These guys are local: Choklat - Alberta's Only Chocolate Maker
Through them I found out that most chocolatiers including fine chocolatiers do not make their own chocolate, but buy it already made in bulk, which surprised me.
I agree about the "American chocolate" comment, although it is not all US chocolate, so "mass market" might be a better description. It depends on the confection, but some of it is frighteningly sweet, and gets a "what am I eating?" reaction out of me.
Also the "Chinese chocolate" comment is surprising. I assume you mean by Chinese chocolate the chocolate packaged inside toys, as in Easter? Chinese confections both locally and in China are typically less sweet than North American or European tastes in my experience. Government subsidies of corn production and the resulting push to corn sweeteners in processed foods has very much made us have a sweet tooth in North America!
Through them I found out that most chocolatiers including fine chocolatiers do not make their own chocolate, but buy it already made in bulk, which surprised me.
I agree about the "American chocolate" comment, although it is not all US chocolate, so "mass market" might be a better description. It depends on the confection, but some of it is frighteningly sweet, and gets a "what am I eating?" reaction out of me.
Also the "Chinese chocolate" comment is surprising. I assume you mean by Chinese chocolate the chocolate packaged inside toys, as in Easter? Chinese confections both locally and in China are typically less sweet than North American or European tastes in my experience. Government subsidies of corn production and the resulting push to corn sweeteners in processed foods has very much made us have a sweet tooth in North America!
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They bought Cadbury's because due to 'tradition' Cadbury's has a special dispensation from the EU and is thus allowed to call their product 'chocolate' even though it does not contain enough cocoa solids to qualify as such according to existing EU rules.
In my opinion this dispensation should have been revoked when Cadbury's stopped being the traditional, independent, british company it once was.
and of course, who among us hasn't googled to see the latest "research findings" on how good or bad "chocolate" is for our health
It's not the cocoa, but as George noted, the sugar(s) (anything with "ose" at the end), and fats that'll accrue to the negative side of the ledger, and yes, the US seems to be more highly addicted to those ingredients than most
Bigun - after their long running partnership with Scwheppes, Cadbury became part of the Kraft food empire in 2009-10 - while Hershey's may still manufacture Cadbury branded chocolate in the US, I think the asking price was bit more than they could chew. They were certainly my favorite mass market candy bar - particularly the mint , but to be honest it's probably been at least 5yrs since I've had one, and I didn't look that closely at the labels.
The history of the company, and the financial shenanigans during the last 50yrs or so makes for some interesting reading
Cadbury - Wikipedia
It's not the cocoa, but as George noted, the sugar(s) (anything with "ose" at the end), and fats that'll accrue to the negative side of the ledger, and yes, the US seems to be more highly addicted to those ingredients than most
Bigun - after their long running partnership with Scwheppes, Cadbury became part of the Kraft food empire in 2009-10 - while Hershey's may still manufacture Cadbury branded chocolate in the US, I think the asking price was bit more than they could chew. They were certainly my favorite mass market candy bar - particularly the mint , but to be honest it's probably been at least 5yrs since I've had one, and I didn't look that closely at the labels.
The history of the company, and the financial shenanigans during the last 50yrs or so makes for some interesting reading
Cadbury - Wikipedia
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Hersey ruined Cadbury for me. Their Easter products were inedible in the US this year.
I like dark chocolate, and little sugar. I currently prefer Valrhona extra noir (86% cacao) dark chocolate bars from Trader Joes. I tried the TJs chocolates but found them all very waxy and flavorless. Maybe I missed the one Tubelab described.
Chocolate has been an important human food since at least the beginnings of settled villages in the Americas. The plant comes from the Orinoco and Amazon river basins, but the first evidence of its use comes from early villages in Honduras and Mexico, ca. 1600-1700 BC. Its a very fussy plant about its growing conditions, and the seed is only viable for two to three weeks after ripening. Its clearly important in ritual, and while it starts being used as a fermented beverage, and not at all chocolate tasting (the white pulp around the seeds concentrates the plant sugars and makes a good alcoholic beverage, and today is used to ferment the cacao seeds to make them edible), it has come to have an entire precolombian cuisine in Mesoamerica based not only on the pulp, but also on the fermented, dried, and toasted beans.
Its use in ritual took it all the way into the US southwest where recent work shows that traces of a chocolate beverage, probably based on cacao beans, was consumed in some of the pottery from Chaco Canyon.
I like dark chocolate, and little sugar. I currently prefer Valrhona extra noir (86% cacao) dark chocolate bars from Trader Joes. I tried the TJs chocolates but found them all very waxy and flavorless. Maybe I missed the one Tubelab described.
Chocolate has been an important human food since at least the beginnings of settled villages in the Americas. The plant comes from the Orinoco and Amazon river basins, but the first evidence of its use comes from early villages in Honduras and Mexico, ca. 1600-1700 BC. Its a very fussy plant about its growing conditions, and the seed is only viable for two to three weeks after ripening. Its clearly important in ritual, and while it starts being used as a fermented beverage, and not at all chocolate tasting (the white pulp around the seeds concentrates the plant sugars and makes a good alcoholic beverage, and today is used to ferment the cacao seeds to make them edible), it has come to have an entire precolombian cuisine in Mesoamerica based not only on the pulp, but also on the fermented, dried, and toasted beans.
Its use in ritual took it all the way into the US southwest where recent work shows that traces of a chocolate beverage, probably based on cacao beans, was consumed in some of the pottery from Chaco Canyon.
I will look for that one next time I go there. It's 50 miles each way, so I only go there once a month.
We live out in the sticks, so I get what I can, where I can. Compared to the stuff I find locally the TJ bars are good.
I snapped these pictures of what's in my pantry. The two on the left came from Walmart. My wife thought they were a bargain at $1 each, but I won't eat them. Ghirardelli - San Fransisco, USA - serving size 38 grams, sugar 16 grams. Godiva - Made in Belgium - serving size 45 grams, sugar 12 grams. The two on the right, I like. Green and Blacks - made in Poland - serving size 40 grams, sugar 5 grams. Trader Joes - Made in Columbia - serving size 40 grams, sugar 6 grams.
Also a random early morning picture from my recent Florida road trip. It was the last picture I took before packing up the camera for the 1200 mile drive home.
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shhhh ! don't let Hershey's know they own Green & Black - we gotta keep this subsidiary "off the radar" as they do indeed make a decent chocolate!
I prefer the higher concentration bars, but only eat a small amount (1/2 oz) at at time:
https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/a9...peg?odnWidth=1018&odnHeight=1018&odnBg=ffffff
https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/a9...peg?odnWidth=1018&odnHeight=1018&odnBg=ffffff
I had some of this and it was bland and way too sweet.
Fine Extra Dark Chocolate Most chocolate I found in DE and Ö had hazelnuts in it and made my mouth itch. I now know I am allergic to hazelnuts.
I tend to like Dove dark - the right shape to place it against the roof of your mouth with your tongue and let it melt.
Funny you say that even the KitKat's in China and Japan taste weird. I like Lindt or Valrhona 85%, funny Valrhona won't admit on the web to the cannabis flavored bars I saw in ordinary markets in Amsterdam.
We don't know that for sure, nor that there isn't something better out there
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