Gourmet Provisions Hazelnut and Chocolate Soft Nougat

I was in my local Foodland a few days back, and saw Nougat. Being something of a sucker for a nice Nougat, I just had to pick one up to see what it was like.

I have to confess mixed feelings – a name like “Gourmet Provisions” – a brand of Gourmet Brands – does rather put me off. I’d rather make up my own mind about a product being Gourmet, instead of being told via marketing and branding consultants. So I guess I treat the name as a bit of a warning of what might be to come.

Even more peculiar, this product comes from Holland – not a place normally renowned as a supplier of top-rate chocolates. Cheeses and clogs, perhaps, but chocolate? Hmmm.

Come taste test time – the conclusions are also mixed.

The chocolate is nothing much to write home about. The ingredients tell us its milk chocolate 26% and go on to list its make up. It’s not clear if the 26% refers to the cocoa content, or to the chocolate percentage of the whole product. There is no real flavour there to speak of. The nougat is reasonably soft, chewy, but there is a slightly strange plastic kind of taste.

The nuts are visible in the nougat so the pieces are reasonably large (and yes, those are my tooth marks). Passing these around our guests, their conclusion was that either the nuts, or some other oil or fat is slightly rancid. Perhaps that’s the chemical / plastic taste I could pick. As far as the remaining ingredients go, glucose syrup is at #1 position, then sugar (!), then hazelnuts, vegetable fat, a few other things, and honey! Total sugars come to 55%. No wonder it’s sweet.

With a banner proclaiming “Premium Quality”, and being well before the Best Before date – this product comes as a disappointment. It’s very sweet, and the off / rancid / chemical taste is a little unpleasant. Once you go past that the remaining nougat taste and texture is actually not too bad. But it’s possible to buy better. I won’t be buying these again.

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