Yum and get it...

Twice a day, on his way to and from school, little Charlie Bucket had to walk right past the gates of the factory. And every time he went by, he would begin to walk very, very slowly, and he would hold his nose high in the air and take long deep sniffs of the gorgeous chocolatey smell all around him.

Oh, how he loved that smell!

And oh, how he wished he could go inside the factory and see what it was like!

Charlie does go inside the chocolate factory, of course, in the wonderful Roald Dahl book that has, for the second time, been turned into a major film. And now, so can you...

OK. So maybe Monk Bar Chocolatiers aren't exactly the biggest chocolate concern in the world. But judging by the quality - and growing reputation - of their chocolate, they may well be one of the best.

Certainly, their two shops - in Goodramgate and Shambles - are full of the magic of chocolate... not to mention more than a hint of that gorgeous chocolatey smell Charlie was so entranced by.

There was a trio of little Charlies gazing enraptured at the rows of Belgian pralines, champagne truffles and cherry brandy liqueurs sitting temptingly in the display cabinets at the Shambles shop when we visited to be inducted into the art of the chocolatier.

Actually, none of the Jacobs family was named Charlie. But Ben, six, Lydia, five, and Isaac, four, all had such huge, imploring eyes as they gazed longingly at the treasures laid out before them that it was clear they shared more than a little of Charlie's love of chocolate.

The Shambles shop, with its low, heavy-beamed ceiling and tempting rows of chocolates, couldn't look less like a factory. There's not an Oompa-Loompa in sight for a start.

But while the Monk Bar Chocolatiers' main factory is at Warthill, chocolates are made on the premises both here and in Goodramgate.

Behind the counter in the Shambles shop is a chocolate tempering machine, where a large wheel steadily churns, pours and mixes a glistening, gloopy pool of melted chocolate. It's from here that much of the wonderful smell is emanating.

Chocolatier Alan Cardy - son of the company's founder Ray, who set up the family business five years ago - is on hand to explain all about the art of chocolate making.

It begins with the cacao tree - a tropical tree that grows only in places such as South America, Africa and Indonesia (so you won't, chocolate-lovers, see any in York). This tree produces a fruit about the size of a small pineapple - and inside that fruit are the seeds, also known as cocoa beans.

It is these beans that are the source for the heavenly elixir we've come to know as chocolate.

To produce raw chocolate, the beans first need to be fermented for about a week, then dried in the sun. They are then roasted to bring out the flavour. The kernel, or heart, of the bean is then separated from the shell in a process known as winnowing, and is ground into a thick paste known as chocolate liquor (nothing to do with alcohol). This is allowed to cool to form pure, unsweetened chocolate.

At Monk Bar Chocolatiers they don't actually make their chocolate from scratch. Instead, they buy in the finest pure chocolate from Belgium - and then work their own magic upon it.

It may be the best quality pure chocolate you can get - anything between 60 to 100 per cent pure cocoa solids, Alan says - but when it arrives at the Chocolatiers, it is still pretty unappetising. Alan gives me a drop-shaped piece to taste. It's almost unbearably bitter, while at the same time containing a tantalising hint of the taste experience to come.

It's what you do with the pure chocolate that matters: and that is what the Monk Bar Chocolatiers are so good at.

The key, Alan says, is in the tempering. That is the process by which the chocolate is heated and then cooled, in order to allow the cocoa butter crystals to stabilise.

The art is in getting crystals of the right size. Too big, and the chocolate will be too thick and an unappealing grey colour. Too small, and the chocolate will be speckled, and will stick to the mould. Just right, and the chocolate will be smooth and shiny, will come out of the mould cleanly, and will break with a clean little snap.

Alan has an expert eye for telling when chocolate is ready. He casts a glance at the tempering machine in the back of the Shambles shop. The streams of swirling chocolate look delicious to me. Are they ready?

"No," Alan says instantly. "It's too dull, and not thick enough."

When the chocolate is ready, it is poured into special moulds to make the chocolate casing. The chocolate-filled moulds are placed on a special vibrating machine to get rid of air bubbles, and the excess chocolate is poured off (only a thin casing is required). The moulds are set aside to cool and harden - a process which should normally be done at about 12-14 degrees C, Alan says. How long this takes will be different every day, depending on the weather, the temperature, and the vagaries of the chocolate.

The chocolates are then ready for their fillings. Monk Bar Chocolatiers have more than 50 different varieties, from truffles and pralines to liqueurs and creams, all made to their own secret recipes. Like all true chocolatiers, Alan won't reveal any of their secrets, but he does give me an amarula truffle to try, made with pure chocolate, fresh double cream and amarula liqueur. It's divine.

The filling is piped into the chocolate mould, filling the cup made by the layer of cooled, hardened chocolate. A final layer of chocolate is then added to form the base - and your chocolate is ready to eat.

So what is the secret to a really great chocolate, I ask Alan - if you haven't got an Oompa-Loompa to do the hard work for you, that is?

Simple, he says. Apart from having the chocolatier's eye for knowing when your chocolate is properly tempered, it's all about one thing.

"People rave about our chocolates," he says. "And it is because we use the best, freshest ingredients we can find."

Just like Willy Wonka, in fact.

:: Wonka facts

206,563 gallons of fake chocolate were made for the chocolate factory river

Another 38,430 gallons were made for the chocolate waterfall.

1,850 real chocolate bars were made by Nestle for the film

All the lollipops on the trees, all the giant pink sugar canes, the giant humbugs and all the red and white swirls of the sweeping tree were real sweets

Animal trainer Michael Alexander and his team spent 19 weeks training 40 squirrels for the squirrel room scene

Willy Wonka quote from the film: "Everything here is eatable. I'm eatable but that, my children, is called cannibalism and it is frowned upon in most societies."

:: Chocolate facts

Chocolate is fattening, but dark chocolate is good for you in moderation. Italian reseach suggests it can lower blood pressure, neutralise free radicals and boost the body's ability to metabolise sugar

Chocolate may also be able to help you concentrate. It contains a caffeine-like stimulant called theobromine

Last year, Britons spent £3 billion and consumed half a million tonnes of chocolate

A year's output of Cadbury's Creme Eggs weighs more than 1,500 African elephants

Updated: 09:56 Friday, July 29, 2005