[piracer]

I've always had this problem for professional pastry with things like sugar, flour, and chocolate. How do you guys obtain the best quality you can? And where do you think the best ingredients come from? I assume that the best chocolate is produced in South America or Africa and things like sugar possibly from Asia and what not. So the question is, what is your dream ingredients to work with? As in, anything goes, hands down, ultimate ingredients.

[HeavyMetal Chef]

I may not be THE pastry chef of the kitchen but i can tell you a few things i have noticed about our product (mainly chocolate). First off, out of preference I like cocoa barry cocoa powder because it has rich cocoa flavor and it is not to acidic unlike des alps and valrohna (did double chocolate chip cookies with each cocoa powder). Des alps dark chocolates (mainly 50%, 63% and 70%) have a fruity flavor with a slight acidity to it. Valrhona is more acidic and slightly fruity (all the couveture i am talking about is in coins). There is this one brand (some swiss name that begins with an "F") that comes in a gold bag that you can get from american gourmet that is very cocoay even its milk chocolate. That milk chocolate doesn't hold up as well as valrohnas caribe so it is not best used for things such as pot du creme and custards with a little amount of eggs. King Aurthurs hard flour seems to be a little more tough than others. I prefer cocoa barrys gianduja because it is easier to cut than des alps (cocoa barrys is in a bar and des alps is in a tub.....one time we had a plastic in dessert incedent). Im not sure if you know but it seems like the pasturized egg whites and yolks dont whip as well as plain whites and the yolks dont hold up as well in custards or thicken sauces as well. Well that all i can give you from my little bit of experience.