It takes more than a "70 per cent cocoa" label to make a gourmet chocolate bar, as the growing band of chocolate gourmets will tell you

Chocolate lovers of the world rejoice: what was once an item to satisfy the sweet-tooths among us has now been firmly established as a gourmet product. The result is that you now have carte blanche to treat chocolate like you do wine, cheese and coffee, analysing details of presentation, aroma and taste with the fastidiousness of a sommelier.

It's about much more than the percentage cocoa content. The variety of bean, fermentation process, drying, roasting and ultimately the manufacture of the chocolate will have a part to play in the final flavour of any chocolate.

Provenance in particular is extremely important in the art of fine chocolate-making, and the luxury chocolate shops of Europe are now proudly presenting their "single-source" chocolate where the cocoa terroir is a single country, region or even farm. The more rarefied the source, the finer (and pricier) the chocolate. Chantal Coady, owner of London-based Rococo, says: "There is a lot of mythology surrounding the origin of many cocoa beans. Most are traded as a commodity on the world exchanges, but to have a relationship with a particular piece of cocoa land is very important."

Realising this early on she was quick to snap up The Grenada Chocolate Company as the nestled in lush cocoa groves in the pristine rainforest of the West Indian island of Grenada. Producing chocolate right where the cocoa grows allows the company to do its own fermenting, which gives a real advantage in creating the finest, most complex taste possible from the beans. The organic Trinitario cocoa beans used in their 71 per cent chocolate bars are rare, their strong, fruit- and flower-infused flavours enhanced by the rich volcanic soil and hot sun.

Educating the palate to appreciate the subtle notes of flavour in chocolate has become something of a pastime. The Rococo School of Chocolate offers hands-on chocolate making sessions followed by chocolate tastings with professionals including Mott Green, the inspirational founder of the Grenada Chocolate Company. "A comparative tasting of seven or eight chocolates is extremely instructive, and will convert about 90 per cent of any tasters away from industrially produced chocolate to something much finer and full of flavour," Coady says.

The Academy of Chocolate, of which she is one of the founders, launched in London in 2005 and holds tastings and wine-pairings to encourage chocolate lovers to look beyond the label and differentiate between chocolate confectionery and real chocolate. She warns consumers not to be misled by simple claims that of the only small-scale, co-operative chocolate high cocoa content equals good chocolate. factories in the world which works from "tree to "The 70 per cent cocoa content message has got bar". The domestic-sized, solar-panelled factory is through loud and clear, but that seems to me like buying wine by the alcohol content, not the grape, colour or provenance. It is a crude yard stick, and is no guarantee of quality," Coady continues.

And with this budding culinary expertise comes innovation. Heston Blumenthal, three Michelin-starred chef at The Fat Duck in Berkshire, England, experiments with chocolate-infused savoury dishes including scallop tartare with white chocolate and caviar. Paul A. Young, a chocolatier who began his career working for the multiple-Michelin-starred Marco Pierre White, has taken things a step further to create fascinating chocolate delicacies. Pork and stilton truffles, sea-salted caramel fondue and Marmite Guinness ganache have become best-sellers in his boutique in Islington, London, where you can watch Young and his team make the final touches to his creations in the presentation kitchen.

Ginger-flavoured dark chocolate from Enric Rovira's 'Virtual' range. It was the Spanish Empire that originally introduced Europe to the delights of the Latin American cocoa bean and now it hosts avantgarde artisans who really are pushing the boundaries of their craft. Enric Rovira of Barcelona is more sculptor than chocolate-maker with his unique selection of edible installations including two-metre high city skylines, clean-lined, abstract outdoor monuments and Fabergé-style eggs.

Even in Japan, the liking for traditional sweets is gradually making way for chocolate. "The Far East is a rapidly growing market, so I foresee a shortage of fine cocoa to supply an already enormous demand," says Coady.

Therefore perhaps it is wise for us to indulge in moderation for as Coady concludes, "Cocoa is a precious commodity; it should be treated with respect." - Jessica Bowen

www.rococochocolates.com
www.academyofchocolate.org.uk
www.enricrovira.com