F is for Fernet

Oh, the things we do for this Alphabet project…and by *we* (in this case), I mean both my “anything can be found on the internet if you try hard enough” boyfriend as well as Jess (aka Dessert Geek), the most intrepid and knowledgeable vlogger I know.

About a decade ago, I was introduced to fernet by someone I was dating at the time. He mentioned that it was an acquired taste, but that bartenders and restaurant industry types swore by this liqueur for an end of a long shift pick-me-up. I was game to taste it & instantly hated it the moment I took a sniff, let alone when it touched my lips! That initial disgust faded from memory such that I was genuinely eager to feature fernet as part of this project, the only issue was actually finding it combined with chocolate!

A couple of months ago, a mysterious package arrived addressed to me & I noticed that the shipping origin was a company in Italy. I know I probably should have waited until my boyfriend visited that weekend before snooping since he was secretly so proud of himself for saving the day yet again…but, I couldn’t help myself. Not patient enough to be surprised, I googled the business name (Dulcioliva) & discovered that they have a licensing partnership with Fratelli Branca Distillerie and make fernet branca bonbons! I excitedly called up my boyfriend profusely thanking him for finding my elusive alcohol-related chocolate & he was perplexed as to how I knew that information or that the box had come from him. ;-p

Since it’s always better to have options rather than to be left empty-handed, Jess was simultaneously working her magic with Intrigue Chocolate Company, because she remembered in the past they had made fernet flavored truffles. I ended up receiving THE LAST ONE in existence!

What is fernet, you might ask? Well, the simple answer is that it’s a type of amaro, a bitter and aromatic spirit. Fernet Branca happens to be one of the most popular brands of fernet.

According to the Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,000 Cocktails by Mittie Hellmich, fernet branca is “[a] slightly peppermint-accented bitter [that] is enjoyed not only as an aperitif to stimulate the appetite, but also as a digestif that is highly regarded as a hangover cure, settling digestive distress. A deep brown liquid with an extremely aggressive flavor made from 40 herbs and spices.” The exact recipe is a trade secret known only to the generations of the Branca family who have made this liqueur in Milan, Italy since 1845.

While taking photos yesterday, I decided to re-acquaint myself with fernet. It smells and tastes like Pine Sol or an antiseptic mouthwash. WHY do people like drinking this intensely resinous concoction?!

However, did you know that this liqueur has a cult-like following in Argentina? Fernet con coca (or Fernando) is essentially that nation’s unofficial drink, making them one of the biggest consumers of Coca Cola in the world!

Now for the chocolate tastings…

First up, Intrigue Chocolate’s Fernet & Ginger truffle:

The truffle is roughly the size of a Starburst candy, but WOW looks can be deceiving. This tiny morsel is creamy, unctuous, fudgey, buttery and quick to melt on the tongue. It’s like a flourless cake that can be devoured in just a single bite.

Lucky for me, the ginger flavor dominates this chocolate and has none of the intense pine notes that are the hallmark to fernet.

Next, is the cioccolatino al Fernet-Branca from Italy:

The individually wrapped, half dome bonbons all arrived slightly bloomed, but that’s merely a cosmetic defect.

Your teeth sink effortlessly through the thick chocolate shell to the generous amount of dense and lightly boozy ganache.

Again, thankfully this bonbon has obliterated fernet’s signature taste until the very end when there is a burst of bitterness as the melted chocolate slides down your throat.

I’m very glad to have featured this unique alcohol as part of the Eating the Chocolate Alphabet project, but NOW what am I going to do with the rest of the mostly full bottle? Any takers?! 😆

E is for Enzian

Every time I think up a new theme for Eating the Chocolate Alphabet, the process for acquiring bars that fit each letter seems easier in my head than in reality. The only thing that initially came to mind for “E” was elderflower liqueur, but that proved impossible to find in a chocolate. So, today’s hero is Lilla from Little Beetle Chocolates. While on a reconnaissance trip to Austria, she found not one but two “E” bars as well as them containing an alcohol that I had never even heard of until now!

Introducing Enzian...

According to Wikipedia, enzian liquor (also known as gentian spirit or gentian schnapps) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage originating in the Alpine region, produced using roots from gentian plants (generally the yellow variety, though there is also purple, brown or spotted). Gentian can be found in angostura bitters, is said to be the main flavor in vermouth and has been used since the Middle Ages for the production of schnapps. WOW…what a versatile plant this is!

