A Taste of Paris: Chocolate Making at Le Cordon Bleu

One of the things I love most about traveling is learning something while I’m there.

In Paris, that meant spending part of a day at Le Cordon Bleu learning the secrets of chocolate.

We melted, tempered, molded and decorated chocolate, and I discovered very quickly that getting chocolate to behave properly is a lot more complicated than simply melting it.

I loved watching the chef demonstrate each technique and then trying it myself. There is something very satisfying about starting with a bowl of chocolate and eventually looking down at a table filled with things you actually made.

And, of course, I left with quite a collection.

I brought my chocolates back to Fauchon and shared them with the hotel staff. I do that whenever I take cooking and pastry classes while traveling. There is only so much chocolate one woman should be left alone with in a hotel room.

For me, these are the experiences I remember long after a trip is over. I love a beautiful hotel and a wonderful meal, but I also want to get into the kitchen, learn something and come home knowing how it was made.

And we are nowhere near finished with Paris yet.