Monday, December 21, 2015

A Visit to Jacques Genin Chocolate Shop in Paris



DavidLebovitz

A Visit to Jacques Genin Chocolate Shop in Paris (Video)
David, 21 Dec 



Not long after I’d arrived in Paris, I met Jacques Genin. At the time, he was working out of a small workshop deep in the 15th arrondissement. Inside, he and his team of five or so worked in a very tight space: A large table where they worked sat in the center of the room, taking up probably 90% of the space, enrobing machines churned shiny melted chocolate off to the sides, steaming cauldrons of butter and sugar bubbled madly together, and the workers slid around the narrow passage between the two, pouring, cutting, dipping, and packing up chocolates and caramels.
The chocolates and caramels were only available wholesale to hotels and restaurants that knew the unique quality of Monsieur Genin’s work. The door of the workshop was made of battered wood, fitted with one-way glass so if you were standing on the sidewalk, you couldn’t see in, but he could see out. If he was in the mood, he’d let you in to buy chocolates. But you had to buy a kilo (2.2 pounds) and you couldn’t stand there and decide “I want two of those, one of those, six of these…” You were lucky if he opened the door at all, and even luckier if you had a kilo of his coveted chocolates in your possession. You took whatever he gave you, gladly.

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