The rather unfortunately named Dick Smith is a living Aussie icon (which is rare, because we tend to celebrate hanged bushrangers, dead horses and failed explorers), well known for making his millions from cheap electronics before selling off his business and venturing into launching the Australian Geographic magazine and store franchise and doing his best to get Aussies to buy food made and owned by other Aussies.
As such, he’s tried to emulate any typically Australian product that’s since been bought by evil multi-nationals. Some of his versions are just as good and some are….well, let’s just say well-intentioned.
Which leads me to ‘Temptin’ – Dicky’s version of Arnott’s Biscuits all time Australian classic known the world over as the ‘Tim Tam’. This is a very brave idea, kind of like a set decorator on ‘Coronation Street’ trying to replace the HP sauce with Uncle Sam’s Ketchup and hoping that viewers and locals don’t notice. Or getting the queen to ditch the Burberry and try wearing a Juicy couture tracksuit top instead… Just. Not. Done.
As you can see from the photo, the Temptins were slightly melted by the time I got them home, but that’s never stopped me before: I remember being airmailed a packet of Tim Tams when I was living in London, and they had literally melted and reset into a large brick comb by the time the packaging was torn off.
Sadly, it was obvious from the first mouthful that Temptin’s just ain’t Tim Tams. Not in the same ballpark, let alone neighbourhood or sports division. The coating is stingy, overly oily and the ingredients at the back mention the words no decent Chocablogger ever wants to read – Compounded Chocolate. No wonder they melted; the chocolate layer is far too thin and greasy to want to stay on the – quite frankly – substandard biscuit. The creamy milk filling so beloved of Tim Tams is also replicated here, but had a texture akin to library paste and is about as appetising. Overall there was a slightly chemical taste in my mouth after finishing which didn’t exact tempt me to reach for another Temptin. Oh and Dick – please do us a favour and add a ‘g’ to Temptin or you’ll anger the ex-English teacher in me (and many other pedants) for good.
So, sorry Dick. I like the reason behind your actions, but maybe you’d be better off using your millions buying the Tim Tam factory and brand from Arnotts instead of trying to recreate your own, weaker version.
It’s been a while since we’ve reviewed any Hotel Chocolat products, so it’s probably about time we looked at some of their latest offerings. They were kind enough to send some samples, and this one in particular caught my eye.
Now I know the chocolatiers at Hotel Chocolat have a sense of humour (nobody else I know includes blindfolds with their chocolate), but I just can’t quite figure out whether I’m meant to take this seriously.
Two layers of canapés that are clearly designed to look like something that would have been served at a slightly-too-pretentious dinner party circa 1979. In place of smoked salmon, we have a “florentine square” of caramelised nuts and a “caramel button”.
The concept is just a little bizarre. I am quite certain that it would go down well at one of Ferrero Rochers Ambassadors Receptions, but is that really the market Hotel Chocolat are going for here?
There was only one way to find out… so I took them to a party to see what other people thought.
Somewhat surprisingly, my party-going friends were not as baffled by these as I was. It wasn’t that they understood the thinking behind them – it was more that they simply didn’t care.
They were more interested in how the canapés tasted; and thankfully, they taste pretty good. The florentine is a little too sweet for my liking, but it does add a nutty crispiness to the overall effect, and it’s quite clear they’ve been made with the usual high quality Hotel Chocolat ingredients.
So they went down well with my friends, but for me, the usual Hotel Chocolat “wow” factor is more of a “wtf?” factor here.
It seems that just about every time we post a news article on Chocablog, it has something to do with a Cadbury product recall.
This time, it’s not Cadbury’s fault, but the Chinese contaminated milk scandal has apparently affected products sold in Taiwan, Hong Kong and (somewhat bizarrely) Australia.
The Times and The Guardian are reporting that Cadbury have withdrawn 11 products after tests have raised concerns.
Of course, the really worrying thing here is that these large companies don’t really seem to know where the ingredients in their products have come from. That makes it almost impossible for consumers to decide what’s safe. And when it comes to a luxury product like chocolate, if people can’t tell where it has come from, they will simply stop buying.
EZA Fairer Handel GmbH (to give them their full title) “is a fair trade organization dealing with marginalized producer groups from developing countries. It was founded in 1975 and since then it has been by far the most important fair trader in Austria” – according to their website.
I picked this bar up while I was in Vienna and was delighted to see that it contains fairly traded produce. I for one am well aware that cocoa farmers and other producers have had a rough ride in the past, and that their crops have been devalued while we pay premium prices as end consumers, so if I can buy Fairtrade, I generally will. (Thankfully there are more Fairtrade products making it onto UK shelves too).
Anyway, at 35% cocoa I was thinking “skinny, slightly more upmarket Fruit & Nut“, in a good way. In my gluttonous youth I devoured more than my share of Fruit & Nut bars (my Dad had a friend who had a Cadbury’s connection. We had tons of Dairy Milk, Fruit & Nut and Creme Eggs) * and so I half expected a stroll down memory lane with this bar. However I was wrong, and in the best way.
Unlike Fruit & Nut, the cashews and raisins were in tiny fragments, so there was to be no hamster-like hoarding of almonds in one cheek and raisins in the other (and you thought it was just you that did that, didn’t you?) so there was a constant fruit/nut taste being brought into play while the chocolate melted. But it was the taste of the chocolate that was so different. Rich and deep with creamy vanilla and caramel tastes, it was really rather good. According to the wrapper the raw sugar, cocoa butter and cocoa mass came from Costa Rica, Bolivia and Ghana. The complex flavours of the chocolate certainly suggest Ghanaian beans. Perhaps the sweetness of the raisins made a difference, but I didn’t taste too much sugar in this bar, and the last few pieces of nut and raisin provided an excellent citrussy finish.
A very tasty bar, and with 66% of ingredients traded fairly, one you eat knowing you’re giving other people a decent living wage.
*(Incidentally, does anyone else remember the tartan-wrapped, totally chocolate Border Creme Egg?)
