Alex Rast wrote:
It's rather the reverse - i.e. which Valrhonas have *low* fat. Most
Valrhona chocolate is couverture-grade and thus is high-fat. Caraque - a
semisweet, is somewhat lower in fat that most of the others. On the high
side, Guanaja and Araguani are both very high-fat, which is also why they
have such a smooth finish.
Yes, Caraque was the one the chef, who hosted the chocolate course,
mentioned, but I was pretty sure he said it had higher fat content than
the others and therefore more shiny as a cover for filled chocolates
(instead of people adding paraffin). Maybe relative to the cocoa content?
Caraque 37% fat to 56% cocoa = 0.66
Le Noir Gastronomie 38.5% fat to 61% cocoa = 0.63
Manjari 40.5% fat to 64% cocoa = 0.63
Caraibe 40.5% fat to 66.5% cocoa = 0.61
That's not really in the control of the manufacturer. Manufacturers source
from various plantations and the drying process happens there, so it's more
or less up to the plantation what to do. Generally local tradition tends to
dictate what the plantation does. A few manufacturers - Domori in
particular and Amedei in the case of Chuao - have more explicit control
over what the plantation does but these are exceptions.
The chef told that Valrhona have control, because they grow 80% of their
cocoa, cane sugar, and vanilla themselves.
Really? You've got to be among the few chocophiles I've talked to who
doesn't. Porcelana is one of those ridiculously fashionable, crazily-
sought-after beans that caught the public hype a few years back. Domori is
the company responsible for popularising it - and it's easy to see why.
I think the normal Valrhona and Mitchel Cruitzel chocs are the top the
price that can be sold in Denmark. In this country nobody is poor, but
nobody is rich either. It is a rich country with a mediocre population
(one of the mantras of my political party that fights for individual
freedom)
Be careful, it's only the origin bars, in distinctive wrappers that look a
lot like a sleeve for an airplane ticket, that are genuninely good.
Yeah, that is the type of packaging I saw, but I didn't dare try, when
the normal neuhaus was so boring and the price was higher than Valrhona,
and the fact that they use fake vanilla and hydrogenated oils in the
filled chocolates also ticks me off...
Ampamakia : a good complement to cinnamon and raisins. Don't mix with
Palmira : Perhaps even better than Ampamakia with raisins and
currants.
My favourites! Smooth and fruity for an exotic experience.
Palmira isn't really smooth, at least not IME, but it's *very* exotic.
Fruity, yes, and in a way very different from what Valrhona usually does.
OK, I've only tasted Palmira once, but I've eaten a lot of Ampamakia. I
groups them because the store stopped having Ampamakia lately and
started Palmira as replacement for it.
Big $. In England it's 50 pounds for a 324 g box. Overhyped presentation in
a pentagonal box containing chocolate moulded into the form of a cacao
flower (who let the marketroids loose? Quick, Valrhona, catch them before
they escape and multiply). It's good, although as I say not really as good
as the Domori version.
I think they can't sell it here. Maybe they can in Copenhagen or en
gourmet stores north of copenhagen, where the people with money lives.
I guess you wouldn't know that the danish brand Anton Berg is trying to
get into the gourmet chocolate market with some single region
chocolates: Ghana (60% with bean nips), Ecuador (72%) and New Guinea
(72%)? For the price they are quite good.
No. I will have to try them when I get the chance. Thanks for the info.
It is not as good as the fancy expensive foreign stuff, but given that
the darkest Danish chocolate you could get 5 years ago was barely 50%
and fake vanilla and sometimes added vegetable oils, this is a huge step up.
How interesting! In coffee you generally lean towards the reverse of what
you like in chocolate - namely towards rich, full-bodied coffees.
Exactly (also my wines), but the African coffees also have the fruity
notes, like black currant. However, Sulawesi/Sumatra are more earthy,
but I do not like the same coffee everyday, I need some variation. I
mostly drink the African ones. Peet's Coffee in Davis was very fond of
me and often gave me free samples, because they enjoyed discussing with
me. I got a small bag of their most expensive coffee Aged Sulawesi
Peaberry. Wow, that was like having an earthy Sulawesi coffee AND a
fruity African coffee at the same time - not meddled together - but
first one taste and then the other.
However,
I think in both cases I do detect the crucial factor. That you like
Ethiopian coffee is the giveaway, together with the Palmira. What you like
more than anything else is a very complex flavour profile - one with many
distinctive components that show up.
Hah, like with wine. the guy in my wine store, who knows me best,
describes my taste: "you'll like this Pauillac Cru Bourgeois, it's like
getting a donkey kick in the face". Other favorites are traditional
Rioja Grand Reserva (the best: Lopez de Heredia Tondonia - WOW!
http://www.wineanorak.com/lopez_heredia.htm ), Aged Napa valley cab.
sauv. (e.g. Sequoia Grove Reserve Cabernet - my name brother
) and
Syrah/Shiraz. For White Wine it is buttery oaky chardonnay. For port it
is the L.B.V. and Vintage ports. Annoying 'cos the type of wine I like
is generally 15-30$ in Denmark. Other people just get a 3-6% wine, but I
don't like those. Sometimes I'm lucky to get a good Cotes du Rhone
Villages at a good price.
I checked my email archive and found the review guy I thought were you
is called Mark Canizaro. He actually said that Valrhona does not travel
well, because in the US it is not as good as in Europe.
http://www.xocoatl.org/
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