First up is Xocolat Alpin

The illustration on both the outer packaging and the inner glassine envelope makes me want to take up cross stitching again; the floral pattern is both intricate and satisfying in its symmetry. While I’m not certain, since I had trouble translating the German text in small cursive font on the back of the box, I believe that the beautiful design was created by hand at https://www.handdrucke.at/en/

Is it just me, or does their mould design look like ravioli waiting to be cut apart into individual portions? The convex bulge lulled me into believing that the bar was filled, so it came as a surprise when I bit into a portion and discovered it was solid chocolate.

Even though sugar is the first ingredient of this 43% milk chocolate bar and there is less than 1% of gentian oil, the overall flavor is extremely bitter. I read somewhere that the bitter taste from gentian (accurately described as the “king of the bitter herbs”) can still be perceived when diluted down to 1 part in 12,000. If you’ve ever licked a pencil eraser and thought that it tasted metallic…then you have a good starting point for this chocolate! Other vivid descriptions are the packaging taglines: “with the spice of nature / with the aroma of the mountains.” When I described this bar as “botanical,” a friend very astutely asked: “Is that the nice way of saying it tastes like leaves?” Hmmm…BUSTED 😲

Medium snap, smooth mouthfeel during the slow/even melt, it’s hard to get past the bitterness and then you’re left with a lightly astringent finish. Paired with a sweet vermouth, it’s actually quite tasty! FYI, this bar does NOT contain any alcohol, just the enzian (gentian) oil.

Next is Tiroler Edle

At first, I thought: what a cute silver foil stamped cow logo on the front of this box. Little did I realize that this is a not-so-subtle hint as to the origin of the milk used for this 60% dark milk chocolate: an alpine cattle breed called Grauvieh in German and Tyrolean Grey in English.

The fair direct traded couverture chocolate (Ghana & Ecuador origins) was sourced from chocolatier’s partner, Felchlin, and then filled with 46% Galtürer Enzianbrand-Creme (cream of gentian brandy).

At first bite, there was a boozy burst of dried fruit flavor, but then the creamy sweet filling reminded me of Turkish coffee, smoke or leather. I have to admit that I’ve already eaten half the bar in one sitting 🙂

To find out more about these Austrian chocolate bars, please visit: https://www.xocolat.at/ and https://www.tiroleredle.at/

X is for Xoconusco

How many degrees of separation are between this week’s featured chocolate bar, Ferran Adrià (the famous Spanish chef known for his molecular gastronomy restaurant El Bulli) and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (author of the 17th Century novel Don Quixote)?! Read on to find out!

Bordering both the Pacific Ocean and Guatemala, the region of Soconusco (spelled with an “X” in the Nahuatl language) is located in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It suprised me to learn that Theobroma Cacao, the tree that grows the beans which are then used to make chocolate, has grown in this area’s fertile, volcanic soil since the Olmecs, an ancient civilization which pre-dates the Maya and Aztecs. Soconusco’s main agricultural cash crop these days is coffee. According to Wikipedia: 37% of the arable land is dedicated to coffee, another 25% to corn and the rest mostly to mango, cacao and sesame seeds (though banana, papaya, starfruit, kiwi, passion fruit, and even rambutan are grown and exported from there as well).

Also from Wikipedia, the first Spanish arrived in 1522 and Soconusco was declared a province by the Spanish crown in 1526. Because of its cacao, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (who later wrote Don Quixote) solicited the Spanish king in the late 16th Century for the right to govern Soconusco. My guess is that this request was not granted, otherwise there would be corroborating details available online.

You’re still curious about the El Bulli connection, right? Well, Cacao Sampaka, the partnership of chocolatiers in Barcelona responsible for producing this particular bar, was co-founded by Albert Adrià, the pastry chef brother to Ferran Adrià!

While searching for more information on Xoconusco, I came across a 2007 article from the Los Angeles Times with this quote:

Capdevila’s [one of Cacao Sampaka’s founding partners] latest discovery, Xoxomusco, a rare cacao he found in Mexico — will make a dark chocolate bar that he hopes will be as big a hit in Cacao Sampaka stores as La Joya…

Wait…did they say “Xoxomusco”? Unable to find other references to this origin, I assume it to be a typo! 😕🤔

Now for the chocolate itself!

