Member Article

Easter treat for chocolate lovers

Chocolate lovers can tap into their passion this Easter when two leading experts share their obsession at Jesmond Dene House in Newcastle. Sara Jayne Stanes and Damian Allsop have created a programme of indulgence with a chocolate demonstration, tasting session and three-course lunch menu on Thursday 12 April.

Sara Jayne is chairman of the Academy of Chocolate and author of ‘Chocolate: The Definitive Guide’ – the story of three and a half thousand years of the history, geography, social and religious applications, nutritional values, tastings and recipes of chocolate. She is passionate about provenance of ingredients and can explain how chocolates made with different bean varieties, just like wines, can be very different.

Damian Allsop designs and creates innovative chocolates including water-based ganaches and truffles that change flavour in the mouth. He has a 16-year background as a pastry chef with the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Giorgio Locatelli and now runs his own business.

Sara Jayne said: “I adore chocolate, but not the sort that we have all grown up with. Many people have been tastewashed by chocolate with a high sugar content and it is sugar that makes chocolate addictive. Properly tutored tastings are enormous fun and can take people on a journey to tell the difference between real chocolate and chocolate confectionery.”

Jesmond Dene House co-owner and chef Terry Laybourne said: “Sara Jayne and Damian are renowned as two of the most knowledgeable and committed figures in the world of chocolate. Fine chocolate bears little comparison to the sweet substance that most people will give and receive this Easter, and this is a chance for people to understand the pleasure of quality, not quantity.”

The chocolate demonstration is just one highlight of a week-long Festival of Food and Wine at Jesmond Dene House from 8–16 April, and part of the NewcastleGateshead EAT! Festival of Food and Drink. For more information, call 0191 2123000 or visit www.jesmonddenehouse.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .