Last-minute Chocolate

You’ve got four days to get this right. Monday is Christmas, and the best gift you can give your favorite chocoholic is not that cheaply-wrapped, chemical-packed, commercially-produced drugstore special you’re about to grab off the shelf between the cereal boxes and incontinence products.

There’s time to do this right. Specialty grocery stores and markets carry the good stuff at this time of year. It’s a little late for shipping, unless you want to pay half a paycheck in shipping costs. But here are some gift ideas you can still use:

A gift certificate to Worldwide Chocolate:  Not sure what they want, or how much? Get the gift that lets your recipient decide. Worldwide ships everywhere and has chocolate from every region, from bars to baking blocks, from cocoa nibs to candies, mints, squares and sampler packs. They offer vegan, gluten-free and organic products, too.

Homemade hot chocolate mix: A nice Mason jar filled with 3 1/2 cups sugar, 2 1/4 cups high-quality cocoa powder and 1 Tbsp. salt. Mix thoroughly, cover and tie with a festive ribbon. Add two mugs and instructions to use two tablespoons of mix to one cup of milk.

Look around the nicer grocery and ethnic stores. Most of the year, the high-end chocolate manufacturers aren’t as easy to find. During the holidays, you’ll find Chuao, Valrhona, Vosges, Cote d’Or, Lake Champlain and Michel Cluizel. Buy a variety of bars in different cacao percentages or with a variety of fillings, fan them out in a gift basket (the better to see the artistic labels), cover with clear wrap and a silver-flecked brown bow.

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Speaking of gifts, here’s my review of two recent tastings:

Caffarel Firenze Milk Chocolate: I’d never found this Italian beauty in a local store before (hence my suggestion above to check your local groceries around the holidays). This one is milky-smooth with good vanilla undertones and not overwhelming sweetness, even at 41%. It’s a grown-up’s milk chocolate bar.

Castronovo Nicalizo Nicaragua 70% (Silver Award Winner 2017, International Chocolate Awards; Silver Award Winner 2017 Academy of Chocolate): This is 28 squares of gold-wrapped greatness, proudly wearing those two awards on the white-and-purple outside package. Who got the gold awards? Who cares! This Florida native deserves raves the moment you open it. You don’t need more than a square to appreciate the fruit and toast notes; strong but balanced. Keep every piece for yourself.

 

Boston is a (cacao) bean kind of town

After far too long away from writing this blog, I am back. Buying, tasting and reviewing, but most of all, enjoying the chocolate the world offers.

A recent trip to Boston (planned and for the fun of it) resulted in the purchase of about a dozen bars, most of them found in several fine gourmet shops around the Harvard University campus. The weather was cold and rainy most of the time,  but nothing dampens what visitors expect from this city – history, food, culture and  people who are proud to be from here. The city is big, and seeing it all means breaking it into sections and wandering a section at a time. Plan to walk a lot, and don’t hesitate to use the city’s public transit. Buy a weekly unlimited pass and go everywhere without ever pulling out your wallet again. Do the touristy things, like the Tea Party ships, Faneuil Hall, Harborwalk and Fenway Park, but go off the beaten path, too. Wander the old stone streets of the North End, where family owned shops are still the norm. Head out to Dorchester’s Polish Triangle for old-fashioned delis and working-class vibe or tour the Harvard and MIT campuses and find the small student pubs, bars and bookstores.

For a nearly 400-year-old city (founded in 1630), Boston still has a lot of surprises. And the chocolate I found is one of them. Here are two bars I found in a shop called Cardullo’s:

Dolfin 88% (Belgium): Heavily wrapped with an outer plastic pouch enclosing a sealed inner package, the bar was difficult to get to, but worth the work. From the second I opened the package, the woody, earthy scent emanated forth. The first and last taste were very strong on the wood and smoke, but middle notes were roasty with coffee tones. A very dark bar in every sense of the word.

Chocolat Bonnat Porcelana 75% (France): In contrast, this Venezuelan-sourced bar with nothing but buttery smooth, with a little trace of vanilla.  You could eat a lot of this bar without noticing the decrease, unlike the Dolfin.

 

Trouble brewing in British chocolate

Two recent announcements from the confectionery business, one from each side of the Atlantic, don’t represent any kind of surprise as much as they invoke a laugh or two.

