I was raised in the fifties between France and Tunisia where my parents had a wheat farm 25 miles west of Tunis. In this bucolic setting I learned that some of the best things in life are simple and pure.
Our bread was baked at the farm in a wood fired oven. The flour, ground by the workers wives, came from the wheat stored in giant concrete bins holding the year's crop. It was milled with a rudimentary mill, composed of two 10 inch diameter gray grinding stones. The bottom one, fixed, had a vertical metal shaft in the middle. The top one had an oversized center hole to accommodate the shaft and allow the grains to be fed between the grinding stones.
The women in large flowing local dresses and traditional silver jewelry would sit down against a wall, her legs spread open and the mill in between, a bag of wheat within hand's reach on each side.
With a small wooden handle attached by a string to the top stone the woman would turn vigorously the top stone with one hand while slowly feeding the grain in with the second. A fine flour would flow onto her dress as the stone turned. I vividly recall her smile, a mixture of pride, joy and anticipation of delicious bread, associated with the sweet nutty smell of the freshly ground flour.
The bread was flat, the size of pita but only thicker. Firing the conical oven with lots of kindling it looked like a volcano in eruption. When it was consumed and had reached the proper temperature, she would wet one side of the bread by sprinkling water with her fingers in a quick flip of the wrist and forcefully slap the bread on the vertical inside part of the cone-shaped "taboun" oven where it would stick to the wall. When baked, the bread would fall by itself in the hot ashes at the bottom of the oven and any left over amber would make a little burn mark on the crust adding extra taste
Knowing how much I loved this bread, our cook's wife, would often bring me a piece, still warm, which I would dip in olive oil from our orchard. It was a simple delight. To this day I relish its taste and memories.
What does this have to do with chocolate cake?
The same universal principles apply. Take the finest pure ingredients (organic butter, eggs and sugar along with organic chocolate), use knowledge and skillfully combine them so that each one compliments the other and does not use short cuts or any unpronounceable ingredient.
In the case of the bread this method is perfectly adapted to the geographic location and the available fuel and resources. The method has been refined and tested over the centuries and results in a perfect harmony of taste and texture. GateauOChocolat also aims to be a symphony of pure, simple ingredients and skillful execution.
Try it and please, let us know what you think.
Emmanuel Roux was born and raised in Tunisia from French parents. In 1961, Roux's family moved back to France. He studied in France, London and Switzerland while serving in the French Navy. Roux also worked in oil research in desolate parts of the Sahara in Algeria, Niger, and Mali.
In 1975 Roux moved to New York. He was hired as the general manager of the Lotos club - an exclusive arts and literature club. Later, he moved to Savannah, Georgia. In 1979, he founded Gaston Dupre Inc. -the first high-end pasta company in the U.S. Gaston Dupre pioneered the concept of flavored gourmet pastas to the American market.
Based on a French dessert discovered in a Parisian restaurant, GateauOChocolat gluten free flourless chocolate cake was laboriously tried, tested, and refined with many dedicated friends who helped craft what has become "Heaven's official chocolate cake!"
More information is available online for GateauOChocolat luxurious and decadent gluten free flourless chocolate cake at http://gateauochocolat.net
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