Golden Tickets Open Door to Chocolate Factory

Yelena Akopian | Jan. 18, 2011

Chuao golden ticket winners Sanyieh Abderrahman (left), a freshman; Jennifer Young (second from left), a grad student in biology; and alumnus Russell DeKelver (right) are tempering chocolate to make truffles.

Four lucky winners of alumni-owned Chuao Chocolatier’s special giveaway were invited to an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the company’s chocolate factory Jan. 11. The winners, who discovered a golden ticket wrapped around their special edition UCSD 50th Anniversary Chuao chocolate bar, also took part in a chocolate-making class and a special wine and chocolate-tasting party.

Donning hairnets and aprons, the winners—two UC San Diego graduate students, one undergraduate and one alum–were joined by Chuao co-founder Michael Antonorsi, Muir ’85, who guided them in recreating Chuao’s special Valentine’s Day chocolate strawberry truffle. The truffles, made with port-wine infused strawberry pieces, are molded into the shape of a strawberry, rolled in cacao powder, dipped in tempered chocolate and finally topped with a drizzle of white chocolate. Antonorsi, who started the company in 2002 with his brother Richard, Muir ’84, then led a tasting, helping participants pair six decadent truffles with four choices of wine.

The company is donating 50 cents of each UCSD 50th Anniversary bar sold to UCSD’s “Invent the Future” campaign. With more than 12,000 bars sold to date, $6,000 has been raised for student scholarships. Chuao hopes to sell enough chocolate bars to donate $20,000 by June.

Matt Ruben (center), a biology graduate student, coats chocolate truffles with cacao powder.

“Hanging out with our prominent alumni is as sweet as it gets!” says Armin Afsahi, Revelle ’90, executive director and assistant vice chancellor of Alumni Affairs.

So far, eight of the 20 golden tickets have been claimed. Pick up a bar from the UCSD Bookstore or online at bookstore/ucsd.edu/ucsd50th.htm today and see if you’re among the next batch to visit the Chuao factory in May!

More Information on the 50th Anniversary Chuao Chocolate Bar Contest.