Every now and again you have to get a pleasant surprise, and yesterday was one of those days.
The Lady of the House likes to make snide remarks about “The Chocolate Obsession”. But she also finds new and different things when out shopping, and brings them home. Then has a go at me when I have a rush of enthusiasm and whip out the camera. For the chocolate. (What were you thinking?)
Yesterday, she brought home this “Cocoa Belgian Dark” – which immediately put her in the good books seeing as I’m a pal of Darth Vader (Dark Side… OK, I suppose it IS getting a bit lame). This is a 50% cocoa solids block – so not a dark as some, but dark enough!
My enthusiasm faded a bit when I read the back of the pack, and saw the dreaded words “Made in Belgium for Big W”.
We’ve had a number of reviews here of chocolates made for large stores in Australia, the UK, and the USA. In most cases they have been pretty ordinary, some have been terrible. So I prepared myself to be disappointed, and set the pack aside – for later.
Well…. Later arrived after an hour or so. It was time to give it a try. Weak willed.
First impression on opening the pack was a rich, dark, almost earthy aroma. A good start. Next, breaking off a piece. This chocolate is quite thick, the pieces are a good size, and it’s pretty solid – so the pieces break with a nice, very satisfying snap. And the taste? It’s good. Very good. The texture is excellent – fine, a good slow melt, lots of complex flavours. I promptly ate a couple of rows. And a couple more today.
This reminds me a bit of the Kinnertons – perhaps that’s just that they are both 50% chocolates – but no, there are other similarities in flavour and texture as well. There’s almost a vanillin flavour, or hint there. No vanilla listed on the ingredients, so it must come from the beans used. And mercifully it’s not too sweet.
Best of all: it comes in a decent, healthy sized 200 gram block. But there is even better (though in this regard the Lady of the House is a terrible disappointment, because she thought it excessive) – it also comes in a 400 gram block! Excellent! This one would actually make a really good chocolate to use in the mousse recipe, instead of the Lindt.
All in all, a very pleasant surprise for a megamart own-brand. (Makes note to go buy more.)
To finish with Amano’s new bars, we have this 70% from Venezuela. The name of this one, Montanya, is interesting. This is mountain in Spanish, but they’re traded out the tilde for a “y,” presumably to make sure it’s pronounced right. The reason for this name is that the chocolate was grown in mountain plantations that can only be reached on horseback, as opposed to the usual valleys.
I’ve had the chance to try a lot of amazing chocolates, but I was still impressed by this one. To start off, I liked its design. The shadowy tree painting against the shiny black was the perfect image to begin my chocolate ritual with. Slowly open up the box, slide the precious gold out, carefully fold back the foil, delicately snap off one of the end columns, and snap off one piece, reveling in the gorgeous break. Then take the small pieces, turn it around, examine its pretty color and shape, inhale its aroma…
This one is supposed to taste of “apricot and marshmallow.” The two flavors come in that order, a part of the strong chocolate taste that mingles with their warm, summery kind of sweetness. Speaking of sweetness, it’s pretty sweet for a dark chocolate, but in such a nice way. It isn’t sugary or sickly at all, so I find this a good thing and I imagine so will most other people. The way it melts, paired with this, is just divine.
If you really love your friends and are willing to spend nine dollars on them, this would be a standout gift with quality they’ll appreciate and enjoy. Or you may just find yourself hoarding it all, for which this bar is also fabulous.
Courtesy of Rainer and Oliver at Premier Food and Beverages comes two liqueur blocks from third-generation Swiss-based chocolate company Camille Bloch. Established by Camille in 1929, the company is now being helmed by third-generation family members Daniel and Stephane Bloch.
However today’s review concerns their liqueur chocolate that has been available before the current generation was but a twinkle in their parents’ eyes – the Williams and Grappa blocks. (Their first liqueur – Kirsch – was released in 1955 and has already been reviewed by Ashleigh)
I started with the Williams block first, because a) it is milk chocolate (Light to Dark is my tasting motto) and b) has a lighter liqueur inside – pear brandy. It is one of their few blocks to feature a sugar crust to prevent leakage, but when it’s described as ‘con fine pellicola di zucchero’ or as a ‘fine pellicle of sugar’ it sounds cute and appetising instead of crusty and annoying.
And it thankfully tastes that way as well. The pellicle layer between the soft milky chocolate feels fine and delicately crispy, not cheap and grainy like some sugar coatings and effortlessly releases a fine and sweet pear liqueur. This is a delicious way to feature three different but complementary tastes – milk, crunch and liqueur – and would be a fine introduction to liqueur chocolates for those who are nervous and/or don’t enjoy especially strong alcohol tastes.
The Grappa chocolate block is dark and filled with an Italian spirit that is made from the grapes left after wine-making. It is a much stronger, more pungent flavoured alcohol filling that can make fainter-hearted tasters cough. Not this one though.
The dark chocolate is especially creamy to taste and very soon the strong spirit flows out without an intervening pellicle crust. Interestingly, it is the Grappa that lingers afterwards and not the dark chocolate, even though whilst eating it the tastes are intertwined. I really enjoyed this one also but could only manage half the block (or four squares totaling fifty grams). It’s not too often that such a thing happens!
As founder Camille Bloch famously said, “You don’t share the chocolate. You share the pleasure in it.” I like that, and will continue to use it as the reason why my family often wonder why there are no leftovers after my tasting sessions.
It’s always a nice surprise when the postman knocks on the door with a big box from Hotel Chocolat. This particular delivery contained two 500g chocolate slabs with a summer theme, and this Tutti Fruitti one really grabbed my attention.
Made from half 40% milk chocolate and half white chocolate, the front of the slab is covered in naturally coloured ‘graffiti’ that looks amazing.
The white chocolate has a subtle fruit flavour to it, and the whole slab has raisins, pistachios and cherries buried inside. The result is something that’s fruity, creamy and incredibly moreish. It actually tastes like the tutti fruitti ice creams I remember as a child. It’s just divine.
I had planned to just take a few bites from this oversized hunk of yumminess and save the rest to share with friends and get their opinion. Unfortunately, before I realised what I was doing, half the slab had disappeared… I know not where. Honest.
I did manage to save some to share with friends at a barbecue, but everyone who tried it had the same problem. I didn’t get the kind of feedback I was hoping for either – but that’s primarily because it had been completely scoffed before anyone had a chance to form an opinion.
Needless to say, this is a delicious, summery and fruity slab that’s made for sharing. Just don’t expect it to last long.
