Chocolate heaven – Pierre Marcolini chocolate pop up

Today I attended Pierre Marcolini chocolate pop up event at Carousel in Marylebone, to see Pierre Marcolini latest winter festive collection.  To be honest I have never heard of Pierre Marcolini before or of his chocolates which surprises me as I am a fan of chefs, bakers and chocolatiers. So I was thrilled to go along to this event to learn more about him and sample his chocolates. Unfortunately when I went along he was not around to meet as he visited earlier on in the day.  So I spoke to one of his apprentices which I learnt more about this amazing chocolatier Pierre Marcolini.

Who is Pierre Marcolini

Pierre Marcolini is the founder and creative director. That he was born on 1964 in Belgium. At the age of 14, this is when he knew he wanted to be a chocolatier. His upbringing gave him a tremendous hunger for learning, along with the desire to fight to make his grandest dreams come true. In 1983, on finishing his studies, he became a pastry chef and worked alongside many of the top professionals in Belgium with his achievements have been recognised by his peers. He was named “Best Apprentice in Belgium” in 1988, as well as “Best Worker in Belgium” making him youngest ever to receive this award and won 1st prize at the “Mandarine Napoléon International” competition in 1991. Since then he has won many other awards.

Pierre Marcolini chocolate pop up event

The chocolates on display were all so novel and so abstract like pieces of art. There was so many different chocolate creations but my favourites had to be Father Christmas and the crescent moons.  Father Christmas was very abstract with his body being a big round red ball of chocolate that was very shiny and glossy, in fact was as red as Rudolph’s red nose and his head/hat made in the shape of a crescent moon which made me think of his adventures throughout the Christmas Eves night, just magical. The milk chocolate crescent moons that were on display were decorated in coco dusting making them look very irresistible to eat.. All the arty creations though looked stunning and made me just want to reach out and touch and eat them all.

I might of not got to try the festive chocolates but I did though get to taste some of his normal chocolate whilst I was there as they held a masterclass. I got to try three different kinds of chocolate:

Masterclass

Limited Edition Tabasco Mexique Grand Cru De Propriete with the cacao bean from Mexico (78% cacao),

Fluer De Cacao Pure Origin with the cacao bean from Cuba (85% cacao), and

Limited Edition Oriente with the cacao bean from Cuba Grand Cru D Propriete (78% cacao)

I did not know they were dark chocolate for the names and contents of the chocolate was not revealed to me until after the tasting and I was highly surprised to learn that I had been eating dark chocolate with a high cacao content. Now I usually hate dark chocolate but I loved this creamy chocolate and has opened up my eyes and made me realise that the contents of chocolate and the ingredients of any chocolate and in where the cacao comes from makes a real difference in both taste and texture.

Tastings

There were also some samples of his assorted flavoured chocolates that he sells in boxes and a hazelnut éclair that was so creamy and light the best I have ever had.

All his chocolates from the samples and his deluxe festive season chocolates that were on display all looked stunning and all use the best quality ingredients whilst using the best sourced cocoa beans from all over the world.

School talk

I also learnt that he might be setting up a school soon to pass on and share his knowledge and passion to others. I will certainly be keeping my eyes out for these classes.

Home time

I enjoyed my time at Pierre Marcolini chocolate pop and I even got to take home at the end of the night a goodie bag that consisted of milk chocolate truffles, a notebook and a nutty hazelnut slab of chocolate that was 45% in coco. I learnt though that night I should not eat chocolate with this type of high cocoa factor at night as I could not get a sleep after eating it. However I don’t regret doing so as the slab of chocolate was so creamy and literally melted in my mouth plus the hazelnut pieces were divine. In fact his chocolates are now my favourite, even better than Paul A Youngs and Lindt, sorry.  I will certainly now be buying his chocolates in the future over any other chocolatier if I see it on the shelf. Pierre Marcolini chocolate can also be bought via here.

Thank you to Pierre Marcolini for letting me a chocalohic come along to learn, enjoy and taste your most amazing deluxe chocolates. All views are my own honest opinion.