Chocolate fest at Ribérac's La Ruchette

 

Our very own chocolate shop

As I write the rain continues.  I often report here that once the rain starts it has a tendency to continue unabated.  The gutters and downpipes are fully engorged, gushing forth their contents over unwary pedestrians and passing traffic.  Despite the rain there is a distinct sense of Christmas in the air.  Whilst expecting neither Johnny Depp nor Juliette Binoche to turn up in town for the festive season what we have got (in time for Christmas) is a newly opened chocolate shop.  This type of artisanal shop, in my opinion, is what local towns or villages should now be offering if they are to thrive.  Along with the "Atelier du Bois", another recently opened artisanal shop which I recently blogged about, this can only be good news for Ribérac.

 

So many good things to choose from

With the weather being so drear, Lesley and I were drawn in to the new chocolate shop, "Chocolaterie La Ruchette" with its salon du thé to sample something hot, sweet and steamy.  We decided on, of course, a hot chocolate but passed on the chantilly cream.  Whilst we were there a steady stream of customers came in to buy the various irresistable choccy goodies on offer or to comfort themselves with a hot drink.

 

Really,  if it exceeds 70% cacoa, it's good for you

"Chocolaterie La Ruchette" is a very welcome harbour in which to ship-wreck to while away some time on a grim, grey Thursday in December.  Run by the owner and proprietress, Annick Gaboulaud whose husband makes the delectable chocolate goodies she sells, the shop appears to support the theory that in times of dire financial crisis the little affordable luxuries like lipstick and chocolate sell well.  Annick and her husband started in the chocolate making business 18 years ago when they were based just outside Limoges.  Now in Ribérac and living close to the town her husband is a bee-keeper as well as a chocolatier.  Together with their son he not only produces his own honey and honey-related products but also hand-crafts candles of 3D images of animals, nativity scene figurines and the like out of beeswax.  The combination of the bees and the chocolate was what inspired the name of the business as "la ruchette" translates as "small beehive"

 

 

Magic munchy mushrooms made from meringue

 

Chocolates beautifully wrapped to look like champagne corks, now that's style!

The chocolate goodies he makes are "fait maison", made in the back of the shop.  So after the initial journey of getting the raw material, cocoa butter, from its source in hotter parts of the world to Ribérac, no further journey miles are involved in getting the chocs from the creator to the buyer.  Is this another example of "locavorism" or eating local?

 

The house speciality - Cyrano de Ribérac

Annick's delights, as well as chocolate, include a marzipan range and a crystallised fruit range and any of them would make beautiful and unique gifts.  You can buy by weight and have your confection packaged in cellophane pouches tied with ribbon or plain or coloured cardboard boxes, the choice is yours.   There is a counter full of mouth-watering white, milk and plain chocolates in the guise of walnuts or champagne corks, some contain praline, fruit and nuts, some are pieces of kiwi, mandarin or ginger dipped and coated in chocolate and some are alcohol based.  

 

Chocolate shoes?  Suits you Sir

There are so many to choose from it makes my mouth water just to think of them.  Alongside the chocolates are little fruits made out of marzipan, "pâte de fruits".  The colours of these are delightful and would brighten up and grace any Christmas table at dessert time and be great conversation pieces.  There are "marrons glacés" and then there's a counter with "fruits désydrates" or dessicated fruits.  These are real fruits such as strawberry (fraise), cherry (cerise), lemon rind (citron), grapefruit rind (pamplemousse), orange rind and cranberries and even the very unusual aloe vera.  They have been crystallised and look a bit like unusually shaped fruit pastilles but their sophisticated flavours make them fantastic sweeties for grown-ups.  If I could get my "five-a-day" in this way I would but I know Lesley would never allow me the luxury of visiting this shop on a daily basis.

 

Look at these magnificent beasts all crafted from wax sourced from the family's beehives

As well as the sweets and chocolates made by Annick's husband you can also buy meringues, macarons, spicy cake (pain d'épices), chocolate eclairs and slices of apple tarte.  A stand containing dry goods displays Annick's unusual herbal teas which she makes from the produce of her garden;  along with the lime leaf (tilleul) and mint (menthe) was one I had not heard of before "queues de cérises" or cherry stalks which she assured me was a good diuretic.  You can also buy block marzipan (pâte d'amande), royal gelée and Hydromel, a delicious health-giving drink made of honey.

 

Monsieur et Madame Gaboulaud chez eux

Annick presented us with some of the house specialities as a seasonal gesture.  "Cyrano de Ribérac" as they are called.  They are beautifully sweet dried plums dipped in chocolate and coated in icing sugar.  As our local bar-tender would say "dégulicieux'.  So, if you're wondering what to get for that extra special luxury gift that won't break the bank this Christmas why not come along and see what delights Annick has to tempt you with.  Find her at 30 rue du 26 Mars in Ribérac or telephone her on 09 66 98 40 15.  You won't be disappointed.