Wonderful World of Chocolate

Sugar in Chocolate

2008-03-19T13:26:07Z

We recently received an email inquiry regarding substitutes for refined sugar in chocolate, such as evaporated cane juice or brown rice syrup. Here is our response:

"Cioccolato strives to educate its customers on the wide variety of products we import and sell. We primarily specialize in chocolates imported from Europe, and currently also feature a Colombian brand and a few specialty domestic chocolates.

European chocolatiers and chocolate consumers typically have different concerns than consumers in the United States. As you may already be aware, health concerns in particular that have developed here in the US have not been quite as much of a concern to Europeans, such as obesity. Imported chocolate and other food items have only recently begun to bear the now-standard Nutrition Facts label that is required on our food packaging, even though they have been providing ingredients lists on their products for some time.

A primary concern of many premier European chocolatiers is that of authentic traditional ingredients. Dark chocolate only truly needs three ingredients: cocoa mass (sometimes called cocoa powder or just cocoa), cocoa butter, and sugar. The growing demand for cocoa butter from the beauty industry has put a strain on some chocolatiers, who have turned to other vegetable fats for use as substitutes in their chocolate. This is considered a stigma among premier chocolatiers, who have begun to emphasize their use of real cocoa butter.

Pure cane sugar, or refined sugar, has been a traditional ingredient in the same way real cocoa butter has. The producers of chocolate who would never think of adding vegetable fat to replace cocoa butter in their chocolate would similarly never think of adding something like high fructose corn syrup, or even a healthier option like rice syrup, to replace cane sugar - the emphasis is placed on the recipe and the intended nuances of flavor. Some dark chocolate also contains vanilla, and again the preference would be for natural vanilla instead of vanillin, which is a substitute.

The presence of cane sugar in European chocolate is not a concern for most European consumers, who tend to eat more balanced diets and/or lead more active lifestyles. Chocolate is more likely to be enjoyed in moderation, even if this translates to a small serving of chocolate every day.

We do carry two kinds of sugar free dark chocolate intended for diabetics, with maltitol and lactitol added as sugar substitutes. These substitutes do occasionally cause stomach upset, but are included in the most popular sugar free brands available domestically.

There are also dark chocolate bars with very high cocoa content on our shelves, from 75% to 85% and even 100%. These percentages refer to the amount of the ingredients that come directly from the cocoa bean, leaving only 15% or less to sugar, and of course the 100% bar has no sugar or any sweetener whatsoever. While every chocolatier has their own unique recipe, an average three ounce bar of 70% dark chocolate will contain around 20 grams of sugar total, so a single one ounce serving would only contain around seven grams of sugar. 70% cocoa content is the recommended minimum percentage if a person wants to gain the health benefits of the antioxidants in the cocoa, so higher cocoa content translates to more antioxidants and less sugar.

Finally, to come directly to your question, all our chocolates contain either cane sugar, a diabetic sugar substitute, or no sugar at all. It is more likely that you will find the sugar substitutes you seek in domestic brands of chocolate or chocolates produced specifically for health food or organic food stores.

Our intention is to bring the chocolates of Europe to the discerning American consumer, like yourself. We sincerely hope you will contact us if you have any further questions about the products we sell, and salute your interest in making chocolate a part of a healthy lifestyle."

Chocolate Tasting Party

2007-05-04T10:05:43Z

How to do a Chocolate Tasting by Kristen

Chocolate tasting is an exercise that involves all five senses. Simply unwrapping a bar and appreciating its delicate structure is a tactile enjoyment. The packaging and, more importantly, the look of the bar itself, can be a feast for the eyes. As you break off a piece of the bar to eat, you should hear a distinct snap if the bar is well-tempered. Of course, the aromas and tastes of chocolate are well loved by many and need no introduction - but perhaps a few more details can help you enjoy your chocolate experience to the fullest extent.
To prepare for a chocolate tasting, everyone should be well fed - not stuffed and not starving. You will need enough restraint to allow the chocolate to literally melt in your mouth. Apple slices and sparkling water can help clear the palate after a meal and between tastings. Chocolates should be sampled in order of increasing cocoa content or boldness of flavor, and, even though chocolate is best stored between 61 and 64 degrees, it should always be tasted at room temperature. Many people enjoy drinking wine while eating chocolate, but this should be avoided during a chocolate tasting, as should strongly scented flowers and perfumes. A quiet, peaceful environment is recommended so you can focus completely on the tasting. Also, have pens and paper available to make tasting notes you can refer to later and compare with others.

