LA Magazine - The Arbiter

Sweet Lady Joan

FOR A CHOCOLATIER NONPAREIL, GOOD TASTE IS ALL ABOUT LETTING IT MELT

Joan Steuer used to love "Invention Days," when she had free rein in her mother's kitchen. Her ingredients of choice were cocoa, sugar, and butter. Her ice cream sundaes were "a jar of hot fudge sauce and a spoonful of ice cream." Big surprise, then, that STeuer grew up to be the founding editor of Chocolatier magazine and a premier chocolate taster, marketer, and forecaster.

"I don't go more than an hour without chocolate," says Steuer, who savors, never bites. She recently tasted 112 chocolates for a Swiss manufacturer, reporting back on

aroma, surface feel, mouth feel, flavor, viscosity, and fracturability (hardness). She routinely brainstorms with the likes of Procter & Gamble and Sara Lee to predict "the next M & M," and she helped develop Quaker's chocolate rice cake, which required creating a creamy sensation exclusively through flavor. Think about that.

Steuer credits Starbucks with "converting a nation from cafe au lait to overly bitter coffee" and is cautious about sharing the time-honored tasting trick of bunny sniffing. "I had to call 911 once." she recalls. "Friends wanted to learn how to taste, and chocolate morsels were the only thing around. One guy bunny-sniffed a few right into his retronasal passage. It was extremely painful." --- Margo Dougherty

What's Over

Plates; guilt; supersize and supersweet; mindless munching; contrived desserts; liqueur flavorings; gooey fondants; biscotti; tablecloths

What's Now

Grab 'n' go grub; bowls; American artisanal chocolatiers, dark-milk chocolate; intense flavors; small bits and bites; candles

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