幻のショコラトリー、「J’ECRIS TON NOM（ジェクリトンノン）」に行ってきた！【お店みせて！】

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, I was looking into various chocolate shops and found a place called “J’ECRIS TON NOM（ジェクリトンノン）” in the Nishinomiya Hankyu event catalog.

Here it is↓

The catalog says Kurakuen-guchi, but I had never heard of the shop before, and even after looking it up, I couldn’t find much information.

In the end, I somehow managed to find the shop, but they said they would prefer not to have much information about the shop itself shared.

Still, their dedication to chocolate was incredible, so I’d like to at least introduce the products.

If you’re interested, try looking for the shop, or visit the event at Nishinomiya Hankyu.

1 The Dedication Behind “J’ECRIS TON NOM（ジェクリトンノン）”
2 Products from “J’ECRIS TON NOM（ジェクリトンノン）”
3 Shop Information for “J’ECRIS TON NOM（ジェクリトンノン）”

The Dedication Behind “J’ECRIS TON NOM（ジェクリトンノン）”

I bought several chocolates.

First of all, as you can see, these chocolates do not use any coloring or transfer prints.

Usually, some chocolates are colored red with food dye, or decorated with a shop logo or mark using transfer prints, but there is none of that here.

They are all the color of chocolate.

This reflects the owner’s commitment to letting people enjoy chocolate in its purest form, without mixing in anything unnecessary.

Commitment to Ingredients

Of course, they are particular about the ingredients as well. Apparently, they use chocolates from three different makers: France’s “Valrhona” and “Cacao Barry,” and Italy’s “Domori,” depending on the product.

I heard all kinds of stories, such as “Milk chocolate really is better from places where dairy production is strong” and “Italian chocolate has a wild character.”

You can feel their love for chocolate in every bit of the conversation.

Commitment to the Products

The bite-sized chocolates shown in these photos are generally called “bonbon chocolat.”

Bonbon chocolat is often made by coating centers such as “ganache” or “praline” with couverture. Ganache is made by combining chocolate with fresh cream, nut paste, caramel, and other ingredients, and the owner’s dedication was packed into every part of this process as well.

From what I heard alone:

・Everything is made by hand, with no machines used at all
・The center is not made in two layers
・The thickness of the couverture is carefully considered so that it is neither too thick nor too thin, and so that it melts in the mouth at the same time as the center

I’m sure most of that may not make much sense, and I’m not confident I can explain it well either, but in short, the owner’s passion for conveying the true appeal of chocolate is overflowing. Honestly, it made me think, “You go that far?”

Since we have the chance, I’d like to introduce the products one by one as much as possible.

Products from “J’ECRIS TON NOM（ジェクリトンノン）”

Caramel Salé

“Salé” means salt, so this is a salted caramel chocolat.

It is not overwhelmingly salty. The vanilla flavor comes first, followed by a subtle bitterness from the salt and caramel.

There is also a little salt sprinkled on the outside, which creates a wonderfully balanced aftertaste.

Passion Fruit

This uses ganache made with passion fruit juice, making it a very tropical and refreshing chocolat.

Chocolate and fruit are often paired together, but passion fruit may be a bit unusual.

Amarena

This is an Amarena cherry chocolat.

Amarena cherries are Italian cherries preserved in syrup. They are large, dark red cherries with a distinctive sweetness, often used as decorations on cakes and other sweets.

That unique sweetness and the aroma of almond create a mysterious harmony with the chocolate.

Normally, you might expect this to be colored bright red, but choosing not to do that is probably part of their philosophy.

Praliné Noisette

“Praliné” is a paste made from nuts and caramel, and “noisette” means hazelnut.

In other words, this is a chocolat made with hazelnut praline.

As the name suggests, the center is hazelnut praline, and the outside is coated in milk chocolate.

The outer chocolate also contains chopped nuts.

It’s a chocolate that has clearly been carefully thought through down to the smallest details.

Earl Grey Bergamot

“Earl Grey” is black tea, but it is a flavored tea scented with the citrus fruit known as bergamot.

Even the fact that it is named “Earl Grey Bergamot” rather than simply “Earl Grey” shows their attention to detail.

Citrus and chocolate, as well as tea and chocolate, are classic combinations, but the aroma of the tea and bergamot does not overpower the chocolate. It is finished in a very balanced and elegant way.

Framboise

This is another classic: a “framboise” chocolat.

However, it uses not only fruit juice but also fruit pulp, which enhances the raspberry-like flavor, aroma, and texture.

Normally, this would almost certainly be colored red, but they don’t do that…

Tonka Bean

“Tonka beans” are beans native to South America and are sometimes used as a flavoring in sweets.

They have been gaining some attention in Japan for a while now, and using them in chocolate is not especially rare, but I haven’t seen many products that put “tonka bean” so much at the forefront.

The richness and fullness of the aroma is comparable to vanilla, though in a different direction.

If you’re interested, why not give it a try?

Noir

“Noir” means black, and this is a pure chocolat made without any other ingredients.

It is a simple chocolat made only by coating ganache with couverture, but you can enjoy the taste and aroma of cacao in a way you won’t find elsewhere.

Sansho Pepper

This is an unusual chocolate with sansho pepper in the ganache.

I wondered if the strong aroma of sansho would clash with the chocolate, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Rather, the flavors and aromas seemed to bring out the best in each other, creating a mysterious deliciousness.

Chocolate goes surprisingly well with all kinds of ingredients.

Café

This is a coffee chocolat.

The slightly smoky coffee flavor goes very well with the chocolate.

This is true of the other chocolates too, but neither flavor is too strong. The balance that lets you feel both the coffee and the chocolate equally is exquisite.

Rocher Amande Noir

“Rocher” means rock.

In French, sweets that look like rocks are called “rocher.” There are rocher sweets other than chocolat as well, but in the case of chocolate, rocher refers to chocolates formed into a rock-like shape like the one in this photo.

“Amande” means almond, and this chocolat is made by setting caramelized almonds in chocolate.

Since the almonds are roasted, crushed, caramelized, cooled once, and then set in chocolate, it must take quite a lot of work.

It’s a chocolat where you can enjoy the aroma and crunch of almonds.

Rocher Amande Milk

This is the same as “Rocher Amande Noir,” but this one is set with milk chocolate.

As you would expect from a shop so particular about where it sources its chocolate, the milk flavor is strong and holds its own against the almonds.

If you like milk chocolate, this one is for you.

Boule de Neige

“Boule de neige” means snowball, and originally refers to a baked sweet with that name, also known as a snowball cookie.

This product is a truffle made with white chocolate.

According to the owner, they make this because they thought, “It would be nice to have at least one white chocolate item.”

So actually, they do not make truffles with regular chocolate here. This white chocolate one is apparently their only truffle.

It seems vanilla is used in the ganache, creating a gentle chocolat with the aroma of white chocolate and vanilla.

Cherry Bonbon

This is the only red-colored item in the showcase, though the color is in the wrapping.

It is a bonbon made by coating a cherry soaked in brandy and other liquors with chocolate.

It is quite strong in alcohol, so please be careful if you are not good with alcohol.

Brandy and chocolate are naturally a perfect match, and the balance between the sweetness of the cherry and the bitterness of the chocolate is also excellent.

Apparently, several types of alcohol are used, and you can feel their attention to detail here as well.