Did you know that World finals of the International Chocolate Awards will be held in London later this year? The European Semi Finals were recently held in London and Great British Chefs guest blogger Chris Osburn was on the judging panel. Discover how tough it is to judge chocolate ....
Photography & blog post by Chris Osburn
Yet another good time for this old lucky duck to quack about, I recently spent an afternoon as a judge for the International Chocolate Awards. Yes, that's right, I was invited to sample some of the world's best chocolates for a day. It was down to the semi finals when my palate was ushered in to contemplate the cacao contenders; so the competition had been narrowed down nearly to the best of the very best contenders.
Believe it or not, such a wonderful was just this side of gruelling. The judging procedure was incredibly rigorous, and we judges weren't let in on who had made the chocolates we were trying. Yes, it was an epic endeavour (almost six hours sampling chocolate!). I left the judging high on an especially wacky sugar buzz with my exhausted tongue dragging behind. But please don't think I'm complaining! I'd be extra keen indeed to sit on another round!
Launched just this year, the International Chocolate Awards were set up by Martin Christy of fine chocolate review site, Seventy% and Kate Johns, Director of Chocolate Week, to recognise the best fine quality chocolate from around the world in a manner that would 'reflect international tastes and offer a level playing field for international entries'. An Italian round was held earlier this year, and there's an American round planned for New York this September. This October (just in time for Chocolate Week) the World Finals will be conducted here in London.
The European Semi Final, the bit during which I was a judge, received more than 260 entries from over 50 different brands. Entries came from across Europe – from countries more traditionally associated with chocolate such as France and Switzerland, to up and coming countries including Israel and the Czech Republic. The judging panel was made up of experts, food journalists and pastry chefs and overseen by a Grand Jury. The Grand Jury members who attended the European awards were Martin Christy (Seventy% founder, UK), Maricel Presilla (Cuban American chef and author of The New Taste of Chocolate), Monica Meschini (Italian expert and taster), George Bernadini (German author and ex-chocolate maker), Nancy Gilchrist (Master of Wine, UK) and Alex Rast (Seventy% contributor and reviewer, UK).
And the winners are? The results from the semis are now in and can be viewed online. As for Brit entrants, the UK did deliciously well, excelling in the filled chocolates categories with the highest “gold” scores being awarded to Paul A Young and Damian Allsop and “silver” awarded to Boutique Aromatique, Matcha and Rococo.
Hotel Chocolat also scored with a silver for their St Lucian 70% milk salted caramel éclat. In the flavoured milk bar category, Damian Allsop picked up Gold.
Photography & blog post by Chris Osburn
We have some wonderful chocolate recipes on our site using high quality chocolate from Amedei & Valhrona. What are some of your favourite brands of chocolate? Let us know over on Great British Chefs Facebook page
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