shaaditimes
Directory Expert Zone Community Shaadi SHOP Shaadi MATRIMONIALS
A relationship and

Indian wedding

 portal by Shaadi.com
 
Channels
   

Astro Reads

   

Celebrities

   

Movies

   

Customs & Rituals

   

eNovel

   

Fashion & Style

   

Health & Beauty

   

Home & Kitchen

   

Financial Planning


Your Interiors


All About Food


Money & Us


Vaastu Shastra


Ask Our Expert


Home & Kitchen Shop

   

Legal

   

Love & Relationships

   

Community

   

Celebrations

   

Travel

   

Wedding




Chocolate Epiphany
With Mumbai Chocolatier Manisha Saraf

Poised for the India's wedding season, scrumpdelilicious delicacies for Diwali also may not need much preparation if Chocolatier, Manisha Saraf, has her way.

Saraf, a savvy housewife turned professional Pastry Chef / Chocolatier and has been creating sumptuous, original, and innovative desserts for the past decade. Her deserts not only pique your taste-buds for their rich opulent texture and flavour but also your visual senses as she elevates chocolates and their presentation to an art-form. Saraf is famous for sculpting floral bouquets, object d'art, and everyday kitsch into edible mouth-watering sweets.

A self-taught chef, Manisha slowly cultivated her hobby and interest into a small business when she decided to open her own atelier, which concentrated only on chocolate in all shapes, sizes and forms. Widely travelled she realized on a visit to Europe that India was far behind when it came to chocolate. "We are still not as advanced as the Europeans as chocolate originated in the West," she says. The process to reach this level of expertise has taken Manisha ten years on her quest to develop the perfect chocolate to melt in the mouth.

Advertisement
 

Some of the changes Manish has noticed over the years in her clients' requests have been in the packaging and their decision to order mithais or chocolates or a combination. "There definitely is a trend for people to order chocolates during the festive season as gifts. For weddings as they are auspicious the traditional sweets are still preferred," she observes.

"Many Marwari families will order fusion where chocolate is added as a decoration with the mithai. Punjabi, Gurjarati and Sindhi communities order chocolates for other occasions such as those before the wedding like the Engagement, Sangeet, Mehendi and the Reception following the wedding." She adds, "There has been a growing wave of consumers that prefer to send chocolates on birth announcements, corporate occasions and other invitations."

Her boxes are hand-made and decorations include a range of traditional motifs like ambis, potlis, tila and bandhini. "During Diwali and especially for wedding announcements chocolates are mixed with an assortment of nuts as this is considered pious, opulent and rich. Most North-Indians prefer cashews, pistachios and almonds."

What makes her a cut-above the rest?
"We import the best Belgium chocolate which is really important especially for Truffles and the Ferraro chocolates." When Manisha is not churning out delicious sweets she finds time to conduct professional classes in liquor chocolates, different cuisines, and other delicious delights. "I offer over 80 different culinary courses."

Some of her signature recipes include a Chocolate fountain with different mithais, chocolate ladoos [ click here for recipe ] and Belgium style Ferrero Rochers.


For NRIs there's no need to worry as Manisha Saraf ships worldwide.
"Depending on the size of the order we need 4-6 weeks for delivery if it is outside of India. In India about two weeks. In Mumbai less than a week."

Her favourites?
"I love my chocolate bouquets, and the sculpted ring, baby announcement or Diwali Greetings. I also love the Mogul bride and bridegroom which is hand painted with coloured chocolate to depict a miniature painting on a plate which is usually ordered for engagements and weddings."

If you're abroad and want to make some chocolates according to Manisha the simplest recipe is, "Take a bar of chocolate and depending on the brands you may need to add full-cream about one third to chocolate. You can melt this over the stove or in the microwave. Fill into moulds. Put in freezer for fifteen minutes. The chocolates once taken out of the mould should be wrapped in colourful foil paper and then kept in a refrigerator until consumed."

And like all reputed Pastry Chefs / Chocolatiers Manisha would love to hear from you if you have any questions or want to learn more about chocolate! You can call her in Mumbai at 9820161832 or e-mail: saraf_manisha@hotmail.com.

Rohini Bhatia-Singh
Free newsletters Furl itFurl it RedditReddit RSS


  Email me when my feedback goes live
 
Shaaditimes may edit your comments to conform with our content policy. Publishing of comments is at the sole discretion of Shaaditimes.

» Read more articles by this author   



     in     
 
Best Buys
Sandwich Maker
Marble Mobile Holder with Beautiful Watch
Swiftee CG-SPX
Sandwich MakerMarble Mobile Holder with Beautiful WatchSwiftee CG-SPX
   
Rs.1,489 ($38.18)Rs.1,250 ($32.05)Rs.4,295 ($110.13)
shaaditimes newsletters
Get FREE newsletters by email

Weekly [?]
Fashion Passion [?]
HealthLine [?]
Homemaker [?]
Travelogue [?]



Expert Advice

All About Food : Easy To Make Delights


Face Value : Waxing Face, Chest Or Back Can Flare Acne


Infertility : Surrogacy Is A Second Option To IVF


Hair Care : Mineral Water Can Reduce Dryness Of Hair


Ask our Experts :
Tarot, Personality Development, Vaastu Shastra, Matrimonial Laws, Immigration (US), Shaping Up, Expert Advice, Your Interiors, Life, etc, Lifestyle, Unique Ideas.

Intimacy Special

Sleepwell




 
Astrology Reading
Celebrities
Celebrations
Celebrity Weddings
Community
Customs & Rituals
eStory
Fashion & Style
Health & Beauty
Home & Kitchen
Indian Movies
Legal
List Your Site
Love & Relationships
Matrimonials
Our Experts
RSS
Shaadi Shop
Travel
Wedding Planning
Write to the Editor
Contact Us
Site Map
Terms & Conditions
Network Sites : Shaadi.com | Shaadipages.com | Fropper.com | Astrolife.com | Mauj.com | Makaan.com | Shaadi.com Centres

Copyright © 1999-2008 shaaditimes.com - A relationship and Indian wedding portal by Shaadi.com. - All Rights Reserved.
All trademarks, logos and names are properties of their respective owners.
ISO 9001:2000 certified website