Down a country road on a piece of farmland in Sparta, TN lies a little known gem of a place called Must Eat Chocolate. It is there that owner/operator Randi Muster hones her skills as a chocolatier. It is a passion she discovered quite by chance while working for Arete, a fine chocolate company in Spencer, TN. Unfortunately Arete is no longer in operation; however, Randi found a mentor in her former boss, who believed in her skills so much that he helped her set up a small operation where she could continue practicing the art of crafting fine chocolate.
Creating fine chocolate is, in fact, an art form, as I recently found out when my aunt and I visited Randi this week. You might be interested to know that when she is not making chocolate to sell to the public, Randi spends her time teaching, sharing her passion and passing along the knowledge she has gathered over the years. Having never taken a chocolatiering class before and knowing very little about the process outside of what I have seen in movies, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Randi’s teachings but it is an experience I won’t soon forget.
It was a bit of a journey trying to find Must Eat Chocolate, but when we finally arrived Randi greeted us with a warm smile and an enthusiastic welcome. On this day, my aunt and I were her only two students, which worked out quite well for us. Nothing replaces the education you get in a small class where there is more one-on-one interaction, not to mention the chocolate samples we received; and boy did we sample! In a class that lasted about 3 hours, Randi was not only generous with her time, but with her chocolate as well. I probably ate more chocolate that day than I have any day of my life and I loved every minute of it.
From Bean to Bar
Randi began our class by showing us slides, giving us a brief history of cacao, how and where beans are grown, what climate they prefer, and how various beans differ in flavor depending on where they are cultivated. She even let us taste the cacao nibs, or roasted cocoa beans, that had been crushed in preparation for the next step in the chocolate making process. You can actually crush these by hand like a peanut and eat the insides. She let us sample nibs from a few different places, each one with its own nuance of flavor.
Of course we did more than just sample chocolate and look at slides. Prior to our visit, Randi already had chocolate in various stages of development so we could be directly involved in the process. She allowed us to add ingredients during the conching and refining process and let us help her flavor the chocolate during the tempering process. Tempering is what gives chocolate that irresistible glossy finish. On this particular day Randi was tempering her blood orange chocolate so she let us help her taste test to determine how much flavoring needed to be added. Oddly enough any time the three of us tried out a sample of finished chocolate or even a nib at the same time we all picked up on different flavor intensities. In that way I imagine it is a little like wine tasting. Of course everyone has their own unique palate so people aren’t necessarily going to pick up on the exact same flavor notes. As for adding flavoring to the chocolate, you won’t find any store brand extract in Randi’s recipes. She only uses all natural oils and extracts in her fine chocolate creations.
The Secret Ingredient
At the end of the day Randi sent us home with some parting samples of chocolate. Additionally, we bought a couple of bars of chocolate like some of the samples we had tasted earlier. Our only disappointment is that we didn’t get to buy any of Randi’s white chocolate. For some reason the white chocolate is not a big seller for her so she doesn’t really make bars for the general public. It is, however, without a doubt the best tasting and creamiest white chocolate you will ever have so if you get a chance to sample it don’t hesitate.
They say that love is the secret ingredient to any great recipe and that certainly seems to be true in Randi’s case. Her passion for chocolatiering comes through in her teaching and her final products. As much as she loves being a chocolatier, Randi’s real enjoyment comes from going out to the farmers’ markets and meeting would-be customers. As she puts it, she really just likes making people happy; and have you ever known anyone to be unhappy while eating a piece of chocolate?
Whether you have ever bought any of Randi’s chocolate or not I highly recommend signing up for one of her classes. You will not only gain insight into how chocolate is made, but you will obtain a new appreciation for what constitutes fine chocolate.
For more information on Must Eat Chocolate, how to purchase Randi’s products, and/or take one of her chocolatiering classes visit musteatchocolate.com