Galliot’s chocolates Mixing different author's flavors

Little neat factory in Proslav, Plovdiv. We’re are welcomed by the smiling Vincent and Maria, who start telling us about the chocolate path they have taken. They meet in France and in 2008 decide to move and live in Bulgaria. “I needed to get away from France, where I started feeling suppressed by the routine-says Vincent-The decision to come to Bulgaria was a try, how Maria will feel and how I will adapt”. It turns out that Vincent quickly begins to feel at home. He had neither any expectations, nor something familiar he was looking for. The life in Bulgaria gives them a chance to develop new ideas and achieve dreams they never thought about back in France.

Vincent likes Bulgaria-its nature, the fact that mountains and the sea are so close. There is one even stronger positive side living in Bulgaria – the freedom. “The way I understand it, freedom is about exploring unfamiliar terrain and trying new opportunities. You have to take advantage of the right moment and grab the opportunity.

Vincent’s favorite Bulgarian meals are the ones cooked in a vest, as well as katma, mekitsa and banitsa, which he eats a little because of the gluten. He misses his family and the different kinds of cheese in France.

The idea to make chocolate was born gradually. The main factor was his travel to Venezuela, where he met people, who grew cocoa. This fully change their concept of what chocolate actually is. They are able to see how cocoa beans turn into chocolate. The discovery of chocolate being a fruit and the fact that its taste qualities depend on the region and variety, as well as the attitude towards it, made Vincent and Maria start experimenting. They tasted cocoa from different regions and make chocolate at home. And a few years later, when they decided to grow old in Bulgaria, the idea of building their own factory appeared.
The factory has started working in 2011. What makes it unique is that they don’t use established recipes and do things the consumer does not expect. They experiment, mix different flavors and according to Vincent they put the freedom he was talking about in the beginning. Small production gives the chance to experiment. Furthermore, the young family emphasizes on the crafting. Every stage of the production that can be handmade is made with the smallest machine interference. They work with cocoa beans, not with cocoa mass as big factories does. It is grind with a small grinder, manually cast into shapes and packed by hand.

Chocolate with the names: Opera, Blues, Jazz, Chanson are the first to do a reflection on their personal path. “They tell the whole idea of what we are actually doing-says Vincent, We want to show that as with wine when variety and origin are different, the product is different, too. For Blues cocoa is from Peru and for Jazz it is from Venezuela. It gives it more standard taste of black chocolate, coffee and roasted nuts. The one from Peru has fruits, which make it a lot more fresh for a black chocolate.”

The musical names-blues, jazz, opera, rock, origin from Vincent’s former life, when he used to be tutor. They both find a lot in common between music and chocolate- on one hand in the conception of one recipe for chocolate with music composing and on the other hand with the feeling of finding new tastes and the emotions while tasting the chocolate, just like it happens when we listen to music.

At the new chocolate factory, Vincent and Maria, succeed in achieving another one of their ideas- customers tours. That way they make people part of the process. There is a strong interest from school groups and they both share that this is their mission- not only to develop children’s food culture, but of the consumer as a whole. What they tell us about the chocolate can be adapt to every single product. Furthermore, they develop the space to organize different events, where the visitor can feel good and welcomed.

To the question whether they feel successful, they answer that they follow their path and what they do is being welcomed by the consumers and this gives them the freedom to move forward.

Interview: Danny Kotzeva
Photos: Valentina Topalova and Maria Barakova
February 2019