Come and join us!
Mill Street Chocolate
  • Home
    • The Story
    • Bean to Bar
    • How to fully appreciate your chocolate
    • Our Ingredient Policy
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Contact

MILL STREET CHOCOLATE OUTING TO THE TATE SENSORIUM.......................

16/9/2015

0 Comments

 
5 stars to Paul A Young for his bold, brave and frankly amazing contribution to the ‘Tate Sensorium’!

Mill Street Chocolate’s latest outing was to this temporary exhibition at Tate Britain recently - I was as excited as a puppy!

I admit the main pull for me was that I knew Paul had been involved and that the experience included his chocolate in some form or other!    

This prize-winning exhibition features four artworks from the permanent exhibition at the Tate.  Organisers worked with experts in their fields to select and devise complementary smells, sounds, feelings and tastes to work alongside visitors’ viewing of each work.  So far, so exciting!

I queued for an hour to ensure laying my hands on one of the FREE tickets to this 20 minute experience so, by the time I came to enter through the magic door to this ‘sense wonderland’ anticipations were running high.

To me, by far the most interesting of the four ‘rooms’ was the final one displaying Francis Bacon’s ‘Figure in a Landscape’ – this included the long-awaited chocolate experience!  A hollow chocolate shell filled with a mixture of edible charcoal, cacao nibs, salt, Lapsand Suchong tea this probably rates as one of the most unusual, compelling and exciting taste experiences of my life thus far.

That said, I’m not saying I’d necessarily want to eat it again.  It was fascinating - a real journey of discovery. The following day I could still sense the experience of that dusty, gritty, smoky, salty, earthy, almost muskiness.  It was profound.  But I didn’t ‘like’ it as such.  It won’t be on my Christmas list – “a delicious box of those dusty charcoal chocolates please”.

…………………….but I don’t believe for one minute that was the point.  I found myself torn between wanting to spit it out because it somehow didn’t ‘taste edible’, to moving it around in my mouth increasingly fascinated by the unusual flavour combinations, and the revolutionary textures.  It was a deeply memorable chocolate.

However, I am sad to say that the rest of the exhibition left me cold – somehow reminiscent of a visit to the dentist.  Now, we are only talking a check-up here, not root canal work, but basically the feeling that I’d been subjected to someone ‘messing’ with my senses – artificial smells; harsh, often over-loud noises; shapes being ‘blown’ unexpectedly onto the palm of my hand by a machine.  All vaguely unpleasant and uncomfortable.

But that chocolate! I would recommend you go just for that.  Rush there – run!  It’s on till 20th September.  Get there an hour before to start queueing or you won’t get a ticket.

Happy chocolate dreams

Steph
#paulayoung  #chocolate

0 Comments

Great Tasting Chocolate.......

27/8/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Here at Mill Street Chocolate, I am still basking ever so slightly in excitement and general enthusiasm at having won three - yes three! - awards in the 2015 Great Taste Awards.

It seems like a long time ago early this year when I decided to enter my 3 plain bars, in the hope that the judges would like them.

It was a bit of a risk entering a big, prestigious competition like the Great Taste Awards when I'd only been trading since the beginning of last year, but I thought "What the hec!" and jumped in with both feet!

It seems the judges liked my chocolate - and now I have all the merchandise to prove it!  Swanky stickers for my chocolate (as shown above), plus bunting and a super smart logo'd apron for when I'm out and about at fairs.

These awards mean that ALL my products are made using 'Award Winning Chocolate' - from my Luxury Chocolates through to  my range of Flavoured Bars.

Next stop in the calendar will be the Wells Food Festival coming up on Sunday 11th October - so, if you are local, come and visit me in Square Edge Cafe and check out my chocolate........and my bunting!

In the meantime, here's hoping for a return of the sun!

Steph Hiller
Owner and Sole Chocolate-maker
Mill Street Chocolate

#greattasteawards #squareedgecafe #dairyfree #glutenfree #soyafree


0 Comments

ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT HAVING FRIENDS....

12/4/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
A friend of mine had a birthday recently - what a great opportunity to invent a new chocolate!

Out came all the ingredients, inventing cap on (otherwise known as blue hairnet - worn in all the most fashionable circles you know!)