Cacao Sampaka, Light Roast, 70% dark, Xoconusco (Chiapas, Mexico)

In the past couple of weeks, two fellow chocolate bloggers have written about the disadvantages of including tasting notes on chocolate packaging since very specific flavor descriptions might be deceiving or might even be inconsistent with the particular batch you have in your hands. While I personally like seeing detailed tasting notes, maybe this “spider chart” could be a compromise. It provides both general and specific information about some of the basic flavors you might encounter with this bar.

Honestly, I was a little surprised to discover not one, but two, thin rectangular bars inside this box. In retrospect, I should have placed the two bars side-by-side rather than separated by a white box since the bars were mostly identical in color (darkish brown with some reddish flecks nearing the surface), unlike what you see below.

It was very easy to leave fingerprints on the reflective, semi-glossy finish which exhibited some scuffing/cosmetic blemishes; only the embossed company name adorned the front of the bars.

The back of the bars have six unevenly sized rectangles indicating how the chocolate molds were filled.

Straight out of the heat-sealed inner plastic wrapper, the aroma was very earthy (like wet dirt). With a high pitched and resounding snap, some air bubbles appeared at the break point.

The tasting morsels had a very smooth mouthfeel during the slow/even melt, but I was left with some tongue prickles during the lightly acidic/bitter finish.

I was “tilting at windmills” trying to decide if there were any flavor notes aside from “chocolate.” Was I merely imagining that there were fruity notes based on the expectations created by the packaging? [OK, I have to admit that my chocolate colleagues might have a point!] Overall, this bar disappointed me since I wanted more from something with a connection to a chef who was known to push culinary boundaries and expectations.

I’m curious to seek out this origin and taste it again by a different maker!

With apologies to the “Impossible Dream” lyricist from the “Man of La Mancha” muscial: “this is my quest, to follow that [origin], no matter how hopeless, no matter how far…” 😜

For more information on Cacao Sampaka, please visit: http://www.cacaosampaka.com/en/home

V is for Virunga

Chocolate daily connects me to the greater world in unimaginable ways.

A couple of months ago, I made a plea on Instagram for recommendations for some of the letters that were stumping me. Thanks to Lilla from Little Beetle Chocolates/Taste.Better.Chocolate for suggesting Virunga, otherwise I might never have known about the endangered mountain gorillas that live in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

From online sources and a 2014 documentary that can be seen on Netflix, I learned that Virunga National Park is the oldest and the largest national park on the continent of Africa. Originally established in 1925 to protect the mountain gorillas, Virunga National Park has been a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site since 1979. There are currently less than 900 mountain gorillas left, making them a rare and critically-endangered species.

I’m pretty sure that it is illegal to explore for oil within a National Park; yet in 2013, about 80% of the Virunga National Park was allocated for oil concessions to a UK-based company. While that company demobilized in 2014, they still hold operating permits and the future of the exceptionally biodiverse National Park is uncertain. In an effort to research things for this blog post, I read that earlier this week there was more bloodshed within the Virunga National Park as five DR Congo soldiers were killed by the Rwandan army. It was truly shocking to read that during the Second Congo War between 1998 and 2003, there was upwards of 5 million human fatalities.

While I haven’t yet seen the Netflix documentary, I recently watched the companion piece called “Virunga: Gorillas in Peril.” It was heart-wrenching to watch the gorillas cower in fear each time they heard machine gun fire and I have much admiration for the individuals who have risked their lives to protect the mountain gorillas from poachers, war, and the devastating effects of oil exploration.

As mentioned on the back of the bar’s packaging, Amsterdam-based chocolate company, Original Beans, does what they can through their “one bar: one tree” program to help preserve some of the Earth’s rarest places. By entering a code from the box, I was led to a website with information on the progress made in Virunga. Additionally, this particular bar helps to protect the world’s last 800 mountain gorillas: https://originalbeans.com/cru-virunga-congo/

Now for the chocolate itself!

Original Beans: Cru Virunga 70%, Virunga Park, Congo DR

The main illustration on the front of the box pays homage to the mountain gorillas whose home is the Virunga National Park. I love the delicate gold foil stamping and embossing.

