grand Cru Truffles (fresh truffles with an elegant, robust cocoa flavour), Cabosse Gourmet (pronounced Kha-bose, these are sinful oblong brownie like things) and Maracaibo Mousse (rich chocolate mousse). He says, “Other exquisite chocolate things are Praline Rustic Noble, Orange Cointreau, Masala Chocolate and Raspberry Financer with cream cheese.”

Making chocolate at home is easy, but often, the non-availability of basic ingredients like fine English sugar drive people to buy either organic or brown sugar. “A lot of people grind to powder the big-grained Indian sugar. That’s not right. One must use the easily available castor sugar. It gives a soft and smooth texture,” he says.

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