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Guittard gourmet bittersweet
at Wed, 28 Apr 2004 00:49:49 GMT in
>, (Reg)
wrote :
>I use a steady supply of 10 lb blocks of Guittard gourmet bittersweet.
....
>For those who are familiar with it, how does this chocolate rate?
Unbelievably great. This is one of the best chocolates in the world, *at
any price*.
>Is there a higher quality brand of bulk chocolate that costs about
>the same?
No. In fact the only chocolate that IMHO could arguably be said to be
better is Amedei's Chuao, and in the USA, that's an astonishing $54.95/1 kg
bloc! (although it's worth every penny)
> I could actually afford to budget a bit more if there's enough
>of a difference in quality.
It's not so much a difference in quality, but a difference in intended
application. There *are* better chocolates for specific applications, of
varying prices. For instance, I'd make the following recommendations:
For chocolate decadence, and most flourless chocolate tortes: Michel
Cluizel Hacienda Concepcion. Second place: Callebaut 7030 bittersweet.
For chocolate ice cream : El Rey Gran Saman.
For chocolate cakes : Guittard L'Harmonie 64%.
For chocolate mousse : Michel Cluizel Hacienda Mangaro
For chocolate-dipped fruit : Michel Cluizel Hacienda Los Ancones. Actually
better still is Domori Porcelana, but AFAIK it's not available in bulk
format. And we're *really* talking splitting hairs here, because Los
Ancones is another of the really world-class chocolates, right up there
with Gourmet Bittersweet and Amedei Chuao.
These are just some examples. But if you don't want to obsess, and
precisely match chocolates to specific applications, Gourmet Bittersweet is
one of those extraordinarily versatile, general-purpose chocolates that
fits a variety of situations. My recommendation is to stick with it and
enjoy the good fortune all of us in the USA have in having access to an
incredibly cheap, incredibly good chocolate.
--
Alex Rast
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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