Unless you look carefully, you might miss the image at the top: a tree sprouting from the flattened image of the globe.

The back and inside panels provide more details about the efforts made by Original Beans, as I mentioned earlier in this post.

Removing the 12-rectangle bar from the biodegradable inner pouch, the chocolate itself felt silky smooth, almost a little greasy, to the touch despite the lightly frosted/bloomed appearance.

Running a fingertip over the sunburst image at the center of the rectangle seemed to smear the chocolate rather than bring back the lustre and shine.

There was an earthy, mushroom-like aroma to the chocolate. Splitting a rectangle in half with a medium snap, the aroma turned nutty, like browned butter. There were no air bubbles at the break point.

Smooth, creamy mouthfeel during the slow/even melt, punctuated by berry and citrus notes. The overall chocolate flavor lingers pleasantly on your palate with little to no astringency on the finish. This is a very easy-to-eat bar and you can support a good cause at the same time. WIN:WIN!

To learn more about Original Beans, their products and their philosophy, please visit their website: https://originalbeans.com/

U is for Udzungwa Mountains

As I’m nearing the end of the Alphabet, I seem to be losing enthusiasm for the last remaining letters. Somehow I just don’t have the same connection to origins as I did with company names (Round 1 of this project) or inclusion ingredients (Round 2). It probably doesn’t help when I don’t even know how to properly pronounce the name of the place I’m featuring…like this one: Udzungwa!

From online sources, the Udzungwa Mountains are the largest and most southern in a chain of eleven mountain ranges that form what is called the Eastern Arc. As the name implies, these mountains curve in a crescent shaped grouping starting in Tanzania and continuing north into Kenya toward Mount Kilimanjaro, which (I believe) is not part of the Arc.

The website of the WWF (World Wide Fund, formerly called World Wildlife Fund) describes the Udzungwa Mountains National Park as supporting a diverse community of wildlife including elephants, lions, eland, monkeys and leopards. Now it makes sense that Ocelot chose a leopard-like pattern for this particular 88% dark chocolate bar!

I love that the re-sealable, oxo-degradable plastic inner pouch calls to mind the tropical rainforest which is also found in Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains. You can almost hear the wind rustling through the leafy canopy.

Removing the thin bar from the packaging, I was mesmerized by the detailed mold that was used. Each of the 9 rectangles is etched with a different portion of the bigger image of a cacao tree with several pods in multiple stages of ripeness.

Honestly, I was surprised that this bar was not as dark in color as I was expecting from an 88%. You could almost be fooled into thinking this was a dark milk chocolate until you smelled and tasted it!

There was a robust, earthy and roasted aroma straight out of the packaging. Silky smooth texture to the touch while segmenting pieces with a medium snap, revealing some air bubbles at the break point.

Immediately bitter on the palate and at the back of the throat during the slow, even melt with some astringency on the finish. A second taste brought out fruity notes which reminded me of grapefruit pith and a buttermilk/yogurt tang appeared during a third taste. The astringency seemed to increase with each subsequent taste such that it quickly became somewhat not enjoyable for me. Maybe it’s just that I prefer bars in the 70-85% range?! I can think of several friends who would love this bar!

Thanks to Rachel (foodnerd4life) in the UK for having sent me three of Ocelot’s bars as part of our inaugural chocswap. Not sure why I didn’t research the chocolate makers behind this Edinburgh, Scotland brand earlier, but I really enjoyed reading this article about Matt and Ish who started their chocolate business one week after getting married!

If you are interested in buying some of their bars for yourself, please visit their website: https://ocelotchocolate.com/

Personally, the Fig & Orange bar is next on my wish list 🙂

P.S. On a separate note, it’s not too late to find a chocolate gift for your sweetie for Valentines’ Day. Here is a link to an article I wrote with some unique ideas: https://feast.media/looking-for-love-these-5-valentines-day-ideas-will-give-you-an-edge

S is for Surabaya

Focusing on “origins” for this round of the Eating the Chocolate Alphabet project has provided so many opportunities to improve my knowledge of world geography. Until today, when I thought of Indonesia, the first thing that came to mind was a unique “rijsttafel” (rice table) meal that I experienced in Amsterdam several years ago. After researching this Willie’s Cacao dark chocolate bar, I have a new mental picture of the Indonesian island of Java and the port city of Surabaya (which also happens to be the second largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta).

