Chocolate!!

Most of you know I have been reading a book all about chocolate entitled, Chocolate by Mort Rosenblum. Fascinating stuff. So yesterday Shonda came over for lunch and we had a chocolate tasting. Guess what? You are supposed to start out with the chocolate that has the highest sugar count first, and the proceed from there to the highest cocoa count. So we started with a Swiss-made bittersweet that must have been somewhere around 50% or so . . we moved up to a Peruvian bean made in Belgium chocolate that was 64%, then two different 70% - one of these was from Ghanian beans - and finished off with an 80% cocoa content bar from Ugandan beans. Interestingly, Shonda thought initially she was going to like the Ugandan bar the best because she likes a high cocoa content. But, we both agreed, we liked the 64% Peruvian the best. I have a theory on this.

In the book, I learned about the different types of cacao (pronounced ca-COW in case you didn't know, like me) plants - there are basically 4 or 5 - the taste of your chocolate bar is influenced by not only the cocao content, but also by the different combination of beans that are used as well as how the chocolate beans are roasted and the chocolate, when made, is cooled. When they combine the beans "right", you get layers of flavor/intensity. Also, depending on what plant, some beans are considered a better sort of beans. So the bar Shonda liked the best was in fact from 2 plants that were considered to be of the better sort, and however it was made, it was the one that had the most layers and was most enjoyable. Kinda like wine. The bar we liked the least was a mass manufactured bar - it was a Lindt. Lindt is explained in the book to be the best of the mass marketed chocolate - you can't have both - you can't have best price and best chocolate - it is impossible. But for those of use who cannot afford $65 a pound for chocolate . . well . . .

Did I tell you Godiva chocolates are owned by Campbell's soup? And Godiva is not really a very good chocolate? It is a good experience, from the packaging to diplays, but the chocolate is not really up there. Interesting.

My brother is going to Paris for work next week, and I have given him a list of some shops there that make chocolate by some of the masters . .He has lived in Paris and he knew exactly where the shops were and did declare that the chocolate in one of them was indeed very, very pricey. I am hoping he comes back with some samples, lol.