at Wed, 20 Oct 2004 07:37:17 GMT in <c631719f.0410192337.10dd5325
@posting.google.com>, (Meghan Noecker) wrote :

>I used to buy chunks of chocolate at the local grocery store. They
>were from a huge thick bar of chocolate, broken into chunks that
>varied in size, irregular, but usually 3-6 inches long and a few
>inches wide. Probably about an inch thick, maybe a tad thicker. There
>were saran wrapped and sold by weight.
>
>Eventually, the store stopped carrying it. I found them once, several
>years later, during the holiday season at a different grocery store.
>
>I really liked them, but I have no idea what brand of chocolate it was
>or if it still being sold that way anymore. Does any of this sound
>familiar to anybody?
>
>I live in the Seattle, WA area, but I would be willing to buy it
>mailorder if I can find a place that sells it.
>

Which grocery stores were carrying it? If I know this I can tell you which
brand it was.

IME, in Seattle, the Saran-wrapped chunks are usually Callebaut. The ones
that stores carry in bulk bins that are *not* Saran-wrapped are usually
Guittard.

If you are accurate and your chunks are truly about an inch thick, however,
that would be from the 1kg blocs rather than the larger blocs Guittard and
Callebaut produce, which are typically closer to 2 inches thick. The 1 kg
blocs sold in the grocery stores are usually either El Rey or Scharffen
Berger.

Did the break-up have any sort of markings on the flat sides (i.e. the ones
that weren't along the break marks but rather were part of the original
surface of the bar)? If so, identifying them is usually pretty easy.

Callebaut has one of 2 markings : either the words "Callebaut" in all-caps
Times-Roman-like lettering, or a circular logo with 3 curving arms
radiating from the center, looking a bit like a fancy wheel.

Guittard has various grooves that are difficult to recognise unless you
know what a full bar looks like. In that case, you start to recognise the
pieces rather readily. There is a deep, semithick groove (the border of the
bar), wide, flat grooves (parts of the lettering saying "Guittard", some
thin, script grooves (part of a legend that reads "Over A Century of
Quality" and a set of flat grooves with curved sides (part of the center
logo) Depending on where the particular chunk came from, you might see one
of these groove markings.

El Rey has either EL REY in large, blocky sans serif font, or El Rey in
their logo font (script)

Scharffen Berger has their logo right in the center (a stylised antelope)

There's also Merckens, which displays a pattern of grooves a bit like a
checkerboard (not exactly but in that kind of style) and Ghirardelli which
has a series of patterns that vary, much like Guittard. Ghirardelli blocs
are thinner than Guittard, though.

There are others but these aren't typically found in Seattle supermarkets.

Was the chocolate dark or milk? If dark, was it almost ebony black or more
of a dark, ruddy brown? If milk, was it a pale mocha colour or a darker
colour more like brown gravy?

With a slightly better description from you I can make a positive ID.

Meanwhile, who has what?

Larry's Market carries Guittard.

Various PCCs have various other brands. Fremont has Callebaut and some El
Rey. Green Lake has El Rey and Scharffen Berger. Some PCC stores have some
Guittard.

Whole Foods Market has Callebaut, El Rey, Scharffen Berger, and Dagoba.

Metropolitan Market has Callebaut.

Cost Plus World Market has Ghirardelli.

Dilettante has Guittard. The Pike Place Market location usually has better
supply and is less frenetic.

DeLaurenti has Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, and some Callebaut.

Since you're in Seattle, I can probably track down *any* chocolate you
might want without too much difficulty.
--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)