2:01PM, Sat Dec 1, 2012

National Chocolate Week: Watch An Artisan At Work

By India Adams Location: Tynemouth

VIDEO: The art of the chocolatier - and an on-street taste test

If there’s anyone who knows about chocolate it’s Tynemouth chocolatier Gareth James Mellor.

The 22-year-old set up his own shop dealing in chocolate-based confectionery in 2010 and what better excuse to pay him a visit than national chocolate week running from October 8-14.

From chocolate brownies to alcohol-infused truffles, all of Gareth’s sweet treats are hand made using the finest and freshest ingredients available, something he believes gives his chocolate the edge over mass-produced sweet treats.

Gareth said: “I think people are a lot more interested in where their food comes from now.

“They want a bit more background to it, so by coming here as opposed to high street confectioners, they can get a lot more information from us about ingredients and how the chocolate has been made.”

Having worked alongside Terry Laybourne at his acclaimed Jesmond Dene House and chocolatier Paul Young based in London, Gareth was able to hone his skills in the kitchen before setting up his own business.

He said: “Chocolate is the medium with which I feel most comfortable expressing my ideas about flavours and textures.

“It’s something that really isn’t done a lot especially the further you go outside of London.

“I like to use really quirky and seasonal flavours, so at the moment we’re using cedarwood and red wine, which as we get closer to Christmas will change into the mulled wine flavours.

“It’s very transitional which is really lovely and keeps people coming back.”