To begin, many tasters do take into consideration the look of the chocolate. How would you describe its color and sheen? Some possibilities include Auburn, Black, Brick, Bronze, Brown, Burnt Sienna, Buttery, Crimson, Dull, Glossy, Mahogany, Muddy, Plum, and Purple. Feel free to describe the color any way you feel is most appropriate.

Take a whiff: gently rub a section with a finger or thumb to release extra scent. Allow your mind to wander away from just the word "chocolatey," although this is certainly a valid way to describe an aroma or flavor. Due to the tropical origin of the cocoa bean, chocolate can have all kinds of interesting tropical notes. The process of roasting the beans will also heavily influence taste and smell. Fruits, Spices, Nuts, Coffee, and Flowers can all be present in an aroma, as can other things, like Leather, Smoke, Earth, Oak, or Alcohol. Almost anything is possible. Take several deep breaths through your nose close to and away from the chocolate, and make note of what scents come through for you.

Finally - take a piece, small enough to comfortably rest on your tongue and large enough to let all the flavors emerge and evolve on the palate. Place it in your mouth and allow it to melt between your tongue and the roof of your mouth, while breathing gently through your nose. Flavors can and should change from beginning to middle to the end of the melt, so keep your pen handy. How long is the melt? Flavors will have as wide a range as aromas, so be open to many, many possible descriptions. There may be sweet, sour, salty and bitter aspects all in one chocolate. Another important aspect of tasting is the mouth feel - literally what the chocolate feels like in your mouth. Here again is some vocabulary you can use, but don't feel limited by it: Clean, Cloying, Crisp, Delicate, Dense, Dry, Dusty, Light, Greasy, Gritty, Heavy, Moist, Sandy, Sharp, Smooth, Soft, Sticky, Thick, Thin, Velvety and Waxy. When the chocolate is gone, is there an aftertaste? Does it linger or disappear quickly?

Don't forget there is plenty of room for opinion. What do you like/dislike about a bar? Some people will truly enjoy a tobacco note and others will not. Some tasters will form part of a chocolate's score based on opinion alone.

A note on cocoa content: the percentage indicated on each bar reveals what percent of the ingredients came from the cocoa bean itself. This includes the cocoa mass or liquor, the part of the bean than lends the characteristic brown color, and the cocoa butter, which lends texture - and both contribute to flavor. Because the percent comes from two components, two different bars with the same percentage can have different blends of these components: one 70% bar could have 30% cocoa butter and 40% cocoa mass, and another 70% bar could have 20% cocoa butter and 50% cocoa mass. Therefore, don't be afraid to try different percentage bars across brands. You may not typically like 85% cocoa content, but maybe one brand will have the right blend for you. Think of this as you compare 60% to 70 and 99%. The range is almost infinite, and so are your options. Is one necessarily more bitter than the other, or is it just less sweet or more intense?

Cioccolato, Chocolat, Part 1

2007-05-04T10:04:56Z

"Cioccolato" is Italian for chocolate, and "chocolat" is French, of course. Do you think of Italy and France when you think of imported chocolate? Most people would probably make the foreign chocolate connection with Switzerland or Belgium. But it's February, and a certain holiday associated with romance and chocolate is approaching. Italian and French are probably the most romantic of the Romance languages. Why waste your time and money on generic gifts at Hallmark or Godiva (owned and operated by the American soup giant Campbell's) when you can spend the next week learning a few charming phrases in Italian or French to murmur to your sweetie when you present an original, thoughtful gift of the finest Italian or French chocolate?
Today I'll review some Italian options, and tomorrow, we'll venture to France.

