Sips and Bites: The Many Flavors of Chocolate

sips and bites chocolate

Zoom

How are different types of chocolate made, and why do the same chocolates sometimes taste different? Join us for a conversation and chocolate tasting with two generations of UC Davis alumni chocolate scientists! Thalia Hohenthal and Rebecca Kuehn of Guittard Chocolate Company, the country's oldest family-owned chocolate company, will discuss what creates the many flavors of chocolate.

 

Schedule:

6:00-7:00 (PST) Sips and Bites: The Many Flavors of Chocolate

Speakers:

Thalia Hohenthal has been with Guittard Chocolate Company since 1983, and today serves as the company's technical services manager. She holds the honor of having been granted Guittard's first patent, for an innovative, commercial-grade chocolate syrup, and also helped found the Retail Confectioner International's "Chocolate Boot Camp." Thalia earned a Bachelor's of Science in food biochemistry from the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology in 1979. In 2016, she was inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame.

Rebecca Kuehn is a food scientist at Guittard Chocolate Company, where she manages technical projects in chocolate processing. While she was a graduate student, Rebecca was awarded a Professional Manufacturing Confectioners Association grant to fund a two-year study of chocolate bloom and oil migration, and she has since been involved in all aspects of chocolate manufacture and use. She earned a Master’s of Science from the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology in 2012.

Moderator Selina Wang, Ph.D., has been the research director of the UC Davis Olive Center since 2012. Dr. Wang led the center’s chemistry study on the quality and purity of supermarket olive oil from 2009 to 2011, which received worldwide attention, was covered by over 1000 media outlets, and lead to the new olive oil standards for the State of California in 2014. In 2018, she took on an additional role of Cooperative Extension (CE) Specialist in Small Scale Fruit and Vegetable Processing in the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology. She also conducts mission-oriented research on emerging issues regarding fruit and vegetable processing. 

Chocolates:

We will be tasting from the list of chocolates below, which are available online from Guittard Chocolate Company. Participants may want to purchase all four or any two as a minimum for educational purposes.

About:

This event is part of the Sips and Bites series, which explores the stories behind foods and drinks with winemakers, brewers, and culinary innovators with tastings and conversations about what inspires them to make their wines, beers, and foods.  

Venue:

This is a virtual event that will be presented via Zoom. In order to access this webinar, you will need a free Zoom account, which you can sign up for here.

Questions?

If you have questions about this event, please email: rmievents@ucdavis.edu.