The Chef Garde Manger is probably one of the most prestigious positions a person can hold in a professional kitchen but among them, those who work in chocolate, and are good at it are a breed unto themselves. I have watched a few of them at work and have seen a few hundred finished products at various culinary competitions and notably, some were fantastic and some needed more experience and / or imagination. A short story: Generally speaking, each competition is held indoors where the food temps can be readily regulated but on one occasion, at a particularly devastating competition, the whole affair was held in a circus type of tent with little air conditioning. When it was time for the chocolate guy’s (and ladie’s) sculptures to be judged, most of them were melting to a point that they could not be judged. That left those with the smaller projects that could be transferred from the air conditioned vans to the judging tables quickly the only ones that were unscathed by the heat in the tent. All that said, here is one excellent example of what some of the more accomplished Chefs can do. This one by Amaury Guichon is not as intricate as some I have seen but still, it’s magnificent and watching it makes me want....chocolate!
World's longest chocolate train unveiled in Brussels, 2012 A train made entirely of chocolate set a new Guinness World Record as the longest chocolate structure in the world. The sculpture is 34 meters (112 feet) long and weighs over 1250 kilos (2755 lbs).
Here’s proof that chocolate doesn’t make a person fat. Everyone in the entire team making this Cadbury ‘thumbs up” is pretty thin.
I tried to find a vid of the team at work on that marvelous project but alas, not one video have I found. Not to be beaten though, I will keep looking.
Apparently, Chef Andrew Farrugia sculpted the train pretty much by himself. Amazing! Here’s a few more pics of it. Enjoy. https://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/11/34-metre-model-train-made-entirely-from.html#:~:text=A 33.6-meter long train made entirely out of,created by master chocolatier Andrew Farrugia from Malta. Not only is the sculpture the longest chocolate Train in the world but the longest Chocolate Sculpture period. Oh yeah, sorry for the “ear wax” ad at the end. Kinda sorta killed my appetite.
I have to pretend it's not chocolate, otherwise I keep looking for a good spot to take a bite, and miss the big picture.
Thank you for encapsulating exactly how I feel about having any illusion I could even attempt something like that. But it's like any form of art. Heck, I can hardly read my own handwriting most times. I've watched ice sculpting competitions, but never seen a chocolate competition or display. I gotta think the chocolate adds a layer of complexity, because the malleability and the sheen can change so easily.