inthekitchen
inthekitchen
sweet success
By satisfying peoples’ sweet tooth, Fred Morden and his family put smiles on the faces of young and old throughout the entire year.
by Arvel Gray
When Fred Morden started working in his family’ s candy store in 1978, his job at Christmastime was to twist the soft ribbon candy into a diagonal stripe and form the hook on the candy canes. Twenty-eight years later, as master chocolatier and owner of Mordens’ of Winnipeg, he is busier than Santa, gearing up for the holiday crush of customers who will snap up some of the more than 70 varieties of chocolates, caramels, brittles, barks and roasted nuts.
Many large companies make candies more than a year in advance to meet holiday demands. Mordens’ only makes and sells fresh stock.“ We can produce 9,000 pounds of candy and nuts a day during the holidays,” says Fred, adding that the staff of 15 might pump out 5,000 pounds of cashews a day, 900 pounds of chocolate covered almonds and 800 pounds of Mordens’ signature Russian Mints. This family recipe – a heady combination of rich milk chocolate infused with cooling peppermint oil – has been sampled by Queen Elizabeth II, and won first prize over 300 other entrants at the 1984 Louisiana World Expo.
In the competitive landscape of confections, Mordens’ has flourished by maintaining its reputation for superior, delicious, beautifully presented products loved by locals, coveted by expats and savoured by an international fan base.“ Each of our chocolates provides unique, intense flavour,” says Fred.“ That’ s the difference.”
38 ciao! / dec / jan / two thousand fourteen