Curious about the etymology of the word Surabaya, I discovered that “sura” means a shark, while “baya” means a crocodile. So it makes perfect sense that Surabaya would use these two animals as part of their coat of arms above a motto that translates to “bravely facing danger.”

Source: Wikipedia

On the back of the foil stamped and embossed small square box, chocolate maker Willie Harcourt-Cooze is quoted as saying “This Javan Dark Breaking bean stopped me in my tracks. It’s an adventure in taste with its criollo characteristics and soft caramel and toffee flavours, born in the volcanic soil of Surabaya.”

The phrase “Dark Breaking bean” was new to me, so I decided to research further. Typing those words into a Google search engine, I discovered that every single entry referred to a Willie’s Cacao bar, so I had to dig more!

Luckily, a PDF version of a 2001 document from the International Trade Centre entitled “Cacao: A Guide to Trade Practices” provided the explanation I was looking for:

“When cocoa beans are examined in the laboratory or during grading, they are cut lengthways and the interior of the bean is examined for colour and defects. If the colour is light brown, the bean is considered ‘light breaking’. If the colour is dark, it is ‘dark breaking’. Light breaking beans are generally of the Criollo variety (some are Trinitario or Nacional-based), i.e. fine or flavour beans. Basic cocoa beans of the Forastero variety are generally dark breaking.”

This left me a little confused since the above information refers to Forastero beans being dark breaking, even though Willie’s label mentions Criollo, which seems to be the type of bean that the Dutch planted in Java/Indonesia according to this source from Bali (an island and province in Indonesia).

“Java became the first region outside the New World that began producing these heritage [Criollo] beans commercially and as these genetics acclimated to their new surroundings they took on their own terroir. Today these beans are called ‘Light Breaking Javas’ for the fact that they still exhibit the famed Criollo low pigmentation when the cacao beans are cut in half.”

Hmmm, I still have questions about the precise genetics of the beans used for this bar! But enough about that, let’s see how this bar tastes!!

Willie’s Cacao Surabaya Gold Indonesian Dark Chocolate Single Cacao 69%

Removing the bar from the gold foil inner pouch emblazoned with an offset cursive capital “W,” I noticed that the bar was lightly frosted and/or had a bloomed appearance as well as a coating of “chocolate dust.”

Lightly buffing the surface with a fingertip, returned the bar to its original shine. Below are the “during” and “after” shots for comparison purposes.

Breaking off a tasting morsel with a brittle/sharp snap, there was an earthy/mineral smell to the bar. The piece had a lightly textured (not completely smooth) mouthfeel during the slow/even melt. Almost immediately, there was a smoky flavor that seemed to cumulatively increase. Sadly, no soft caramel and/or toffee notes for me!

Curious about the cacao drying practices in Indonesia, I did another search and discovered this from a description of a Bonnat chocolate bar:

“The intemperate climate on this large Indonesian island means that, as with Papua [New Guinea] chocolate, the beans are dried using large open fires. The result is a chocolate infused with a little hint of smoke.”

Seeing this description made me remember that I had that exact Bonnat bar in my stash!

What a difference in color between a 65% dark milk (Bonnat) shown at the top of the photo and a 69% dark (Willie’s Cacao) at the bottom:

This made me understand “light breaking” and “dark breaking” beans much more clearly!

Have YOU tried bars from Surabaya, Java and/or Indonesia? Let me know your thoughts in a comment!

For more information on Willie’s Cacao, please visit: https://www.williescacao.com/

You can find additional information on Bonnat, here: https://bonnat-chocolatier.com/en

N is for Nicalizo

Every day affords us the chance to learn something new if we maintain an open mind and embrace the opportunities that are placed on our paths!

As I was putting together a list of bars to feature for this round of the Alphabet, Nicalizo kept popping into my mind, probably because I’ve tried this “origin” a couple of times already this year. What I didn’t realize until today was that Nicalizo is NOT an origin, but the trademarked name of a Trinitario-Acriollado variety of cacao that grows in the northern mountains of Nicaragua near the Honduras border which was identified/propagated by Ingemann Cacao Fino (Fine Cacao) located outside the capital city of Managua. Also, Nicalizo® was the first Nicaraguan cacao to be awarded Heirloom Cacao Preservation status; they are number 8 of 13, so far.

