Geoseph Domenichiello is passionate about expanding people乌鸦传媒檚 palates and minds with fine chocolate.

For 15 years, Domenichiello has been focused on the world of fine chocolate. He is a professional chocolate sommelier, chocolate maker (someone who makes chocolate from scratch) and a master chocolatier (artisans who source chocolate for their own creations). He recently began sharing his experience and knowledge in Salmon Arm through educational chocolate tastings, private and public, from a commercial space at 204-271 Ross St. (above Pharmasave).

Domenichiello explained a chocolate sommelier is similar to a wine or cheese sommelier, someone who is well versed in that niche and able to educate people about it.

乌鸦传媒淭hey have a passion for it,乌鸦传媒� said Domenichiello. 乌鸦传媒淣ot only do they understand the qualities and how to discern them, they乌鸦传媒檙e good at teaching people乌鸦传媒� Wine, cheese, coffee all have those similar components of understanding the regional differences, the ingredient differences, the process and how that influences the flavour, and also how to understand the flavour乌鸦传媒� they all parallel.乌鸦传媒�

Through his tastings, Domenichiello attempts to expose people to the complexities of fine chocolate, and how different it is from what many people know as chocolate.

乌鸦传媒淲e grew up with basically a few companies in the world乌鸦传媒� pumping out chocolate, and they sort of dictated what chocolate should taste like,乌鸦传媒� said Domenichiello. 乌鸦传媒淣ow we have what I call bean-to-bar chocolate makers, fine chocolate makers乌鸦传媒� They乌鸦传媒檙e not just grinding up the same cacao as Nestle and Hershey乌鸦传媒�, they乌鸦传媒檙e finding rare, very rare types of cacao out there, and when I say rare, I mean less than one per cent of the world乌鸦传媒檚 cacao乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淢ost of the cacao that goes into chocolate in the world is a very narrow spectrum of cacao, so it all tastes the same. But it乌鸦传媒檚 kind of like heirloom vegetables, there are many different kinds of cacao, and people have just never experienced that before and that乌鸦传媒檚 sort of what the fine chocolate world focuses on.乌鸦传媒�

Domenichiello乌鸦传媒檚 chocolate tastings also focus on geography, history and flavour. He encourages participants to share what it is their palate is picking up, and compare that to the flavours suggested by the chocolate maker.

乌鸦传媒淚 try to tell them how that parallels, where you乌鸦传媒檙e coming from, why they乌鸦传媒檙e picking up those notes 乌鸦传媒� people don乌鸦传媒檛 really think about food in this way, so as they do, it just becomes more satisfying to them. They don乌鸦传媒檛 realize food or chocolate can be so interesting.

乌鸦传媒淲e have a misconception of flavour 乌鸦传媒� a lot of things people enjoy are usually the basic tastes 乌鸦传媒� like sour, salty, sugar, and the flavour is just kind of sprinkled in a little bit. People think flavour is in the food, that we pick it up in our mouth. No, flavour is a perception in the brain.

乌鸦传媒淭hink of anything you do; if you go travelling or if you listen to music or read a book your brain is being stimulated. That乌鸦传媒檚 what乌鸦传媒檚 so satisfying. When you focus on food that way乌鸦传媒� then you begin to find more satisfaction in something.乌鸦传媒�

Domenichiello hails from Woodbridge, Ont. Growing up, his passions in life were animals, art and food. After high school, he went to university where he focused on sciences, biology and fine arts. With no specific career in mind, he decided to get into a pastry arts program.

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乌鸦传媒淚 went to pastry school and saw a job ad for chocolate sommelier,乌鸦传媒� said Domenichiello. 乌鸦传媒淚 thought that was very interesting. I researched it and ended up getting the job乌鸦传媒� and started growing my passion from there.乌鸦传媒�

To become a chocolate sommelier, Domenichiello explained there was no formal education program at the time. So he learned from the person who hired him and fell back on his training in the sciences to do his own research.

乌鸦传媒淚 just delved into research, articles and books, and talked to other researchers and experiencing and so I basically built my own curriculum and that乌鸦传媒檚 what I teach others,乌鸦传媒� said Domenichiello.

In addition to the tastings, Domenichiello also founded . Described as The Ultimate Fine Chocolate Portal, the website offers educational material, contacts for tasting events, and a shop with a wide range of bean-to-bar chocolates.

乌鸦传媒淚 think when it comes to chocolate, I don乌鸦传媒檛 try to make people feel bad if they like a Cadbury bar or a Lindt bar,乌鸦传媒� said Domenichiello. 乌鸦传媒淚 just want them to understand truly what bean-to-bar chocolate is, what fine chocolate is, I want them to understand the difference乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 about questioning flavour, questioning your food, questioning how we view food and how we view flavour乌鸦传媒� I want people to think and ponder and explore. Because when you乌鸦传媒檙e eating, you don乌鸦传媒檛 analyze what does an orange taste like, or how do you explain the flavour of an orange to someone who never tried it. So that乌鸦传媒檚 the sort of avenues I try to get people thinking about.乌鸦传媒�

For more information and to book a tasting, visit geoseph.com.

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