Chocolate For Easter

[Siamanto]

http://www.mignonchocolate.com/images/chocolates_homepage2.jpg

 

 

 

Glendale News Press

Published March 14, 2005

 

A family's affair with chocolate

 

For about 70 years, their sweets have been pleasing palates at in the United

States, Europe and the Middle East.

 

By Rima Shah, News-Press and Leader

 

The Terpoghossian family has been selling sin to the world for 70 years.

Only their sin comes in the form of richly flavored chocolate, which for

three generations has been in demand from chocolate lovers from Iran to the

United States.

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Mignon Chocolate, which initially catered to the Armenian population in the

United States, is now well known outside the community too, Joe

Terpoghossian said.

The popularity was so great in the Iranian and Armenian communities that Joe

Terpoghossian decided to leave his comfortable managing job in the insurance

business and join the family's chocolate business.

He opened his chocolate manufacturing plant in Van Nuys about two years ago

and started the retail store on Glendale's Verdugo Boulevard in April.

"Our family name is associated with Mignon," Terpoghossian said.

His grandfather started the business in 1934 in Ukraine, where it became a

well-known name until he was arrested and deported to Siberia.

The rest of his family escaped to Iran where he ultimately joined them after

being released from prison.

He reestablished his business in Tehran, starting as a bakery but moving on

to chocolate. Terpoghossian's father inherited the business.

"In the early '70s, before the revolution, Mignon was well-known among the

members of the upper class in Iran," Terpoghossian said.

The Shah's family would often come to the chocolate store to sample the

wares, the family said.

After Terpoghossian and his brothers immigrated to the United States, they

would often arrange for special deliveries for Armenian immigrants here who

were well acquainted with the Mignon name.

With the growing demand, Terpoghossian finally decided to open his own

store.

They now ship their chocolates to the Armenian community in the United

States and to Europe.

"We use the most premium and freshest ingredients for chocolate,"

Terpoghossian said. "For chocolate you can't cut corners. The difference

between us and the stores in the mall is that they often use vegetable oil.

We always use cocoa butter."

Besides selling chocolates in his store, Terpoghossian takes orders for

weddings, birthdays and other occasions.

He also rents out chocolate fountains, which drip liquid chocolate. The

fountain is popular in parties and movie sets, Terpoghossian said.

His store, which recently started selling coffee, also serves drinking

chocolate.

"It's got a 70% cocoa level," Terpoghossian said. "For a chocolate lover,

it's pure heaven. It's like drinking liquid chocolate."

The coffee bar's most popular drink is the cafe glace, a concoction of ice

cream and coffee topped with the store's Mikado chocolate, a wafer and

chocolate cream sandwich.

Alen Frank is one of the store's regular customers, who comes for the coffee

and the free chocolate sample that coffee drinkers get.

"Cheap coffee, good coffee and good chocolate, which is actually a bad thing

because I am getting fat," Frank said. "It's very tasty. They move from the

healthy to the decadent."

The cocoa beans are bought from West Africa and Brazil and processed in

Belgium, Terpoghossian said.

The truffles are the most popular items in the store. Terpoghossian changes

the flavors every week.

This week's flavor is the cappuccino truffle

 

 

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg105335.html

[Siamanto]

I posted the above article in "Buy Armenian Food Online."

Maybe we should delete this thread. I apologize for the inconvenience!

Edited March 18, 2005 by Siamanto