'Buy a book, choose a chocolate'
Chocolate bookstore illustrated by Kim Seung-tae, is displayed at the chocolate bookstore shelf./ Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoung
Bookshop owner encourages readers to taste exquisite handmade chocolate
By Jung Hae-myoung
A bookstore full of sweet treats, Chocolate Bookstore is an ideal place not only for children but also for adults. In western Seoul's Yeonhui-dong area, the store offers a selection of handmade chocolates and books that are carefully chosen by the owner.
When this reporter stepped inside the shop on Tuesday, a few people were drawing at the big table in the middle of the store. The shopkeeper offered a warm greeting and some chocolate filled madeleines she prepared for her neighbor who also happens to own a bookstore.
Lee Sun-kyung opened Chocolate Bookstore in May. Before this, she was running a chocolate cafe “17 degrees Celsius” nearby with her younger brother who studied chocolate-making. Now the brother runs the cafe by himself.
“My brother asked me for help. I had no idea about this business before. I learned about chocolate while I was running the cafe,” Lee said. She also had lot of concerns as to whether this was the right career path for her. But after the cafe became popular, Lee became optimistic.
“The cafe is just a place where people eat and drink chocolate, but I dreamed of a more cultural space where people can exhibit art and gather around for conversation,” She said. “Then I had some experience making chocolate and I love books. I thought, surely the combination of chocolate and books could not go wrong, so I created this space.”
The place sells many different types of chocolate from original plain chocolate, to variations with almonds, hazelnuts, and berries; to bonbons, brownies and even macaroons.
“There are some bean-to-bar chocolate shops, but I make mine from Valrhona chocolate,” she said.
Bean-to-bar is where the chocolatiers select their own cacao beans which will be processed for their chocolates.
Valrhona, which Lee uses, is one of the most prominent chocolate brands that started in Leon, France since 1922.
“There are many chocolate from different regions and they all have a different acidity and taste,” Lee said. “For me, Valrhona is the best taste for chocolate coverture,”
She takes great care in balancing the taste when making chocolate. She especially emphasized “tempering,” a step to stabilize the chocolate. This is when the chocolatier varies the temperature while stirring the melted chocolate in a bowl.
Good tempering makes the chocolate firm and break easily, and it melts instantly when inside the mouth. “It is an important step because chocolate with good tempering looks good and tastes good too,” she said. Although she said this is a basic part of making chocolate, the basics are important.
There are other chocolates on the market that break this rule. Chocolates sold at convenient stores have other additives.
Tempering chocolate / Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoung
“Like any other food, good ingredients do not need many additives,” Lee said. “Chocolate is the same. It is important to eat good quality chocolate,” she added.
For beginners, she recommended bonbons. “It is a high-class desert, because the taste is delicate yet colorful with different kinds of chocolate mixed inside,” she said.
Because she did not intend to study chocolate at first, she went through a lot of trial and error while running the chocolate cafe. She created several experimental combinations with chocolate, such as making watermelon chocolate, which, she said did not garner very positive feedback from her clients.
“Now we no longer go for experimental chocolate,” she said laughing. From numerous failures, she finally learned how to make proper chocolate.
She said making chocolate requires sensitivity.
“When dealing with chocolate, I realized its ingredients are very delicate,” Lee said. “Small, minor changes in temperature or other factors could lead to failure. For example like today's weather which is very humid is bad for chocolate,” she said.
But she said she was fascinated with the sensitive and sophisticated characteristics of chocolate. She enjoys the delicate nature of chocolate and is excited whenever she learns new things.
With three years of experience as an owner of a chocolate cafe, Lee now wants to focus on the bookstore.
“I really had a strong desire to introduce good books to people, so there is some limitation to making different kinds of chocolate now,” she said.
Almond chocolate ball made with white chocolate/ Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoung
She said she especially likes the combination of the words “chocolate” and “chaekbang” (bookstore).
“There are lot of places that serve coffee and tea with books, but I thought chocolate was a better companion to books,” she said. “Chocolate helps people concentrate when they work and helps boost energy especially when we have low sugar levels. Considering this, why not drink chocolate?” she said.
After opening the chocolate bookstore, Lee has encountered all sorts of customers. “At first there were some middle-aged men who came in and wanted me to listen to their complaints. They would sit down at this bar area and ask for whiskey,” she added.
Now many people understand what this place is for, and she enjoys greeting customers.
“Once there was a customer who came here to find 'The Book of disquiet' by Fernando Pessoa,” she said. “She said that she was quite sure this bookstore would have that book.”
She said she was glad when she heard it, and now knows most of the customers who visit the place have a similar taste in books.