Baltimore Eats - In The Kitchen

"You, are a very dangerous man!"

That was the verdict my photographer gave after sampling the "Basque Square," a divinely wicked little rectangular bonbon made from figs soaked in Port wine and a milk chocolate butter ganache -just one of the exquisite offerings in Larry McGlinchey's "galerie au choclat."

This is Cacao Lorenzo, Larry's tiny jewel box of a store hidden in suburban Dulaney Valley, where he works his sweet magic with an artist's attention to every delicate detail and an obvious love for his craft.

An energetic and quick-witted Irishman, McGlinchey didn't start out as a chocolate maker. In fact, he enjoyed a successful career selling medical equipment before the spell of chocolate took hold.

As a salesman, Larry spent a great deal of his time servicing accounts in Europe and it was there that he fell in love with fine chocolate. "Americans do a lot of really wonderful things -but making chocolate, I'm afraid, just isn't one of them. Once you've tasted the real thing, American-made chocolate doesn't cut it anymore!"

Intrigued, in his off-hours Larry enrolled in one class after another, studying the art of chocolate making from some of Europe's finest masters. "I didn't plan to ever make a career of it, but I have spent 20 years learning my craft," he says with genuine pride.

For years Larry indulged this devotion to his art by creating special gifts for clients and friends. "Then I found I was getting more calls from people wanting my chocolates than from clients wanting medical supplies!" He laughs. Two years ago he took the plunge and opened Cacao Lorenzo Chocolatier, nestled in the lower level of a small complex of office buildings in a residential area north of Towson.

Stepping into Cacao Lorenzo is like passing through a time/space portal and suddenly finding that you've been whisked to 18th century France, standing in a tiny, intimately lit salon surrounded with pastels, gilt, flowers, delightful little statutes perched on ornate sconces and shelves stacked with chocolate lovelies of every description...

Two rooms off to the side of the retail space serve as production areas. Here the light is bright and the stainless steel is spotless. "You can't really call it a kitchen, since there isn't even a real stove here..." Larry chuckles, as he brings out tray after tray of assorted temptations, and offers more treats to sample:

"This is Luna di Miele, a honey ganache with milk chocolate... These are Dos Corazones, made with a pistachio ganache and covered in white chocolate..."

Cacao Lorenzo's chocolates are unique -rich and complex with deep, subtly blended flavors. As Larry puts it, "There's a lot going on here... This one is a chestnut paste ganache with Calvados, a French apple brandy, and dark chocolate. The combination of the apple brandy and the chestnut is a marriage made in heaven -Oh, it's just wonderful stuff!"

Striving to bring genuine Old World techniques and quality to American chocolate devotees, Larry imports most of his ingredients. "Like my chestnut paste... to get the real thing, I have to get it from France. Oh it's horribly expensive, but you're also getting a very, very different product," he insists. Pulling out yet another tray with rows of dark and luscious-looking concoctions all neatly lined up like little soldiers, Larry explains the elaborate steps involved in hand-making traditional fine chocolates.

One of his specialties is his Media Noche, roasted hazelnuts covered in dark chocolate. The process here is called "panning." A round steel contraption that looks, actually, like a small cement mixer, rotates very slowly; the chocolate is carefully ladled in while the hazelnuts roll gently inside. Properly done, panning the nuts can take several hours.

"Enrobing" is to cover a sweet, flavored center in a chocolate shell. There are two, rather touchy, steps to it since before the "robe" can be draped, a "foot" must be established beneath the creamy center. Evenly shaped chocolate bars are cut from the large sheet of cooled chocolate with the sharp steel wires of a "guitar" -a sort of giant egg slicer.

All of Cacao Lorenzo's chocolates are made right here, crafted by hand, by Larry himself and usually only one assistant. Needless to say, that makes for some long, long hours at the shop. That's one of the reasons why Larry chose a retail spot close to his home.

Situated in such an off-the-beaten-track location, McGlinchey's success has come mostly from enthralled customers who pass the word. "Many of my customers are from Europe. We have a real loyal, almost a cult following, of European ex-patriots who come here regularly. They say it reminds them of home -but you know, you don't need to be from Europe, or have an 'educated palette' to know the difference when you taste one of these!"

"I've never tasted anything like this before!" is the usual response from first time customers. And once you've tried one of Larry's creations you'll be intrigued, wanting to know more about the art of chocolate. That's why Larry constantly works on increasing folks' awareness of what it is that makes a truly Fine chocolate. In his shop you can pick up a little quiz he's created on interesting chocolate facts (The answers are on the back.) and even a Chocolate Crossword Puzzle to play!