Chocolate in chocolate: subtleties of a sweet craft from the Ashgabat confectioner
Both adults and children love to enjoy chocolate, because besides the fact that this product is tasty, it is also useful. To understand the quality of good chocolate and get acquainted with the process of its preparation, we go to the best “sweet” institution in Ashgabat - “Shokoladnitsa” (Chocolate girl). An experienced specialist, Zinaida Alekseeva, who knows almost everything about chocolate, works here.
The chocolate theme is very interesting and expensive, because for making desserts you need high-quality raw materials. And if you also take into account that the manufacture of original chocolate products is a delicate manual work, then you can compare the confectioner-chocolatier with a jeweler sculpting edible masterpieces.
“We have a small workshop for making chocolate,” says Zinaida Grigorievna. - Here, chocolate raw materials are ground in a melanger - this is a special pan with two stone runners. And the longer the process of rolling the chocolate takes, the better the product becomes. Melanger works from 24 to 72 hours, bringing the chocolate to a delicate consistency. In the manufacture of our signature chocolate, we use only 3 ingredients - cocoa butter, grated cocoa and cane sugar, which gives the chocolate a spicy touch of taste.
Speaking about branded chocolate, I want to mention that among a wide selection of sweet products, the shop of Zinaida Grigoryevna produces chocolate with different tastes, their recipe is kept in the strictest confidence. Ginger and mint, pepper-flavored chocolate for thrill-seekers, chocolate with nuts and dried fruits, etc. And wonderful souvenir chocolate toys - from bears and bunnies to ... military tanks!
- With the correct observance of the technology, “manual” chocolate does not melt, and does not deteriorate for 3 months. When we were just starting to develop our own chocolate, we tried to conduct experiments, leaving the tiles wrapped in foil under different temperature conditions. If the chocolate turned white over time, then it was improperly tempered, and a mistake was made in the cooking process. Even great pastry chefs begin their working day by weighing the ingredients, keeping proportions and maintaining consistency.
Zinaida Grigorievna is a food process engineer, 40 years ago she graduated from the Stavropol Polytechnic Institute, and came to Ashgabat to work out her diploma. Then the woman did not yet know that she would fall in love with Turkmenistan, and the confectionery business would turn from a dream into a reality. Now Zinaida has a registered chocolate brand and her mini-production of sweets, her signature cakes and desserts are known throughout the country.
"Turkmenistanis love chocolate cakes, light desserts based on custard and cottage cheese,” Zinaida continues. But we are in great demand, of course, for Snickers cake, I call it cake-lunch. This sweet dessert is quite high-calorie, it contains nuts, condensed milk, raisins, etc. But apparently, the generosity of the Turkmen people plays a role here, so you treat the guests to the most delicious. Personally, I like the Prague cake with the addition of custard chocolate, to be exact - it's chocolate in chocolate.
Those who order sweets at Zinaida Grigoryevna’s “Chocolate Girl” know that the chef’s confectioners can fulfill any, even the most daring, food fantasies. Once the team made a “chocolate horse” for a cake, and in the year of the Dog, chocolate dogs with fillings were popular.
In good chocolate, everything is important: both the recipe, the technology of creation, and packaging. Foil is most often used for wrapping chocolate; it fully preserves the taste and smell of chocolates. Zinaida Grigoryevna and her colleagues developed a corporate packaging design for high-quality Turkmen chocolate, and believe me, it’s difficult to pass by such goodies.