For a while now, I’ve been envious of my fellow chocolate bloggers who have been posting about Lithuanian Chocolate Naive’s nano-lot bars, so (of course) I had to get one for myself. When you hear the term “nano-lot,” what comes to mind? That the maker produced a very small number of bars? That the grower’s yield was limited? Both of these are certainly plausible! According to the packaging, it sounds like the “nano” designation comes from the fact that chocolate maker, Domantas Uzpalis, was able to “secure the very last 60kg [approx. 132 lbs.] of this special lot that was supervised and preserved by mad cocoa fermentation scientist Zoi Papalexandratou PhD. in mid-2015.” A quick look on LinkedIn shows that Dr. Zoi is the former Head of Research & Development + Post-Harvest Management for Ingemann Fine Cacao and that she specializes in cocoa fermentation as it relates to flavor development.

Are you sufficiently intrigued?! Well, then let’s get to tasting the chocolate!!

The plain black and white cardboard box with the embossed logo of a man riding a unicycle (which will be repeated on the chocolate bar itself) is in stark contrast to the vibrant packaging that I’ve seen from Chocolate Naive recently! The only pop of color comes from the double-sided informational insert that holds the wrapped bar in place within the box.

Taking a closer look at the insert, you learn what makes these beans special:

As you might expect, the bar is a light brown, almost like a mocha or café au lait. It surprised me to discover milk powder as an ingredient since I was expecting this to be a dark chocolate bar (though I wasn’t able to find any cacao percentage listed either on the packaging or the company website).

Even though the front of the bar sports a near flawless, textured, matte finish, the back of the bar looks a bit lumpy by comparison.

In the photo below, I’ve used a silver tone filter and zoomed in to what appears to me as a friendly dragon or partially decorated Christmas tree. What do YOU see?! 🤔

Earthy and freshly-ground coffee bean smells greeted my nose upon removing the bar from the sealed pouch. Breaking off a morsel with a sharp snap, there was a dairy/milky aroma at the break point.

While there were initial quick bursts of fruit flavors as the chocolate melted on my tongue, those evolved to honey/caramel/nutty notes and ended with what I can only describe as a “dusty” finish (imagine papery walnut skins). Subsequent tastes brought out lightly smoky notes. The texture seemed a little crumbly when chewed, resulting in a thick mouthfeel which coated the tongue + palate. There was certainly a long lasting chocolate aftertaste, though I didn’t use a stopwatch to confirm if it matched the 9 minutes quoted on the packaging insert!

As a parting thought, I wanted to share that prior to tasting the bar this morning, last night I listened to episode 17 of the “Unwrapped: A conversation about chocolate” podcast which discussed microlots, exclusives, scarcity and rarity. While Sunita & Brian’s 50 minute chat was rambling at times, it certainly made me consider whether terms like “nano-lot” are just clever marketing tools to hook those of us with a FOMO (fear of missing out). I’d like to think that wasn’t my (subconcious) motivation! 😲

Although this bar is sold out on Chocolate Naive’s website, you can still find it on Cacao Review’s website (at least at the time of this post).

If you’ve tried this bar or have an opinion on the term “nano-lot,” I’d love to hear from you. Send me a message or leave a comment below.

Stay open to new learning experiences each day & early Merry Christmas!

M is for Matasawalevu

One of my most favorite things about this round of the Eating the Chocolate Alphabet project (aside from tasting the bars themselves, of course) has been discovering interesting tidbits about where the cacao for those chocolate bars was grown. One esoteric piece of information can easily transport me down more than one “rabbit hole” of research. I have to say that this origin was a little more challenging than most since I found various spellings online (sometimes within the same source document): Matasawalevu, Mataswalevu or even Matacawalevu! I’m a stickler for accuracy, so hopefully someone out there who has personally visited the area can tell me how it SHOULD be spelled!!

Although I’ve seen friends’ beach and surfing vacation photos taken in Fiji, it wasn’t until today that I took time to learn more about the island country that is 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand. The Republic of Fiji (as it is officially known) is an archipelago consisting of more than 330 islands, though only 110 of those islands are inhabited and just the two largest ones make up almost ninety percent of the total population.