The first is that the formula for the insanely popular Cadbury Creme Egg will change…sort of. The eggs will still use Cadbury chocolate, but not the dairy milk chocolate that has been part of the formula since their “hatching” in 1971. Mondelez International, a spinoff company of Kraft Foods (the parent company of Cadbury) announced this change last month, along with the tidbit that the number of Creme Eggs sold in the . multipak will decrease from six to five, while the price remains the same. The changes only affect Creme Eggs sold in the United Kingdom; U.S. consumers will see no change.

The other change will affect U.S. candy consumers, at least those who love their British sweets. The Hershey Co. has reached a settlement with Let’s Buy British, a top importer of British products, to stop importing British candy bars into the U.S. Hershey claims the reason for this is that too many of the British products looks similar to American products, which constitutes a patent infringement and also confuses Americans as to which product is which.  The owner of a New York City tea shop which carries a number of British imports had this to say on their Facebook page:

“May we politely suggest that if you think Toffee Crisps look like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups your eyesight is a much bigger problem than your chocolate bar confusion.”

The change to the Cadbury Creme Egg hits at the heart of tradition. Love them or loathe them, almost 300 million of them are sold between the U.S. and the U.K alone at Easter time. Why anyone would mess with wild success in the interest of making (or saving) a little more money (Kraft Foods’ net income in 2013 was $2.7 billion) seems completely unreasonable, yet totally expected in this money-driven, quality-be-damned-and-compromised world.

And as for The Hershey Co. thinking Americans would be misled and confused by packaging; well, they could be right. We might be misled into realizing that the good stuff is what’s coming across the pond after all, not the watered-down, sub-par pseudo-chocolate they keep cranking out. So if you want to make your voice heard, just #BoycottHershey on social media. Or sign the petition.

And enjoy some of the good stuff I’ve had lately:

Soma 69% Peruvian: I stashed this one from my Canada trip, and even after long storage, it was still good. A compote of plums, raisins and berries makes this, along with all the other Soma bars, worth the ticket to Toronto. O Canada, you should be proud of this company.

Vanini 86%: Made in Italy from Amazonian beans, the inner wrapper has a long and detailed history of the cacao’s origins and uses. And speaking of uses, this is a good one. This cacao dates its earliest use to the Mayo Chinchipe culture, around 3,500 B.C. It’s a rich, dark, woody bar with shades of tobacco.

Pergale 72%: Sounds Italian, but it’s from Lithuania. It’s a fun bar; soft and chewy, with a flavor of berries and orange. It’s a little too sweet to consume in any quantity, but nice when you need a quick fix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taste Test: Trader Joe’s vs. Fresh Market

We recently welcomed the opening of both a Fresh Market and a Trader Joe’s in the neighborhood. I happen to like both stores; although on the pricey side, they offer a full range of foods and services, both offer high-quality house brands and excellent customer service.

Is Trader Joe’s 85% store brand bar a better buy than Fresh Market? Courtesy of Wikimedia.

But what about the chocolate?

I’ve tried house brand bars from both stores, both 85% cacao, and here’s what I found:

The Trader Joe’s bar, which lists the bean origin as Colombian, was a thin, snappy bar (there are two per package, in case you’re inclined to share) with a lot of fruit, a little smoke and the bitterness you would expect from this percentage. Fresh Market’s bar has no country of origin, it’s thicker and chewier, with hints of butter and heavier smoke.

The two bars are roughly the same weight, and the price difference is less than a dollar. Both had good shine, no bloom and the logo imprints on both bars were clear,

So, which is better? I liked the Trader Joe’s bar a bit more because of the fruit, but I would not decline the Fresh Market if it were offered. Either one is a good and satisfying purchase.

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And on the other end of the price spectrum, I invested in a bar of Chocolat Bonnat Porcelana recently. And by invested, I mean I paid around $25 for a single bar. I think it means I have officially gone over to the dark side, figuratively speaking (literally speaking, I’ve been there for a long time). This product sings when you open the package. The aroma is passionately chocolate, and the flavors of raisin, dark caramel and coffee make it seem crazy not to buy it. This is a bar to nibble, savor and save for special occasions.

 

 

Chocolate Prices, Demand Rise; What’s Your Solution?

Will the quality chocolate fade away, or just become part of the good life for a very few?

A recent article in the New York Times sounded the alarm once again: we like our fine chocolate, and we are paying the price.

