How do you know if men still have a monopoly – or nearly so – of a food trade?
- has) Women who practice it are rewarded with a special prize.
- b) The lists drawn up by journalists and food critics are inexorably 100% masculine.
- vs) Historically, the feminine noun of this profession designates the household appliance before the function (cooker, coffee maker, icebox, etc.) or the shopkeeper’s wife (the butcher was the butcher’s wife for a long time, as was the baker).
- d) All three together my patriarch captain.
This is the answer d, like “sorry”.
Just to tell you Chocolatiers are no exception to the rule : there’s an award for the best female chocolatier, newspapers and magazines offer us andro-Parigocentric tops every year and I suggest you type “chocolatiere” on Google to admire the results (and scratch your face in anger). Not reverent enough? Of the approximately twenty artisan chocolatiers awarded since 1990, no woman has won the supreme competition for Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
So, since you have to do it all by yourself, here’s a (non-exhaustive) tour of France fifteen chocolate artisans to come to to stock up on bars, pralines and other cocoa sweets.
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: Chappaz chocolates, Saint-Laurent-du-Pont
Fellow of the prestigious Culinary College of France, Gold Tablet and 2017 favorite of the Chocolate Croqueurs Club, Sandrine Chappaz offers great wines, gourmet bars and unexpected combinations, such as her chartreuse or geranium rosat chocolates.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by Sandrine Chappaz (@chocolateriesandrinchappaz)
Burgundy-Franche-Comté: La Beaune tablet, L’Hôpital-du-Grosbois
Former engineer in charge of a cocoa plantation in Vanuatu, Tiphaine Beaune has discovered a passion for this sector. CAP in hand, now he supplies himself with committed cocoa, which he transforms “with love” into the Doubs.
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Brittany: Lady Merveilles, Saint-Avé and the Atlantic coast
In 2020, Marine Schmitt, a decade-long chocolate maker, is making a clean slate and investing in equipment to process her beans herself. A “bean to bar” pass (a business model born out of the artisanal and artisanal chocolate movement representing a one-man business purchasing ethically sourced cocoa beans to produce high quality whole chocolate), awarded gold and bronze at the last International Chocolate Awards.
See this post on InstagramA publication shared by Lady Merveilles (@ladymerveilles_chocolatbio)
Centre-Val-de-Loire: Fèves chocolate factory, Notre-Dame-d’Oé
Wine has its terroirs, even chocolate! In their tea room and chocolate factory called Fèves (4 Rue René Cassin 37390 Notre-Dame-d’Oé), Marie Baillet, Baptiste Cochereau and Marine Paulus introduce you to the particularities of the five countries whose beans are processed.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by Fèves (@chocolaterie.feves)
Corsica: Alexia Santini, Soveria
Alexia Santini was trained on the job: first in her father’s pastry shop, which had been there since 1985, then the internships with the stars of French chocolate. Her chocolates enhance local Corsican products: PDO chestnuts, PGI clementines, citrons …
See this post on InstagramA post shared by Alexia Santini Soveria (@alexiasantinisoveria)
Grand Orient: Maud’s Chocolates, Saint-Brice-Courcelles
Lollipops, snowmen, gingerettes, unicorns or bars: at Maud Billa and her 100% female team, everything is artisanal, organic and fair trade.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by Les Chocolats de Maud 🍫 (@les_chocolats_de_maud)
Guadeloupe: Naomi Martino Chocolates, Baie-Mahaut, Basse-Terre, Saint-Martin…
Naomi Martino, sacred hope of chocolate at the Paris International Fair in 2013, has one goal: to rebuild the cocoa sector in Guadeloupe. Lei’s chocolates are 100% gwada, from the grand cru to the fruits, plants and spices used to flavor them.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by NAOMI MARTINO (@naomimartinochocolats)
Hauts-de-France: Encuentro, Lille
In 2013, four years after establishing their chocolate factory there, Candice Peytour and Antoine Mashi had to leave the Dominican Republic in a hurry. It doesn’t matter: after Punta Cana, then Montreuil, the North is enjoying its bean-to-bar bars and other organic powdered chocolates in Encuentro.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by Chocolat Encuentro 🇫🇷 (@chocolatencuentro)
New Aquitaine: Hasnaâ, Bordeaux and Arcachon chocolates
Since opening her first boutique in 2014, Hasnaâ Ferreira, a chocolatier converted at the age of 30, has won a number of awards: chocolatier of the year, Tablet d’or, Fèves d’or, silver and bronze at the International Chocolate Awards… bean to bar to taste, drink or cook, certified organic.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by Hasnaa Chocolats Grands Crus (@hasnaachocolats)
Occitania: Cacaoterie Marius, Nîmes
From the Ivory Coast to the Gard, there is Kadia Kabore. In his laboratory-boutique Cacaoterie Marius, he transforms the beans planted by his father Rasmane and offers cocoa in all stages of processing: roasted beans, nibs, untanned chocolate, bars …
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Paris: Ursa Major (11th arrondissement) and My Chocolate Garden (14th)
Anouk and Eva Bouillaut worked in the same chocolate factory for ten years before opening their space-inspired boutique called Ursa Major with their sister Julie in graphic design. Spiced, pralined, smoked… Their chocolates are a delight for the eyes and the palate. Bonus: 5% off if you bring their nice boxes back to refill!
See this post on InstagramA post shared by Ursa Major Chocolates (@ursamajorchocolats)
A former computer scientist, Carine Dhers has been producing an artisanal and organic chocolate since 2015, coming from fair trade, under the name of Mon Jardin Chocolaté. Now he is united, as people in professional integration support him in certain tasks.
See this post on InstagramA publication shared by My Chocolate Garden (@monjardinchocolate)
Pays de la Loire: Benoît Chocolats, Angers and Paris, and 20° North 20° South, Challans
Award-winning pioneer, Anne-Françoise Benoît plunged into cocoa twenty-five years ago, at a time when the confectionery union was 100% male, like the chocolatier father’s laboratory.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by Benoit Chocolats (@benoitchocolats)
From beans harvested in Uganda, Nicaragua or the Philippines from producers she meets regularly, Mélanie Paulau produces her chocolates 20° North 20° South in the latitudes of the Vendée, with her shoulder Marion.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by 20°Nord 20°Sud (@20nord20sud)
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur: The whale with the pod, Marseille
Seasonality, diversity and terroir are the obsessions of Claire Hollender, demanding self-taught who officiates behind La Baleine à cabosse, but also as vice-president of the Bean to bar France association, whose members work from bean to bar and guarantee a “virtuoso” chocolate.
See this post on InstagramA post shared by La Baleine à cabosse (@labaleineacabosse)
Front page photo credit: Hasnaa Chocolats Grands Crus; The Beaune tablet; 20° North 20° South.
Source: Madmoizelle
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