While it might seem that cacao is a recent agricultural commodity for the country, its history dates back to when the British colonized the area in the 1880s. In fact, it surprised me to learn that there is a cacao pod depicted on the country’s flag. Here is a close up of the coat of arms and you can see the pod being held in the lion’s paws!

Source: Wikipedia

The cacao industry dwindled during the country’s political unrest of the late-1980s, but has seen a resurgence recently thanks in part by the efforts of Mr. Arif Khan who returned to his native homeland after working as a realtor in California for almost 20 years. You can read more about that story through this link. Mr. Khan’s cacao farming, processing and trading company, Cacao Fiji, has been working closely with the Matasawalevu/Mataswalevu Cocoa Farm located in the foothills, overlooking the Dreketi River in the Macuata Province of Vanua Levu (the second largest island of Fiji, which was formerly known as Sandalwood Island). So far, I’ve only seen this origin used by a few craft chocolate makers: one in California, one in Canada and another in New Zealand.

I happen to have two makers’ bars in my stash, but I’m featuring the one from New Zealand: Hogarth’s Early Harvest 2016 Fiji 73% dark chocolate.

This is personally one of the most highly anticipated bars of the series after seeing fellow chocolate bloggers post pictures of this brand’s other bars. The 3D relief artwork on the textured outer wrapper is both evocative and elegant in its simplicity.

Upon unfolding the lined metallic gold paper inner wrapper from the bar, there was a super intense dried fruit aroma. Sadly that smell faded shortly after the bar was exposed to the air. It was breathtaking to finally see the stunningly detailed mold: the rolling waves from the packaging echoed again on the bar itself with a monogrammed “H” taking center stage.

The relatively thick bar felt substantial in my hand and it seemed to require a bit of effort to break off a tasting morsel without marring the overall aesthetic integrity of the bar. With a somewhat dry/brittle snap, I was able to segment a fairly even rectangle. Splitting that in half with a sharp snap, when I placed the pieces together for a “cross section” photo, it almost looked like a pair of little clogs or low-heeled dancing slippers!

All my tongue could detect during the slow, smooth, even melt were the ridges from the intricate mold design. Overall, the flavor reminded me of a bittersweet dense flourless chocolate cake or a velvety dessert wine. Chewing a piece brought out nutty/roasted notes which finished with a light citrus/acidic aftertaste at the back of the throat & upper palate.

Now that I’ve tried this bar, I’m intrigued to taste other chocolates made from Forastero Amelonado cacao. Do YOU have any recommendations?!

Next time I visit New Zealand, you can be sure that I’ll want to visit Hogarth and stock up on more of their gorgeous bars. Please visit their website for more details: https://www.hogarthchocolate.co.nz/wp/

L is for Loma Quita Espuela

Originally I was going to avoid inclusion bars this round (unless absolutely necessary) since “Round 2” was dedicated to them. However, once I saw this bar as part of Chocswap 2.0 with Lilla from Little Beetle Chocolates, I knew I couldn’t find a better (or more unique sounding) “L” origin!

The highest elevation within the city of San Francisco de Macorís in the North Region of the Dominican Republic is at Loma Quita Espuela. In case you’re curious about the name, here is what I found on Wikipedia:

“This name allegedly comes from the time when the Spaniards were exploring the island, since the hill was too steep to ride their horses, they had to dismount and remove their spurs and undertake the ascent on foot.”

It certainly sounds like an amazing place to experience nature, based on what I’ve seen from this website!

Now for the chocolate itself: Kilian & Close 52% D.R. with Périgord walnuts

Love the simplicity of this sturdy cardboard packaging with interlocking folds that remind me of a modified “dovetail joint” or “tongue and groove” assembly. There is a single triangular notched tab keeping the box closed and the plastic-wrapped bar tightly nestled within. In retrospect, the bar might have been too secure since the inner wrapper clung to the chocolate in places, leaving several shiny spots.

Honestly, I was NOT expecting there to be several candied walnut halves adhered to the back of the bar, though I should have guessed there might be visible inclusions when the package felt thick in my hand.

As if to alleviate my conscience (about only using non-inclusion, single origin bars for this round of the Alphabet), there were several spots sans walnuts so that I could taste the chocolate on its own!! 💕

The bar segmented easily with a sharp snap and there were hardly any air bubbles at the breaking point.

