30 November, 2009
Get all your Christmas shopping done in the most pleasurable way possible – by heading down to Ledbury Road and Westbourne Grove on Wednesday evening for the late night shopping evening from 4-8pm. Many shops in this area are small independent stores, support us!
Start off with a cocktail at Beach Blanket Babylon then meander down Ledbury Road until you reach your final destination for dinner – either The Ledbury or Bumpkin, both are a delicious way to end your successful shopping trip.
Here are my top tips for pressies:
B & T Antiques for chic presents for the home.
www.bntantiques.co.uk/welcome/
Aime and Petit Aime have the sweetest things for childrens rooms, clothes and shoes.
www.aimelondon.com
Assya for the prettiest pink earrings I have seen which I am currently lusting after.
www.assya.co.uk
Our new Owl Hot Chocolate cup designed by Helen Musslewhite which was delivered last Friday, perfect for stockings.
www.meltchocolates.com
A signed copy of Ottolenghis cookery book. The lamb, mint and ginger recipe is wonderful on p.104
www.ottolenghi.co.uk
The most gorgeous childrens clothes ever from ilovegorgeous
www.ilovegorgeous.co.uk
Cute nighties and underwear from my favourite store Alice & Astrid, everything is just too tempting.
www.aliceandastrid.com
…And then you have Bamford for boys stuff, Matches, Brora for everyone and loads more. Happy Shopping!
Miss Melt will be bringing you more edible ideas for the most delicious Christmas ever…next week Christmas Food.
11 November, 2009
As we lurch into the Christmas run-up our very own Miss Melt can advise on the perfect Christmas gifts. She is a bit like Penelope Pitstop, full of energy and always on the go. All the legwork has been done for you and everything goes with CHOCOLATE!
It’s all in the detail at Christmas, and the thought does count, a freshly made coffee for your loved one on Christmas morning will score vital brownie points.
The ultimate in good taste is niche brand Sea Island Coffee, I’ll be wanting a cup of the Hawaii Greenwell Private Reserve where the coffee plants are “kissed by morning sun and caressed by afternoon rain showers.”
www.eastislandcoffee.com For wine – if you’re quick off the mark and belong in the megabucks bracket, why not be charitable at the same time and buy a barrel of divine Burgundy from the Christies traditional Hospice de Beaune Wine Auction on the 15th November? How do you trump a gift like that!
www.christies.com/eCatalogues/index.aspx?id=48A803FB68A224568525755200372429
If your loved one is serious about tasting chocolate and wine then don’t buy a synthetic mass-produced perfume for her stocking. Seek out small, artisan brands, I ADORE my little treat to myself from Liberty’s last week (I have to road test it, of course!) You will be appreciated a lot more for sourcing Ambrette 9 from the brand Le Labo, it smells like a freshly bitten apple – minimal packaging, yes please - and you can add a note for the label to make it more personal.
www.lelabofragrances.comThe perfect finale for this delicious list of gifts must be the biggest 'must have' of this Christmas, from the just launched new Melt Bar range The Gold Bar – a little bit of delicious glamour - I suggest eating this for breakfast for the most hedonistic start to the day.
www.meltchocolates.com
Miss Melt will be bringing you more edible ideas for the most delicious Christmas ever…
11 November, 2009
We are asked many times "Does chocolate go with wine?" Melt had a very interesting and informative talk at The Wine Society headquarter. The overriding conclusion is "yes!" so here are some successful suggestions:
wine pairings:
Melt and The Wine Society
Many people ask us what to serve with chocolate during a party or
dinner party. I have many dinner parties and had never specifically
paired a drink with one of our fresh chocolates – until last week!
Melt participated in a wine matching talk at The Wine Society and discovered some fantastic combinations. Fortified wines work best. Here are the combinations we tried. The Domecq Venerable Pedro Ximénez, 30 years old with the Colombian truffle blew my head off. Not only was it a huge success at my dinner party last week – it is my daily evening treat for getting through the day in one piece!
1. Perrone Moscato d’Asti, 2007 – A slight sparkle with a natural sweetness.
Good with the Melt milk truffle or light chocolate mousse.
2. Bleasdale Langhorne Creek Sparkling Shiraz – A spicy Shiraz well paired
with food. Good with dark chocolate and fruit combinations such as caramelised
raspberry heart.
3. Hahn Estates Monterey Merlot, 2006 – A dry red with vanilla and redcurrant
notes. Delicious with dark chocolate from Madagascar which typically has red
fruit notes.
4. Stanton and Killen 12 year old Muscat, Rutherglen – A Muscat with fig,
caramelised nuts and orange notes. Goes extremely well with the Melt salted
praline or a plain milk chocolate.
5. Henriques & Henriques Malmsey, 10 years old – Very successful with the
Melt coffee cup chocolate.
6. Samos Anthmis, 2001 – Strong orange notes that work well with our
Champagne truffle.
7. The Society’s Exhibition Orkney Single Malt Whisky, 20 years old – Quirky
but good combined with a dark chocolate from Santo Domingo – each has smoky
notes that marry well.
8. Domecq Venerable Pedro Ximénez, 30 years old – Extremely rich and
powerful, a real winning combination with the Melt single origin Colombian truffle.
All the above wines are available at The Wine Society ( www.thewinesociety.com)
All the chocolates are available online.
Keeping with the wine theme, my breakfast this morning was the most sublime sweet Austrian wine from Merry Widows made with the sophisticated Samling grape variety alongside gorgeous silky chocolate with salt and beautiful pink peppercorns. Wow, what a breakfast!
The combination was so successful that Charlotte Bendel & Linn Rothstein from Merry Widows have commissioned these gorgeous chocolate tasting squares. Chika Wantanabe, Melt's Head Chocolatier decided that the Maldon Sea salt would be just perfect to cut the sweetness. The combination is sophisticated and modern. The visually stunning combination of milk chocolate seasoned with beautiful crushed pink peppercorns is also a highly successful dovetailing of flavours.
www.merrywidowswine.com
01 November, 2009
Tastings with Melt and Seventypercent Come and join Melt's and Seventypercent's chocolate tasting. It is with Santander, from Colombia. Colombia is not well known as a fine chocolate cacao origin, with only a handful of bars using beans from the country, despite its location just next door to Venezuela and its fine reputation for coffee. However in a valley hidden between two spurs of the Andes, is one of the most interesting cacao growing areas. Called the Magdalena valley, it is a Department of Santander. Just over the mountains to the east is Sur del lago in Venezuela, home of Porcelana and the source of many other great Venezuelan varieties. The genetics of the cacao in Santander are closely related to Venezuelan criollo, making this an exciting bean source for fine chocolate and a step closer in our hunt for the mystical white crillo bean.
For this month’s growing country chocolate tasting, Martin Christy reports back from his recent visit to Colombia, which was hosted by Santander chocolate producer Compañía Nacional de Chocolates. Martin will introduce fine chocolate from Colombia with chocolate from Santander and other companies.
Melt Chocolates have been using Santander for their truffles for several years now. These will be on offer as part of the tasting along with a glass of wine. Featured products will be on sale take home.
If you have read this far - you deserve a hot chocolate at our new Melt Bar in Ledbury Road. So present this HTML and we will give you a 50 per cent discount on our hot chocolate shot.
Tasting is £35 per person (incl wine and truffles), 7.00pm-9.00pm, Weds 14 Oct 2009
Melt, 59 Ledbury Road, Notting Hill, London, W11 2AA
© Melt 2010