Cacao and chocolate prices are expected to rise dramatically this year. In the U.S., consumers can expect to see a 45 percent increase, British consumers will likely see a 25 percent increase

Part of the problem is sheer demand, especially for dark chocolate. Over the years, the proliferation of better-quality chocolate has sensitized our tastes, if not our wallets, to the idea that having the best is worth a little more money, because it takes less consumption to really enjoy fine chocolate. And of course, there is the health data on why a little dark chocolate a day helps keep the health blues away. Emerging markets in China and India, where chocolate consumption has typically been among the lowest in the world, are bringing pressure to chocolate makers already stressed by smaller supplies due to poor weather conditions and a lack of needed investment in cacao-growing nations, which exist in a finite number within just ten degrees of the Equator.

And the making of fine chocolate is an ever-changing art. Creators cannot offer the same truffles and pralines year after year. New flavors must be brought into play, with the understanding that each market has its preferences and tastes. Additional ingredients cost money; small-batch chocolates are already expensive to produce, and no chocolate maker worthy of the artisan label is going to use anything but the finest fruits, nuts, alcohol bases, flowers, spices, coffee, tea and herbs.

What do we do? Buy now and hoard? Consume less? Buy bars and specialties when you travel, at their source, and bring them home? Personally, I’ve done all of the above. Then again, I paid about US$ 45 for two bars of Bonnat from a local shop that stocks French specialty foods. There is always that fourth option: spending the money and doing without something else.

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And speaking of recent buys:

Camino Fair Trade 70%: Swiss-made, kosher and organic. Also very chewy, tangy-citrus to the point of tropical in flavor. And while the snap and shine aren’t especially good, at least the classic organic metallic flavor is missing.

Soma Black Science Equator 67%: Buttery, vanilla, dairy. Not bittersweet, but not remotely like any milk chocolate you’ve ever had. I’ve said this before with other bars from the artisan Canadian company: I’d happily go back to Toronto for more of everything they make.

 

Chocolate Festival returns in October

The Olive Tap will be back this year with their line of cocoa-based oils.

It’s been a year since the Nova-Southeastern University Arena went from athletic forum to chocolate fantasy, but the time has come for another Festival of Chocolate. The two-day event is open to the public and will feature everything from candy-making equipment to local artisan chocolate makers to a chocolate-inspired fashion show and a chocolate-chili cookoff.

Talking to show producer Aileen Mand (a former Walt Disney World producer), this looks to be a bigger and more diverse show than last year. And Mand knows both chocolate and how to put on a good show. Her husband is Edgar Schaked, third-generation German chocolatier and  founder and franchise owner of Schakolad Chocolates. Together, they run Indigo Creative Productions to run the chocolate festivals and have opened Chocolate Kingdom, an interactive tour of their bean-to-bar factory near Kissimmee. Their lives don’t just revolve around one of the world’s favorite foods; their lives are chocolate-filled, cocoa-colored and pretty sweet.

The show will feature sessions teaching chocolate and wine pairings, cookie-stacking contests, raffles, an interactive display showing the history of chocolate and some cacao-based foods that you probably don’t have in your kitchen right now, such as marinades, balsamic vinegars and and dry rubs. And if you’ve never had cocoa-based olive oil or a brigadeiro (the hottest sweet treat from Brazil), this is your chance.

The Festival of Chocolate is scheduled for Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Oct 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Advanced tickets for the show are $12 for adults and children ages 2-12 are $10. Tokens for samples are purchased separately and inside the arena; samples are priced from $1 to $5. Advanced tickets may only be purchased until 5 p.m. Oct.11. After that time, they must be purchased at the box office, and an additional $1 will be added to the purchase price.

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And to get you in the mood, a little something from my stash:

Madécasse 44% Arabica Coffee: I’m a fan of anything this company makes, even if it does fall in the milk chocolate range. This is smooth, with a fine crunch of coffee nibs that flavor, but don’t overpower the taste of milk and butter in the chocolate. Another winner from this incredible line of products.

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Related articles

• Northwest Chocolate Festival (thestranger.com)
• #289: The Social History of Chocolate (podcast.blogs.latrobe.edu.au)
• Chocolate from Around the World: Y4 Entry Point (britishschoolofbostonblog.wordpress.com)
• Fashionable Chocolate (cocoaantics.wordpress.com)

 

 

When Is Chocolate Like Ham And Champagne?

An assortment of Belgian chocolates (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When is chocolate in the same class as pork and Laurent-Perrier?

When the Belgians say it is – maybe.

It seems that Belgian chocolate makers, fearful of copycats diluting and cheapening their exquisite product, want to seek the protection of the European Union to ensure that the chocolates they create, package and sell are known throughout the world as the Belgian chocolates.

