The Food Festival - Baruzzo Chocolate

This is Raffaella Baruzzo, Chocolotisa Extraordinaire. Italian by birth and certainly in heart, hers was the first booth that I came across at the Real Food Festival. Still not sure why I stopped at this small stand, but I am positive it had something to do with the impeccably dressed woman with a generous smile. I learned that Raffaella worked in the UK's chocolate industry for twelve years before branching out with her own aptly named brand, Baruzzo. These days she spreads her time between Italy (where the chocolate is produced) and the United Kingdom (where it is distributed) - but manages to find time in between to source beans in Ecuador.

The first thing I sampled were the chocolate pralines and by far my favourite was the Pink Heart which is "70% Ecuadorian ganache - perfect for the chocolate purist". I love dark chcolate and can be quite particular about it, but this was superb. Richly, deeply flavoured, without the bittness of some darks. Baruzzo also infuses their premium chocolates with exotic flavours which include:

- White ganache flavoured with pure Tuscan rose oil

- Northern Italian honey, marigold flower extract and dark chocolate ganache

- Oolong tea with Jasmine and milk chocolate

- Fine Almond paste from Sicily and milk chocolate praline

Sadly, Baruzzo doesn't have an online shop yet - but I imagine it will be coming soon. Keep your eyes on www.Baruzzo.co.uk