Paris Insights - The Blog

Debauve & Gallais Chocolates of Origin
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

We have long known about the existence of the Debauve & Gallais chocolate shop on rue des Saint-Pères, but not until just recently did we enter to purchase a small (100 gram) sample of their confections.

Spotting five different single-origin chocolate ganaches in the display case, I purchased two of each: Irian Jaya (Indonesia), Principe (West Africa), Caracas (Venezuela), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), and Tamatave (Madagascar). That evening, we tasted them.

The chocolates are made from cocoa, cane sugar, butter, and condensed milk, yielding the creamy filling that is called ganache.

While all of the chocolates were rich and delicious, we found it difficult to detect much difference in taste from one origin to another. For me, the Irian Jaya had the strongest chocolate flavor. My partner found the Principe to have a faint fruit flavor. I found the Caracas to be mild with a buttery consistency. My partner liked the Santo Domingo, with its slightly fruity taste and soft, smooth interior. And we both found the Tamatave, from Madagascar, to have the mildest chocolate flavor of the batch.

Founded in 1800 by a pharmacist, Debauve & Gallais has been in business for a very long time. The décor of the shop on rue des Saint-Pères is a beautiful example of Empire style. It was designed by Percier and Fontaine, architects of Napoleon Bonaparte’s country home, the Château de Malmaison.

Enter the shop to see a splendid example of the architecture of that post-Revolutionary era.

But hold on to your purse strings! The ganaches that we purchased cost 140€ a kilo, roughly $90 a pound.

Debauve & Gallais
30, rue des Saint-Pères
75007 Paris
Telephone: 01 45 48 54 67
Open Mon to Sat 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

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Richart Assorted Ganaches
Photo by Discover Paris!

The chocolate company Richart was founded by Joseph Richart in 1925 in the city of Lyon. Today it is owned by the son, Michel, and has expanded into several franchise boutiques throughout the world, including shops in the United States, Spain, Italy, Morocco, South Korea, and France (with two shops in Paris).

We stopped by the boutique located at 258, boulevard Saint-Germain and purchased a ballotin (small box) of assorted ganaches, or filled chocolates. The company produces seven different types of ganaches, and under the heading of each type, it produces seven varieties. For example, under the “roasted” category, one finds seven different roasted fillings, including grilled almond, grilled coffee, and grilled sesame seed.

Given that seven different varieties of seven different types of ganache equal forty-nine different chocolates, we decided to purchase a small box that contained a small sample of most of the types. For a box of sixteen tiny ganaches, weighing four grams each, we paid 11.90€—roughly $7.50 an ounce! The sixteen pieces of chocolate in our collection represented six of the seven types of ganache: floral, fruity, citrus, roasted, herbal, and spice.

Each piece of chocolate is in the shape of a die, and within the thick walls of each die lies a perfumed filling.

We began with floral, for which there were two varieties: exotic bouquet and violet. The exotic bouquet had a light, gelatinous interior whose flavor was indeed exotic, but we could not precisely identify the taste. The violet ganache had a mild violet flavor.

The two varieties of herbal, matcha tea and star aniseed, had distinctive, identifiable flavors. The matcha tea variety was visually distinctive with a green filling.

Next, we tasted the fruit ganaches of which there were four: current, blueberry, strawberry, and chestnut. The current and blueberry had the strongest, most-distinctive flavors. The strawberry filling had a creamy, pink color and mild flavor. The chestnut filling was weakly flavored, in our opinion.

Citrus was next with two varieties. The bouquet d’Hespéridés (citrus bouquet) had a light, liquid, citrus interior. The orange zest had an assertive flavor, with a light orange-yellow color.

In the roasted selection, there were four varieties. The almond had a light pasty interior; the walnut a creamy paste with an assertive flavor; the pistachio was the least strongly flavored; and the caramel was quite assertive.

Finally, we tasted two varieties of spices. We were pleased that both the cinnamon and the ginger ganaches had pronounced flavors.

At the end of the tasting, we were somewhat disappointed that a number of the chocolate varieties did not have strong, distinctive flavors. However, we realize that had the chocolates been larger, we would have had a better opportunity to taste their fillings.

We think that the chocolates are greatly overpriced! One can find fine-quality, filled chocolates for less at other chocolate shops in Paris.

Chocolate lovers living in the United States can try this tasting themselves by “investing” the rather hefty sum of $25 (plus shipping) for a box of “Selection Ballotin.” (The box sold in the U.S. does not contain the identical selection that we purchased here in Paris.)

Bonne dégustation!

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We stopped by Mococha, a chocolate shop located at 89, rue Mouffetard, and made a short video about the owner, Marie, and the chocolates that she sells there.

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We stopped by Marie Gantois’ chocolate shop Mococha on rue Mouffetard to see what kinds of confections she is selling for Easter. She is featuring the chocolates of her three favorite chocolate makers, plus a “guest appearance” by a fourth.

We liked the chocolate Easter eggs by Patrice Chapon, who won the Grand Prix de la Mairie de Paris (2003).

Easter Eggs by Patrice Chapon

The fat chicken by Jacques Bellanger, Meilleur Ouvrier de France (1982), and the puffy fish by Fabrice Gillotte, Meilleur Ouvrier de France (1991) made us smile.

Fat Chicken by Jacques Bellanger

Puffy Fish by Fabrice Gillotte

The confections of Gérard Cosme, guest chocolate maker, are particularly celebrated for their coatings, as witnessed by this photograph of a chocolate lollipop displaying the image of a rabbit happily munching on a chocolate cookie.

Happy Rabbit by Gérard Cosme

Happy Easter!

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