November 13th,2010

Dream Job in Chocolate @GREEN &BLACK

Are you looking for a new job? I might have just the right one for you. Have you considered a career in Chocolate Tasting? Micah Carr-Hill,Head of Taste at Green &Black Chocolates,is looking for a Taste Assistant in a nationwide campaign. You could be eating chocolate all day and getting paid for it…sounds awful doesn’t it?

As a part of this search for the right candidate,Gail Haslan of Green &Black Chocolates expertly organised a wonderful evening of testing our taste buds at the Miele Showroom off Oxford Street for a group of food bloggers and I was very lucky to be one of them.

We were faced with some of the same challenges and tests that will await the aspiring taste assistants. I was hoping for a career change after finishing my science PhD but to my huge disappointment I fear this is not going to happen. I catastrophically failed in each of the challenges,damn there it was…so close…my dream job…

food bloggers attentively listening to what Micah has to say

So read on and if you feel confident that you would have done much better than me (which is,to be honest,not very difficult) apply! (If you get the job I want to have a life long supply with chocolate,just to make this clear now:) ).

So why is Green&Black Chocolates starting this UK wide campaign? Apparently,even though 1 in 4 people is born with a decent enough palate and is able to distinguish a wide range of tastes,one also needs a good nose. And this combination seems to be much harder to find. Micah estimates that there is only one person in a million with the appropriate senses required to become a chocolate taster. This would be only 61 people in the whole of the UK. Good luck Micah,that’s all I can say…

Now we come to The Challenge:

1. The Chocolate Taste Test

We tasted two ganaches that Micah had prepared beforehand and we had to identify the flavours.

Ganache 1 and 2

Very confidently I tasted the first one,deliciously rich dark chocolate,tasting of…chocolate. I tried,I tasted,I smelled…no way I could identify the underlying flavour. In the end none of us could,the chocolate was infused with coriander leaves and seeds.

The white ganache was full of vanilla flavour (which thank god I picked up,otherwise I would have had to close down my food blog straight away out of embarrassment). The winner of the Taste Test Challenge however was Memalee who could also identify the other two flavours,namely white tea and lime. Respect,I think the job might be hers!

2. The Cocktail Taste Test

I have the feeling that the cocktail tasting might not be part of the normal recruitment process but it definitely made us food bloggers very happy. When we reached this part of the evening I had already indulged in too many of the delicious cocktails prepared by Drink Fusion. I am not sure this counts as an excuse for getting it again terribly wrong. Most ingredients of the Orange Ginger Alexander and the Moth Flower were picked up by Chocolate Ecstasy Tours,the winner of this challenge. (She is doing chocolate tasting tours through London by the way,I think this sounds truly amazing).

The cocktail challenge and Chocolate Ecstasy Tours

3. The 15:15 Challenge

This you would have to do in your interview for becoming a chocolate taster and I,for a change,did not fail this challenge,simply because I did not participate. Only the bravest 9 (namely Simon from F&L,The London Foodie,Meemalee,Feed &Gastro,Feast On Scraps,Food For Think,Chocolate Ecstasy Tours,Kavey Eats,who did I forget?) attempted to cook a dish with ingredients costing not more than 15 pounds in 15 minutes. They all have my sincere admiration,particularly as the dishes were all so good! And look at the presentation! Micah had a hard job deciding which one he liked best.

Dishes prepared in the 15:15 challenge

And the winner again was Meemalee with her linguini with enoki mushrooms and fish roe. She won this amazing Kitchen Aid. Yes,I think the job might be hers…

Despite having lost every illusion of ever becoming a chocholate taster,I had so much fun. Thanks to Green &Black Chocolates for spoiling us rotten! My favourite chocholate flavours by the way are Dark Chocolate with Cherry and 70% Dark Chocolate with Cocoa Solids. Which ones do you like best?

And CLICK HERE to apply for my dream job. Good luck,you will need it!