I love a chance to spend an afternoon in my kitchen.  Just me and my chocolate (sometimes accompanied by Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Classic FM or maybe the Archers on a Sunday morning!), trying out new flavour combinations, new textures.  Experimenting is fun!

I was pleased with the results - salted hazelnut caramel enrobed in berry chocolate and topped with freeze-dried strawberry pieces and coconut.  Officially named 'Glorious' after the friend in question.


There is a discussion trending on my Facebook page right now which asks  "If you could invent your ideal chocolate what flavours would you use?"  To join in, paste this link into your browser: 
http://on.fb.me/1E4Z1DV

Meet me back here soon for more hot chocolatey topics!

Steph Hiller
Owner and Sole Chocolate-maker
Mill Street Chocolate

0 Comments

One of my all-time favourite books about Chocolate..........

5/4/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
I have a fairly large selection of books relating to chocolate (too large some would say!) - from Recipes, the History, the Science, you name it.  One book I tend to have hanging around for constant reference is the one shown above.  Less educational and more, erm inspirational - ideal when I fancy a real belly laugh.

Opening it randomly at any page, I can guarantee I'll be giggling uncontrollably in seconds.  From her succinct description of Carob ending with the words:
"of course, the same arguments can as persuasively be made in favour of dirt" 
(LOL - detest carob!)

to her assertion that this book is not for everyone and
"will serve little purpose for those who would just as soon have .................(any noun) as chocolate"


.....not a single page disappoints.

Sandra Boynton is described as an American humourist, children's author and illustrator............and confirmed chocoholic!  Her humour resonates with me, the illustrations are hilarious!

When my first copy dropped through the letterbox, within minutes I was back on amazon buying another for a friend.  As far as I can find, it's no longer in print but second-hand copies come and go on amazon - there are a few there now, so rush to the following link and you may grab a copy for yourself......
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chocolate-Consuming-Passion-Sandra-Boynton/dp/0894801996/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428234229&sr=1-1&keywords=chocolate+the+consuming+passion

What can I say other than - do get this book!  It will brighten your day, bring laughter into your home and inspire you to think it really must be time for another morsel of your favourite healthy, dairyfree, glutenfree raw chocolate treat from Mill Street Chocolate!
2 Comments

Welcome to my Blog!.....and a Raw Chocolate Pudding Recommendation

2/4/2015

4 Comments

 
Picture
Welcome to my blog - this blog is devoted to occasional chocolate-related musings, raw chocolate recipes, book recommendations from my fairly extensive (and ever-expanding) chocolate library, and fascinating facts about chocolate.

If this is of interest to you, please sign up to my blog and join me on my exciting journey into the world of healthy Raw chocolate!

I thought I would begin with a recommendation for an amazing Raw Chocolate Pudding that I made when my friend came for lunch the other day.  It is so deliciously rich, creamy, smooth and chocolatey that we thought we were in chocolate heaven - and it took less than 5 minutes to make!  The recipe was devised by the Rocking Raw Chef and you can try it for yourself by going to her website (
http://rockingrawchef.com/) and signing up for the free 5 minute recipes, as I did (it is recipe number 3!).

Best of all, this pudding is  dairy and gluten free and consists only of avocados, raw cacao powder, maple syrup and vanilla.  So you can feed yourself, your friends and family on a pudding that nourishes the body and tantalises the tastebuds at the same time!  Who could ask for more?!

The picture above shows the pudding in all its glory, topped with my home-made mint buckwheaties for added crunch.

See you again soon with more chocolatey fun!
Steph


4 Comments
Forward>>

    Author

    I'm Steph Hiller, the creator of Mill Street Chocolate.  I make luxury handmade raw chocolate, with love and in tiny  batches,  from my home kitchen.

    Archives

    March 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Home
The Story
The Ingredient Policy
From Bean to Bar
How to Fully Appreciate your chocolate
The Shop
Contact

Copyright Mill Street Chocolate 2014.
Privacy Policy  | Terms and Conditions | Cancellation Policy

Website by jaypeg

    Sign up to hear our latest news

Sign Up
Picture
Picture
  Contact: Steph Hiller, BA5 2AT   Tel: 01749 689 114