Handling the tasting morsels with my fingers, I noticed that the chocolate had an ultra-smooth, plastic-like texture to the touch. Perhaps this explains why it was difficult to melt on the tongue? Switching to chewing, creamy, nutty, caramel notes emerged. The flavor remained consistent throughout the tasting, until I got to a piece with the candied walnuts. Chomping on a walnut, there were earthy and lightly bitter notes relegating the slow roasted Dominican Republic cocoa beans to “second fiddle.”

Speaking of the walnuts, these come from Périgord (the old name for the former province in southwestern France) which, as of September 30, 2016, has a new name: Nouvelle-Aquitaine. In 2002, these walnuts were awarded PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status even though they have been in the area since the Middle Ages!

Since Lilla purchased this bar in Germany during her summer road trip, the label is entirely in German.

It wasn’t until AFTER my tasting that I decided to translate the ingredient list. I was surprised to see coconut blossom sugar as the first ingredient and that there was also coconut milk powder at the end of the list! The flavor notes all make much more sense now! Not sure why I didn’t originally make the connection that there would be an alternate milk to retain its vegan certification! 😲

I’m slowly learning to embrace serendipity since not knowing all the information in advance allows you to taste without prejudice and pre-conceptions. 🙂 This was certainly a delicious journey of discovery!

To learn more about Kilian & Close, please visit their website: http://www.kilian-close.com/en.htm

E is for El Jardín

Sometimes packaging confuses me…especially when it’s in a foreign language. Is this an “E” bar or a “P” bar?! Well, this is MY project; so, like any good writer, I’ll just “bend the data” to fit my needs 😉 (Hopefully you realize that last sentence is my attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor!)

Legend says that this area of Colombia was entirely a jungle when settlers first arrived in the mid-to-late 1800s. These settlers thought the lush vegetation looked like a garden, hence the Spanish name: “The Garden.” According to Wikipedia, El Jardín was declared a parish in 1871 and declared a town in 1882. From what I’ve read, the buildings and architecture of this town and municipality have remained mostly unchanged in 140 years and one of the main sources of their economy is tourism (there are 40 hotels, whereas other towns only have 10!)

Based on maps I’ve seen online, El Jardín is located in the Northwest part of Colombia, specifically in the Southwest region of the department of Antioquia (I assume that “departments” are like what we call “states” here in the U.S.) I like that the front of the neon-yellow/green packaging shows a dot on the map; however, it doesn’t quite match what I’ve seen, so maybe the Plantation is in a different location than the town?!

Source: Wikipedia

Although you’re not really supposed to, I stuck my nose into the thin, silver inner foil wrapper after slicing open the top. The aroma reminded me of honey, though the bar itself smelled like roasted coffee.

The reddish brown bar (surprisingly light in color for 69%), made up of 15 identically sized rectangles, is emblazoned with 9 stylized cacao pods and oddly spaced lettering for the company name/logo. Try as I might using online translation tools, I was stumped by the term “Cacaofèvier” until I checked in with my French language expert, Estelle Tracy from 37 Chocolates. She mentioned that this was a made up word essentially meaning “bean-to-bar maker.”

Michel Cluizel must have a six-head depositor for their molding machine since there were that many swirls on the back of the bar. Note: I tweaked the color a bit on the photo below to make it “pop” a bit more.

When segmenting tasting morsels, there was a sharp/brittle snap and I could see nooks and crannies (air bubbles) at the breaking point.

The mouthfeel was creamy and the melt was slow and even. Initially, the flavor was nutty and reminded me of a mocha. Then there were some caramel or dairy notes during the melt, ending with some peppery notes at the back of my throat + tongue. On a second tasting, the flavor reminded me of red fruit (berries) with flashes of peanut butter. Overall, the finish is hard to describe! I wouldn’t call it minty or menthol (like the packaging mentions), but I would definitely say it was refreshing.

Michel Cluizel holds a special place in my heart since his bars were my introduction to fine chocolate back in 2006-2007! Time flies! It’s been about 10 years since I’ve tasted his chocolates, so I was thrilled to find a bar that fit in with my Alphabet project. Do you have a favorite Michel Cluizel bar? Leave me a comment below!??

For more information on Michel Cluizel’s extensive product line, please visit their website: https://cluizel.us/