Torino, Italy is home to one of the most famous little hazelnut chocolates in the world, with that distinctive triangular shape and gold wrapper. Giandujotto Classico by Guido Gobino are dangerously addictive - much like Nutella, which has a similar flavor. Giandujotto are firmer and richer than any hazelnut spread, and carefully portioned into pieces just right for two delicious melt-in-your-mouth bites - perfect for sharing with someone special.

I've already mentioned L'Artigiano's hot chocolate blends, but they also produce gourmet chocolate bars and truffles. Their award-winning Sale Dolce (sweet salt) bars in milk and dark chocolate are simply exquisite. If you like chocolate covered pretzels or peanuts, (or even chocolate covered potato chips!) you like the taste combination of salty and sweet. Cut out the middleman (the pretzel, peanut, etc.) and try some of the best artisan chocolate from Italy with sweet salt of Cervia blended in perfect proportion so as not to overpower each other.
Another unique taste experience from L'Artigiano can be found in a small ivory box containing their Formaggio di Fossa e Albana Passito truffles (or, as they call them, "tesori," or treasures). These little dark chocolate confections contain aged cheese and dessert wine - a savory combination to satisfy a connoisseur, or maybe just someone with an adventurous palate.
Amore!

Artistic Confectionary

2007-05-04T10:06:01Z

Artistic Confectionary

One of the standards in the culinary world is presentations - and chocolate is no exception! It always amazes me how intricate individual truffles can be. Even something as simple as gumballs can be works of art. Ewald Notter exhibits some of the finest chocolate coloring techniques known to man

Vegan and Dairy Free Chocolate

2007-05-04T10:06:35Z

I have a vegan coworker here at Cioccolato, and she does not sit sadly around the shop surrounded by things she cannot enjoy. There are chocolates here that are very distinctly off limits to vegans, like milk chocolate and cream centers, but we also carry some of the world's finest dark chocolate bars, and although not always labeled as such, (because they are imported and European markets are not yet subject to the same strict labeling laws and practices that are in place here in the states) they are entirely suitable for vegans and the lactose intolerant.
The best dark chocolate bars should have a very short ingredients list: cacao mass, sugar, cacao butter, and vanilla. Not all will include vanilla, and many will also include soy lecithin as an emulsifier - this is not necessarily a sign of bad chocolate. In any case, cacao mass and cacao butter come directly from the cacao pod (which is of course the fruit of a plant), sugar cane is a plant, and so are vanilla and soy. No dairy! No animal products whatsoever!
If you are highly sensitive to dairy, you will need to check labels for caveats like "processed on equipment shared by..." and "may contain traces of..." - which warn of the potential of microscopic levels of other ingredients. Producers of fine chocolate will want you to achieve the desired taste they have crafted for you, and will go to lengths to ensure that your chocolate experience is free of unintended flavors or ingredients, even though they may be legally obligated to include such warnings.
Dark chocolate bars of a lesser quality (often cheaper and mass-produced) may contain ingredients unfriendly to vegans and those allergic to dairy, like lactose and even milk fat. You're probably used to checking labels if these issues concern you, but a rule of thumb I would suggest is this: the shorter the ingredients list, the better. Less information to sort out, and greater likelihood of higher quality chocolate. Even flavored dark chocolate bars should only have one or two extra ingredients, like orange bits, coffee, salt, spices, nuts, etc. (all still vegan friendly!)
A good chocolate shop (or website) should be able to provide accurate ingredient information promptly upon request, whether they make their own chocolate or sell someone else's. Don't hesitate to call ahead, ask at the shop, or send an email.

Ultimately it will likely be easier and more cost-effective to seek out a purveyor of fine chocolates than a specialty vegan shop - or if you have both available to you, you simply have more chocolate options. A win-win situation if I ever heard of one!

