AsiaLIFE

Valentine’s Day is on its way. For chocolate makers that means one thing: peak season. As Phnom Penh’s chocolatiers go into a sugar rush, Ellie Dyer and photographer Conor Wall learn more about their art.

A small group of skilled chocolate makers are pushing boundaries in Phnom Penh. With towering chocolate stiletto shoes, cocoa-covered carved dragons and edible chocolate boxes, it seems nothing is impossible when it comes to the world of confectionary.

At the Chocolate Shop on Street 240, Valentine’s Day preparations are well underway weeks in advance. Containers of melted chocolate churn slowly as pink-clad chefs mix huge bowls of praline and ganache – ready to be piped inside chocolate moulds and sold to the public.

“Many people will come to buy,” says 25-year-old Srey Mom as she whips up a fresh concoction of creamy filling.

Trained by an expert brought over from Belgium, Srey Mom knows what she is doing in the kitchen - which has been dehumidified and cooled to a bone-chilling, in Cambodian terms, 19 degrees Celsius. Her delicate hands, along with those of her fellow workers, can mould chocolate into almost any form – including Buddha, hearts and Christmas trees.

The same can be said at the chocolate outlet in the capital’s Sofitel hotel. Under the guidance of corporate executive chef Sakal Phoeung, a team of 12 pastry chefs and chocolate makers are creating notoriously difficult to perfect French macarons along with a selection of other handmade treats.

“Some rich [Cambodians] travel and know the product. Our chocolate has to be good, as it needs to be as good as when they went to Paris,” says the French chef, whose window display includes a giant dragon carved from chocolate by a talented ice sculptor.

The secret to producing fine chocolate has several elements, according to the experts. Most importantly, the raw product has to be high-quality.

Cambodia imports base chocolate from abroad, as the process of processing cocoa beans here would be very difficult to achieve for such a small market. The beans are grown in Africa and South America, although a plantation has recently been developed in Vietnam.

Once imported, chocolate is tempered, flavoured and moulded in the Kingdom. In the country’s hot climate, temperature control is a key part of production. A cool temperature keeps confectionaries looking glossy and smooth, whereas humidity can ruin their shine.

Sakal Phoeung of Sofitel and the Chocolate Shop’s Belgian owner Griet Lorré both aim to put a Cambodian spin on their products and are targeting growing demand from the Kingdom’s sweet-toothed.

From Kampot pepper-coated black chocolate, to passion fruit swirls and durian-flavoured delights, experimentation is everywhere. The Chocolate Shop even makes boxes made of chocolate that have been decorated with Angry Birds and Hello Kitty transfers.

“People want to have a box of chocolates that no one else has,” says Lorré.

Valentine’s Day is a prime time for giving chocolates to loved ones, and Lorré has seen the romantic Feb. 14 festival grow in popularity in Cambodia over the last few years.

While running The Shop café, before opening its chocolate branch four and half years ago, Lorré saw students buying more and more of her small handmade chocolate selection each year for their girlfriends or boyfriends.

“At first they were spending $1 a box, the next year $3 and the next $5,” she says.

Now that the holiday has become increasingly celebrated in Cambodia, it may prove to be a repeat of Christmas time – when the Chocolate Shop sold every piece of chocolate. “The next day you have to start from zero,” she says.

So, however you decide to celebrate Valentine’s Day, bear in mind that – just like the central point of chocolate making according to Lorré - “the important thing is to make it special.”