I love chocolates. If I am to have cake, it has to be chocolate. If I am to have ice cream, it has to be chocolate. If I can have chocolate every day, I would. And so it’s a no-brainer that I would watch School of Chocolate on Netflix the moment I became aware of it. Not only did it appeal to my love for chocolate, it also called out to my impulse to have cooking competitions on repeat all day every day. What I didn’t expect was for this cooking show to be as sweetly comforting as chocolate!

I’ve watched many cooking competition shows. And I’m familiar with the culinary fireworks brought on by critical judges, anxious contestants, and provocative guests. Nothing gets temperatures rising faster than fragile egos triggered by spot-on criticism.

I was half-expecting chocolate bars to be thrown or at the very least for the kitchen to get downright messy with chocolate frosting. Instead I was served with a mentor, French pastry chef Amaury Guichon, who was quite sincere and persevering in his mission to teach the aspiring chocolatiers seemingly magical techniques. The contestants are equally supportive and affirming of each other, most of the time at least.

And check this out: Nobody gets eliminated. If you find yourself at the bottom, you are called to the office of Chef Amaury where you will get a pep talk and a tutoring session to prepare you for the next challenges. During the challenges, Chef Amaury walks around not to dispense jabs or make the contestants nervous but to ask how he can help. He is far too sweet! Mwahahaha

I am equally amazed at how they take principles from chemistry, engineering, and physics to craft cool challenges. Imagine clear domes made from sugar or chocolate sculptures hanging from the ceiling.

I’ve been so used to the combative, antagonistic tone of cooking competitions that by the conclusion of the last episode, I was actually in tears. It was truly inspiring to see each and every contestant having made a measure of progress, whether it was in technique or attitude. In a world forever scarred by the pandemic, a spoonful of chocolate with a dash of empathy maybe just what we need.

Oh, and here’s the work of the Filipino-American chocolatier, Daniel Corpuz. So young and so talented!