Cacao Percentages

2007-05-04T10:06:54Z

Cacao percentages

In the day and age of candy bars, it can be hard to find a bar of really good dark chocolate. As a vegan, I tend to cling to dark chocolate, but most people seem to think a bar of dark chocolate as a death sentence for the taste buds - too bitter! Not so! People who fear bitter chocolate need simply steer towards lower percentages of cacao. 72% dark chocolate is one of the more popular percentages, you might want to start there. But, you might want to pace yourself. Chocolate is different for everyone, so explore! If you would like something milder, try 60% percent dark chocolate Who knows? You just might find yourself preferring even a bar with a cacao percentage so high as 100%!

Milk Chocolate Scandal

2007-05-04T10:08:05Z

Recently my boss directed me to this link, which features a ranking of 25 kinds of milk chocolate with tasting notes. It's from the folks at Gourmet magazine, so I thought it would be pretty insightful, and maybe help me find a new favorite - something to share space on the pedestal with Michel Cluizel, who, IMNSHO, makes the best milk chocolate in the world, in addition to some amazing dark chocolate. Perhaps it is my preference for dark chocolate that fuels my love of the Cluizel milk bars - they have considerably higher cacao content than most of their peers. The Grand Lait has 45%, the Maralumi has 47%, and the Mangaro a full 50% - where most others who claim to have "lots of cocoa" in their milk blends only range between 37% and 41%.

Well, as the title of my post might suggest, I saw red when I saw their list. Grand Lait was skipped over completely, and they ranked the Maralumi BELOW HERSHEY'S. After counting to ten a few times and taking several deep breaths, I revisited the rankings. Bernard Castelain, a lesser known French chocolatier, received the top honor. I've had this bar, and was NOT able to consume three pieces of it. It certainly wasn't terrible, but it was awfully sweet and milky - "milk" may come before chocolate in "milk chocolate," but I want to taste the chocolate too. If you're having a sugar craving, it would be ideal. II have also tried the next two bars listed, Lindt and Green & Black's, but wouldn't go to any lengths to seek them out.

I have to admit I haven't tried everything on the list, but what I have tried is not nearly as good as Cluizel. Scharffen Berger? Lots of cocoa? Not in my book. The wrapper may say 41%, but what I taste first, second, and last is the supersweet milkiness. In fact, the Scharffen Berger has a heavier texture, but otherwise tastes no different from Castelain! How could they be ranked so differently? I know, I know, chocolate is largely a matter of opinion, and strong opinion at that. I can't completely justify why I love Cadbury milk chocolate, but my biggest Lenten challenge would be giving up Cadbury Mini Eggs - so I won't even try.

I personally have to rush to the defense of Maralumi, an exquisite milk chocolate full of flavor complexity. I am amazed every time I eat this single-origin bar! The ingredients are as follows, no more, no less: whole milk powder, cocoa, cocoa butter, cane sugar, Bourbon vanilla pod. [Cluizel is well-known for using "noble ingredients" - no soy, no veggie oil, resulting in cioccolato puro!] And yet! The flavors that evolve on the tongue make me double check the list for berries, spices, and salted caramel. I know there are many good milk chocolates with caramel notes, but none with Salt! I swear there's just the right amount of salt that weds the caramel and chocolate together, which makes Maralumi not only utterly unique but totally addictive. The nutrition facts betray the presence of 51 milligrams of sodium per serving, but which ingredient contributes this? The curious cacao beans from Papua New Guinea?

Mangaro is the other exciting offering from Cluizel's single-origin milk line, and this time the beans are from Madagascar. The Gourmet list notes quite appropriately that this would border on semi-sweet for a milk chocolate lover, and also that it offers the depth and range of flavor you might be more accustomed to finding in a dark chocolate. I taste banana in this one - a perfect banana that is neither too sweet nor too green. I don't think I've ever had plantains, but perhaps that is the flavor I'm trying to describe. There are also traces of honey, but again, nothing too sweet. Incredibly multi-faceted.

So that's my sermon. What do you think of the Gourmet list? Is your favorite milk bar listed, and if so, do you agree with its ranking?