A portrait of gluttony
To prep for my big move, I've been cleaning out my kitchen cabinets. This afternoon I noticed that my entire countertop was covered in chocolate.
This has to be a sickness, right? Some kind of hoarding disease? Between living in Paris, traveling to Brussels, editing a chocolate and candy blog and just generally being greedy and piggish, I have managed to accumulate a small mountain of cocoa-based products. Please note also that this photo was taken AFTER I mailed a chocolate care package to Eliz in order to clean off my shelves.
Represented in my collection:
Coppeneur: Hacienda Iara Dunkle Chocolade; Hacienda Iara Dunkle Chocolade with Red Pepper and Chili
I love chocolate and spice. It's one of my vices. I love the sweetness, the smokiness, and then the lingering burn.
Michel Cluizel: Noir Infini 99%
This is just obscene. Chocolate nerds are always talking about percentage. Higher and higher they go until the bar is just pure black bittery stuff. I'm not that big of a chocolate nerd, so I'd never seen a 99% before. I knew, I KNEW it would be gross, and of course it is, but I couldn't stop myself from buying it. The chocolate just stops dead on your tongue; it comes to this powdery, screeching halt on your taste buds and then dies there, leaving you to mop up the dust with what spit you have left. What do you DO with such a thing? Add sugar to it is my guess.
Pierre Marcolini: Grand Cru Fleur de Cacao; Pure Origine Equateur
The Grand Cru is easier to munch on than the Equateur, which is herbal and musty and more of a challenge. But I wouldn't kick either one of them out of bed for eating crackers.
Dolfin: Chocolat Noir Au The Earl Grey
I know nothing of Dolfin, but I'm going to take a stand and tell you that I love them. I love Dagoba too, but I don't have any of their stuff "in stock" at the moment, so I have no excuse to discuss them here. I think Dolfin blends flavors really well, takes risks and comes out ahead most of the time. The Earl Grey bar is quite strong with the flowery taste of the tea, but their dark chocolate balances it perfectly. It's suffused with little crunchy bits of what I assume are tea leaves. Their Hot Masala bar was so good that I couldn't even bear to throw the wrapper away. See, I'm sick!
NewTree: Vigor Energizing Dark Chocolate with Coffee
Not a big fan of this stuff. I don't need an excuse to eat chocolate (obviously!) and I don't need to convince myself that it's healthy. I haven't tried their other flavors, but the coffee flavor is super bitter. And it scares me that this tiny little box has the same caffeine as three cups of coffee.
Valrhona: (baggie in back)Unidentified dark chocolate wafers
A gift from Laura intended to be used for baking. Actually employed by various waves of houseguests for surreptitious snacking. They thought I didn't know. Bwah!
Patrick Roger: (baggie in front) Assorted bonbons, including passion fruit, lime, citrus, jasmine tea, praline and ginger
These are fabulous. And the store wraps everything in the sexiest jade green wrappers. Definitely recommended.
Russian chocolates
A gift from Nastia. I don't know what they're called in English, but you eat them with coffee. They're basically marshmallows dipped in chocolate, and remind me of a childhood favorite, Pinwheels (incidentally, I couldn't find a link for Pinwheels, only Mallomars. Are they the same thing? Is this a regional naming thing, like Hellmann's versus Blue Ribbon mayonnaise? I'm stumped).
I'm not even going to mention the hot chocolate situation...
This has to be a sickness, right? Some kind of hoarding disease? Between living in Paris, traveling to Brussels, editing a chocolate and candy blog and just generally being greedy and piggish, I have managed to accumulate a small mountain of cocoa-based products. Please note also that this photo was taken AFTER I mailed a chocolate care package to Eliz in order to clean off my shelves.
Represented in my collection:
Coppeneur: Hacienda Iara Dunkle Chocolade; Hacienda Iara Dunkle Chocolade with Red Pepper and Chili
I love chocolate and spice. It's one of my vices. I love the sweetness, the smokiness, and then the lingering burn.
Michel Cluizel: Noir Infini 99%
This is just obscene. Chocolate nerds are always talking about percentage. Higher and higher they go until the bar is just pure black bittery stuff. I'm not that big of a chocolate nerd, so I'd never seen a 99% before. I knew, I KNEW it would be gross, and of course it is, but I couldn't stop myself from buying it. The chocolate just stops dead on your tongue; it comes to this powdery, screeching halt on your taste buds and then dies there, leaving you to mop up the dust with what spit you have left. What do you DO with such a thing? Add sugar to it is my guess.
Pierre Marcolini: Grand Cru Fleur de Cacao; Pure Origine Equateur
The Grand Cru is easier to munch on than the Equateur, which is herbal and musty and more of a challenge. But I wouldn't kick either one of them out of bed for eating crackers.
