Bread and chocolate bar

As the back-to-school bell rang a few days ago, five talented chocolatiers played along to unveil an exceptional snack. To whet your appetite, here's our selection of tablets with distinctive aromatic palettes, paired with quality breads. Food lovers beware!

La Baleine à Cabosse in Marseille

Young chocolatiers based in Marseille, Claire Hollender and Aurélien Ducloux offer a pairing full of contrasts. A bar of 76% cocoa Tumaco dark chocolate, whose beans come from wild Colombian cacao trees cradled by the sea spray. The chocolate retains iodine notes and a beautiful intensity. " To play on contrasts, we like to combine a few squares of this bar with the buttery notes of a soft bread roll. It' s all about the interplay between the softness and crunchiness, the sweet notes and salty tone of this cocoa. "

• 213 Rue Paradis, 13006 Marseille Tel: 06 21 08 09 11
• www.labaleineacabosse.com

Terre de fèves in Vannes

Established in 2020, Anne-Laure Hagnéré takes us into her world of roundness and power. For this special snack, she combines her hazelnut-almond praline bar, enhanced with grated Tonka, with flaxseed sourdough bread. " I love old-fashioned praliné for its dried fruit shavings, and here it supports the roasted notes of the Tonka bean. The Tonka bean makes a strong impression on the palate, before the dark chocolate coating from Brazil takes over with its fruity, chocolatey aromas. "The crunchiness of the dried fruit chips joins that of the linseed, while the roasted taste and slight acidity of the bread complement the chocolate aromas.

• 26bis Pl. des Lices, 56000 Vannes Tel: 09 87 02 22 29
• www.terredefeves.com

Bertrand Chocolatier in Roanne

For milk chocolate lovers, Bertrand Chocolatier's hay milk bar is a must. It is made from milk from cows from the Entelbuch biosphere in Switzerland, fed on hay in winter and alpine pastures in summer. " The chocolate develops an attack of forest honey and ripe pear, followed by notes of cream and caramel " To complement its buttery notes, choose a bread made with Kamut or Khorasan flour, an ancient variety of wheat. Its soft texture is reminiscent of yoghurt cake, and its lightly buttered nutty notes are a perfect match for this milk chocolate.

• 44 Rue Charles de Gaulle, 42300 Roanne Tel: 04 77 78 80 98
• www.bertrandchocolatier.com

La Barre Clandestine in Gallargues-le-Montueux

For their fledgling brand, founded in 2022, Emilie Palisson and Emmanuel Ruas imagined a chocolate bar made with sourdough bread. " We started with the idea of a snack to create this all-in-one product! We sought a contrast in textures by working in double inclusion. " The result is a combination of Belize's Maya Moutain chocolate, with its soft, round notes of caramel and honey, and a rustic sourdough bread made with equal parts wheat flour and honey.Méteil" bread, chosen for its spicy, undergrowth aromas and light acidity. The beans are stone-ground with the bread crust, for crunchiness, and the crumb is roasted and added to the finished bar.

• 97 Pass. du Poids public, 30660 Gallargues-le-Montueux Tel: 04 66 71 10 63
• www.barreclandestine.com

Encuentro in Saint-André-lez-Lille

Candice and Antoine Maschi's 70% Zorzal blanco, a rare white cocoa from the Dominican Republic, of which only 70kg of beans are processed at the Lille factory, is an exceptional bar. " On the palate, this chocolate develops notes of red fruit and a slight acidity, while the lingering finish expresses incredible notes of cereal and malt ." A dark chocolate with an air of milk chocolate, which blends perfectly with the honeyed notes of rye bread on sourdough.

• Parking Halls de la Filature, 26 Rue Félix Faure, 59350 Saint-André-lez-Lille Tel: 09 83 54 76 80
• www.chocolatencuentro.com