Chef Donna Nordin Inherited the Chocolate Gene

By Patricia D. Sherman

“If there is such a thing as a chocolate gene, I clearly inherited it!” says Donna Nordin, who oversees the menu at Terra Cotta restaurant in Tucson, AZ. “I’m attracted to its taste, color, and texture and the fact that it’s perhaps the only food item I can eat every day.”

Nordin, who also teaches at La Combe en Perigord, Les Eyzies, in France, studied classic French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu and pastry with Gaston Lenotre, in Paris. She founded her own cooking school, La Grande Bouffe, studied classic French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu and pastry with Gaston Lenotre, both in Paris, France. She had he own cooking school, La Grande Bouffe in San Francisco in San Francisco. She is a member of the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame and was nominated for the “Best Chef of the Southwest” by the James Beard Foundation.

Chef Nordin says her first chocolate memory is of chocolate chip cookies. “I usually picked the one with the most chips. I also sneaked Chocolate covered cherries.” But her chocolate transformation came “during my first trip to France while in college. I tasted the best of chocolate. It was a life changing experience!”

Now as a professional, she prefers high quality bittersweet chocolate. “However, with the availability of high percentage cocoa, I prefer to us chocolate within a 65 percent to 80 percent range. Many of my existing recipes don't work with chocolates above 80 percent,” she says. “Well-balanced and flavorful recipes that create a lasting memory are key. If I taste a chocolate dish that is flat and uninspiring when dining out, I'll reach into my purse where I know I have a snicket of really good chocolate.”

In July 2008, Chef Nordin will lead a group of foodies and chocophiles on a week-long visit to Perigord Noir in southwest France.  Besides visiting country houses and farmers markets, the group will have three hands-on cooking classes.

Read Chef Nordin's recipe for Chocolate Mousse Pie.

Visit www.donnanordin.com.

Patricia D. Sherman is Editor of ChocolateAtlas

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