This trademarking idea is not unlike that used in Italy for Parma ham, or in France for Champagne. Those products must be created and packaged in those regions in order to be labeled as such. So the Belgians, who can boast of 200 chocolate makers and 2,000 chocolate stores and museums in a country of eleven million people, want to corner the market on the exclusivity of their product so that consumers know what they are actually getting.

Problems have certainly arisen in the fake fine chocolate world, particularly in economically emerging Asian countries. Knock-off boxes containing inferior “Belgian” product are constantly turning up, keeping the copyright attorneys and trade organizations busy. A “Belgian Chocolate Code” has been in existence since 2008, modeled on one introduced by the Swiss chocolate industry in the 1970s, but the Belgian code is a practical one discussing ingredients, end vs. finished product and labeling. It carries no legal ramifications for anyone who violates it. Manufacturers, exporters and trade representatives think the code is a great idea and support it, but what good is it if no one has to really respect it? Is it because no one really wants to stir the chocolate pot, causing themselves too much trouble? Or is it just too much hassle to go after a competitor who makes an inferior product?

What do you think – is it worth the effort to protect and trademark the best so consumers know what they’re really getting?

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And speaking of what you’re getting, two more from my Toronto stash:

• Dolfin Noir 88% Dark: Yes, it certainly is that. Dark and almost too bitter to eat. But not quite. Woody undertones with almost no sugar, it’s a baking chocolate, yet it’s rich enough to eat and enjoy in small amounts.
• Irresistibles 72% (Switzerland): The Swiss can do better than this. Dark, but too sweet and reminiscent of a Hershey’s Extra Dark bar. You might want to break this into bits and use it up in a chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Related articles

• Zinneken’s: Belgian Chocolate Heaven (plentimawfishes.wordpress.com)
• Waiting for your big break? Eat some chocolate! (oliviasciencetechblog.wordpress.com)
• Choco-Story, The Chocolate Museum, Bruges (thegreatescapesblog.wordpress.com)
• Belgian Chocolate Biscuits (foodrecipes120.wordpress.com)
• Belgium: A Chocolate Lover’s Heaven (thetraveldiariesblog.wordpress.com)

 

Can High Technology and High Purpose Make Good Chocolate?

Part of the menu at the TCHO tasting room in San Francisco, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Corby Kummer wrote a fascinating article about chocolate science in last week’s MIT Technology Review. The piece discusses how TCHO, an American chocolate maker, is working with small cacao farmers to not only produce high quality batches of beans, but to convert those beans to chocolate in on-site “sample labs” so that the farmers can actually taste their own product; something that rarely happens in the poor countries where most cacao is grown. TCHO provides the equipment to stock these labs, from roasters to computer software, so farmers can produce, taste and share notes with other growers worldwide.

 

Kummer goes on to explain that TCHO is taking the process further by revolutionizing the way they label their finished products.No more complicated percentages, varietal labeling or terroir terminology that makes a square of chocolate sound more like an expensive wine. TCHO is using “normal” words, like “bright,” “fruity” and “floral” to describe their chocolates. And they are selling them at “normal” places, like Starbucks and Whole Foods, rather than gourmet shops. It’s boutique on a big scale; it’s Third World growers getting First-World technology – and then turning it around to help each other. And of course, TCHO benefits: their chocolate is Fair Trade, organic and more important, they get exactly what they want by using these labs: chocolate their way, with instant feedback from growers who can let them know about local weather and soil conditions, and gain a better understanding of why cacao beans taste different, even when harvested from the same plantation.

 

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And speaking of combinations, I have three reviews for you: one from my Toronto stash and two local (to me) bars:

 

Alter Eco Dark 47% Organic Fair Trade: This bar is literally all over the place. Peruvian beans, processed in Switzerland and distributed by a company based in San Francisco. But the important thing: no metallic tang so common in organic bars. It’s actually quite smooth, creamy and milky.

 

And from the Castronovos: Nicaragua 72% and Batch 150 Blend 70% Criollo: Yes, they’ve done it again. I wondered if and when Denise and Jim would run out of subtlety and nuance in their bars. They haven’t with either of these. The Nicaragua has a slightly fruity undertone, but it’s the nuttiness that stands out. The label promises walnuts, and the flavor is so dense, you think you’re going to bite down on shells. The Batch 150 is a mix of Peruvian and Venezuelan beans with a more pronounced berry flavor and tang. The chocolate flavor in both bars is deep and balanced.

