A sweet surprise for Zagreb-based chocolatiers Taman this week, as the company found out they had won four prestigious awards from the Academy of Chocolate in London. The evaluations of the chocolates took place in early February and results from the pralines category have just been released.
Taman received two silver awards, one for their praline made with with figs and spicy herbs, another for their coconut pralines with lemongrass and lemon. They also won two bronze awards, for pralines made with amaretto and for one with a spicy butter caramel flavour.
© Taman Chocolates
At only five years old, the artisan chocolatiers have already made a significant impact on the scene. They have won several awards from the academy for their entries in previous years. The partners behind the business, Stiv Kahlina and Sanja Vladović have also had a hand in the Chocolate Museum, which opened in Zagreb just last year.
Taman's experiments with chocolates, in which they have previously paired the yummy treat with flavours such as coffee and cardamom, roasted sesame and curry and orange, pepper and thyme, are a far cry from Stiv's former pursuit. Prior to attending the Ecole Chocolate School in Canada and the Callebaut Academy in Belgium, Stiv was a rapper on the Croatian hip hop circuit. He made two solo albums as El Bahattee and collaborated with Zagreb's Tram 11 and as part of Blackout Project.