Dolfin: Chocolat Noir Au The Earl Grey
I know nothing of Dolfin, but I'm going to take a stand and tell you that I love them. I love Dagoba too, but I don't have any of their stuff "in stock" at the moment, so I have no excuse to discuss them here. I think Dolfin blends flavors really well, takes risks and comes out ahead most of the time. The Earl Grey bar is quite strong with the flowery taste of the tea, but their dark chocolate balances it perfectly. It's suffused with little crunchy bits of what I assume are tea leaves. Their Hot Masala bar was so good that I couldn't even bear to throw the wrapper away. See, I'm sick!
NewTree: Vigor Energizing Dark Chocolate with Coffee
Not a big fan of this stuff. I don't need an excuse to eat chocolate (obviously!) and I don't need to convince myself that it's healthy. I haven't tried their other flavors, but the coffee flavor is super bitter. And it scares me that this tiny little box has the same caffeine as three cups of coffee.
Valrhona: (baggie in back)Unidentified dark chocolate wafers
A gift from Laura intended to be used for baking. Actually employed by various waves of houseguests for surreptitious snacking. They thought I didn't know. Bwah!
Patrick Roger: (baggie in front) Assorted bonbons, including passion fruit, lime, citrus, jasmine tea, praline and ginger
These are fabulous. And the store wraps everything in the sexiest jade green wrappers. Definitely recommended.
Russian chocolates
A gift from Nastia. I don't know what they're called in English, but you eat them with coffee. They're basically marshmallows dipped in chocolate, and remind me of a childhood favorite, Pinwheels (incidentally, I couldn't find a link for Pinwheels, only Mallomars. Are they the same thing? Is this a regional naming thing, like Hellmann's versus Blue Ribbon mayonnaise? I'm stumped).
I'm not even going to mention the hot chocolate situation...
posted by cindym at 1:18 PM
14 Comments:
Wow, I'll bet that chocolate au the Earl Grey is fantastic. One of the most interesting chocolate desserts I've ever had involved a sauce with bergamot. That was so good, I remember it 3 years later... I may have to find that brand of chocolate somewhere...
Where is Hellman's Blue Ribbon? It's Hellman's = Best Foods on the West Coast.
yur makin me hungry...
Have you ever tried the chocolate with 90% cacaco. I have bought one of a Lindt product, they advice consumer to eat a small piece at a time because the taste is too strong. I love black chocolate "chocolat noir" because i did'nt like it when it is too sweet.
Hi Harlan -
I like your site. Yeah, I'm a big bergamot fan too. I have some hard candies I found in Nancy made out of it.
B'gina - Yeah, you're right. I always screw that up; I think Hellmann's used to be called Hellmann's Blue Ribbon (there is still a blue ribbon on the jar, I believe) and for some reason, instead of Best Foods I think Blue Ribbon. I'll update it.
I'm hungry too, Celebrity Foods.
Relly - No, I haven't tried that one yet. I'm not a fan of super sweet chocolate either, but some of these super potent versions are too much for my wimpy taste buds!
Eat that? Uh-huh! You melt it into cream with sugar, or cream, sugar and butter, add a little liqueur, cool, form into truffles. You chunk it up, blend it into things that long to be chocolate, but eat it? Not I...
Mole anyone?
Looks like the Russian candies are called Шaрмєль... "Sharmel" or similar when transliterated.
They sound pretty tempting!
Moving already?
Cindy M
Paris: 2005-2006
"We Barely Knew Ye..."
You are officially sounding sad...
Remember Hemingway:
"If you're lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young (wo)man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."
Please pick me me me me me (if you need to get rid of anything). I like the Patrick Rogers too, I just discovered them in October in a Portland friend's bedroom (where she keeps her chocolate!) Pinwheels are Mallomars with chocolate wafer at the bottom instead of graham cracker, I prefer the contrasting tastes of Mallomars, as well as eating three of them to one or two Pinwheels, which always seem so much bigger. More is more, I always say! I'll be back in Portland 2/7, sampling more chocolate too!
Ahh Judith, good call. And mole, an extra good call.
Nicole - You're right, I asked Nastia and that's exactly what they're called. Good translation work!
David - You're gonna make me cry. But I'll see ya in Seattle in a few months, right? We'll party? Right? Hello? You bring the wine.
Lu - You're gonna make me cry too.
Qwendy - thanks for the clarification. Pinwheels were always a big, big, special treat in my lunchbox when I was little...
oooh! chocolate care package!!! sweet sweet music to my ears!!
Their Hot Masala bar was so good that I couldn't even bear to throw the wrapper away.
I laughed so hard when I read this, because when a friend brought me the hot masala bar back from a trip to Canada, I kept the wrapper too! Empty, in my fridge, for about a year. It was a good thing, though, because when I had the good sense to see if I could order some more on the internet, I had the name of the company handy.
I have a bar of pink peppercorn at home right now...
Oh, that Earl Grey Dolfin chocolate is absolutely fantastic. A friend sent me a sampler of all of their dark chocolate flavors, and they are friggin' awesome.
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