 

Related articles

 

• TCHO & Lands End (oldfamiliarplaces.wordpress.com)
• Will travel for chocolate: Top tasting spots and tours (myhouses8136.wordpress.com)
• An interesting INFOGRAPHICS on CHOCOLATE FLAVORS (morefavoriteingredients.wordpress.com)
• Potato, Cacao, and Something Very New (gourmetboutique.wordpress.com)

 

 

Chocolate (Price) Fix: Does It Matter?

English: A regular Hershey bar, out of the package. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A recent NBC News story reported that Hershey Canada, Mars Canada and Nestlé Canada have been charged with conspiracy to fix the price of chocolate in that country. Along with these companies, one of Canada’s largest retail and food distributing companies, ITWAL Ltd., has also come under scrutiny for anti-competitive behavior. The charges, which have been leveled at top-tier executives, are serious and carry prison and/or fine penalties.

Here’s the question: does price-fixing north of the border matter? Especially when it involves companies whose products many of us consider beneath us, even in a moment of confectionary desperation?

Yes, it matters.

For one thing, crime committed at any corporate level affects all of us. It affects the price we pay for what we need and want.

It’s an affront to anyone who actually obeys the law, and figures any high-flying executive making a seven-figure salary ought to be doing the same thing.

It makes your eyes roll to the back of your head when the company spokesperson says something like “we plan to vigorously defend ourselves against these charges” while stating on their website that the price-fixing allegations go back to 2007, all the while knowing that one of the companies involved is already cooperating with authorities in order to get lenient treatment in court.

It’s petty to artificially play with the price of chocolate. It’s not like the good stuff isn’t already pricey enough. You’re not fooling any of us by raising the price of the cheap crap, anyway. True connoisseurs know better.

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And speaking of the good stuff: two bars I found in Toronto. Neither Canadian, but you’ll love them anyway:

Valrhona El Pedregal Porcelana 64%: The name of this bar sounds impressive, pedigreed and regal. And it smells the same way even before you open it. This is an Oh, My! bar. Period. Floral, fruit, wine and cocoa are all balanced perfectly. This is the bar that makes other bars jealous.

Valrhona Ampamakia 64%: A single plantation bar that’s singular in its excellence. What it lacks in the floral and wine notes of El Pedregal, it makes up for in cocoa. Considering that both are 64%, this one is sweeter, with more bitter notes and a slight lemon ting.

Related articles

• Chocolate giants accused of price-fixing; former Nestle president criminally charged (calgaryherald.com)
• Competition Bureau charges Nestle, Hershey, Mars with chocolate price-fixing (thestar.com)

 

We Have Chocolate; Does It Need To Be Healthier?

A chocolate bar and melted chocolate. Chocolate is made from the cocoa bean, which is a natural source of theobromine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A recent Reuters News article discussed the latest in food niche marketing: healthier chocolate.

Lest you think dark plain chocolate, with the occasional addition of nuts, dried fruit or coffee nibs is healthy enough, think again. The latest means of improving the average bar includes adding probiotics, removing fat, sugar and gluten and altering the packaging (fewer pieces in the package does lower the calorie count, it’s true).

The appetite for these so-called “alternative sweets” is growing, as consumers pay attention to their waistlines and heed the calls from their doctors to watch their sugar and fat intake, lest they fall prey to heart disease and/or diabetes, both leading causes of death around the world.

But here’s the question: how much chocolate are we eating, compared to other highly processed foods and beverages, that we need the chocolate alternatives that much? If you are consuming so much chocolate, day after day, that you are heading down the rocky road to certain death just because of it, you’re not merely eating chocolate. You’re consumed and obsessed by the idea of consuming a food product beyond all reason. The chocolate isn’t your problem. The out-of-control consumption, however, could be the issue.

I’m not saying don’t try one of the alternative bars, just to give it a fair shot. You may even like it. But considering the already known benefits of dark chocolate, there may not be a need to get all virtuous about your newfound snack. As Maria Mogelonsky of global market research firm Mintel says in the article, “…people don’t eat chocolate to feel well, they eat it to feel good…the last thing on most chocolate eaters’ minds is health.”

Isn’t it the truth?

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And speaking of chocolate bars, of course I have two more tested from the Toronto stash:

Roshen Classic Brut 78% (Ukraine): Sexiest packaging I’ve seen in a while: black and gold outside and silver inside sleeve. And this percentage is not one commonly seen in the U.S. It provides a good balance of sweet and bitter, with some wood notes.

1848 Noir Subil 64% (France): The smell is as sweet as commercial baking chocolate, but it gets better on tasting. Very fruity on the opening notes, and mellows out after that. Good cacao flavor, with a hint of lemon.

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