2 weeks Ago
Ann Czaja’s life is a blend of sweets and science. As the master chocolatier for Lindt USA in Stratham since 2006, the 61-year-old Newmarket resident’s story combines all of the ingredients that make up her personality: science, creativity and perseverance. While chocolate is often thought of as sweet, it can be intricate, just like Czaja’s path to becoming a chocolatier.
Ann Czaja of Newmarket, master chocolatier for Lindt USA in Stratham since 2006, spends her days creating new recipes for chocolate. A Virginia native, Czaja always wanted to be an emergency department doctor. When her Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores were not high enough to get into medical school, she took a job in a lab doing medical research.
It was not for her. “I was feeling very burned out,” she said. A former partner had a family business in Switzerland, and she decided to travel there for a year to figure out what she wanted to do next.
It was 1992 and she took a job in a restaurant, where she began at the bottom. “It was very humbling for me because I started as a dishwasher,” she said. She remembered how her grandfather always told her that no matter what she did, to give it 100%.
She did just that and more. “The chef that was working in this kitchen, he saw that I was very hardworking, and he started teaching me things,” she said. She was taught to be a pastry chef, but she knew the Swiss value formal training and enrolled in school.
She finished the three-year program in two and was officially a pastry chef and chocolatier. “I knew that would help me get to where I wanted to go,” she said. There’s a lot more chemistry and physics in work as a pastry chef and chocolatier than as a chef, which was a better fit for Czaja, who had been science-focused all through school.
“When you are in a kitchen, when you are a chef, there is a lot more gray areas when it comes to recipe creation,” she said. “When you are doing pastry and chocolate, it’s very exact and precise. It appealed to my scientific nature.
I liked that there was methodology involved in the work.” There is both science and craft involved in her work. “It’s not playing with chocolate,” she said.
“Chocolate is very difficult to work with; chocolate is moody.” She began her first position with Lindt when she became the first master chocolatier at the Zurich Airport in 2004. She made chocolate live in front of travelers.
“It was chocolate theater,” she said. She and her husband, Rolf Strub, a classically trained Swiss chef, moved to the United States at the end of 2005, eventually settling in Newmarket. When she began with Lindt USA, Czaja worked in retail and as a confectioner before finding her ideal spot in research and development.
In addition to being the master chocolatier, she is a senior product developer. “It marries the two worlds together,” she said, adding that it allowed her to use her science background. When people envision what she does every day, Czaja knows they have the fantasy of Willy Wonka where she eats sweets all day and plays in a chocolate-themed factory.
“It’s serious work. It’s creating recipes, taste-testing the recipes and it’s also tasting all the raw materials,” she said. “I get to eat chocolate every day, but it’s more than that, it’s science.
I really enjoy the merging of the science and the artistry.” Lindt Master Chocolatier Ann Czaja and actress Kristen Bell at the Emmy Awards, where Czaja was ready to hand out Lindt chocolates. Part of Czaja’s job is as a brand ambassador, which has her rubbing elbows with A-listers at high-profile events.
She loves teaching and sharing her craft with others. No day is the same. She could be in the R&D lab working on a new recipe, supporting technology by molding bars, appearing on QVC to help sell chocolate, or teaching a “Lindt Difference” class to new hires.
“We actually create our own chocolate from the bean to the finished product,” she said. “We’re a heritage brand; we’ve been in business since 1845 and we’re still passionate about creating the best chocolate.” The R&D space isn’t a whimsical Wonka-type factory or a mad-scientist’s laboratory, but a bright space somewhere between a traditional science lab and an artisan workspace.
And it has marble countertops, which aren’t just there for their appearance. “It’s the art of the confectioner, you temper on it because it’s cool,” she said of the counters. Tempering chocolate takes patience and skill.
“I feel like it’s the one job where sometimes you have to step away because if you aren’t in the right headspace, if you aren’t concentrating on the chocolate itself, it won’t work for you, it won’t mold properly,” she said. “You have to give it 100 percent of your intention; it can’t be an afterthought.” She’s had times when she’s come into the lab, tried to make something that wouldn’t form, and knew it was time to take a break.
“Chocolate is something you really have to focus on, it’s precision work,” she said. “As much as I love the thought of Willy Wonka and the waterfall — that’s not it, there is no waterfall.” One question Czaja hears all the time is whether she is sick of eating chocolate.
She’s not. “But I eat chocolate differently than most people do,” she explained. Like someone who tastes wine, Czaja will spit out chocolate if she is tasting.
“I know that sounds very unglamorous, but I don’t want to ingest too much. Chocolate is an indulgence,” she said. “Your palate gets dull if you keep eating it.
” Outside of chocolate, Czaja’s other passion is wine education. She holds the WSET diploma in wine (Wine and Spirits Education Trust) and often creates chocolate and wine pairings for special events. Czaja’s role as the senior product developer for Lindt is where she leads creations of numerous flavors of Lindor Truffles such as maple, raspberry cheesecake, sea salt, snickerdoodle, and cookies and cream.
When deciding which new flavors to explore, she partners with marketing and does trend research, which includes buying products with a certain flavor in the market and asking questions like “What is the consumer looking for when they purchase a cookies and cream recipe?” She hesitates to pick her favorite flavor. “It’s like asking a parent which kid is their favorite. It depends on the day, it depends on what I’ve eaten,” she said.
Her role as master chocolatier, in which she is an ambassador for Lindt, has taken her all around the world and to events like the Golden Globes and the Emmys, where she’s met Hollywood A-listers. “I really enjoy sharing my knowledge and passion for Lindt with customers and consumers,” she said. “What I really enjoyed about that is they would want to tell their stories about Lindt or the first time they had Lindt.
” With Easter coming up, Czaja is looking forward to giving out the iconic Lindt Gold Bunny to friends and family. “I make a big Easter basket for my Swiss husband. He loves Swiss chocolate,” she said.
“It’s expected of me.” If she’s out in public and wearing a Lindt shirt or jacket, Czaja is inevitably stopped and questioned: “Do you work for Lindt? Do you have any?” She keeps her sense of humor. “It’s July and I’m at the beach.
So no.”.
