Category: foreign chocolate

H is for Hummingbird Chocolate Maker

When I was first telling friends about the Eating the Chocolate Alphabet project, I was a little appalled when they asked: “You’re not going to feature Hershey’s for ‘H,’ are you?” That was the perfect opportunity to explain that my goal was to try chocolates that were new to me + I wanted to focus on non-mass produced chocolates (besides, my tastes evolved beyond Hershey’s YEARS ago!)

Since hummingbirds are one of my favorite birds to watch as they hover at a feeder, just the company name and the simplicity of the packaging design drew me to Hummingbird Chocolate Maker. But, then, I discovered that their chocolates were only available in New York or in Canada! Thanks Josh Rubin from Chocexchange for being my hero and expertly shipping the bar to California!

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This particular bar is made with just two ingredients! Trinitario cacao beans + local maple syrup from Fulton’s Sugar Shack. I like that Hummingbird Chocolate’s packaging even features a photo from the 5th generation Fulton descendant running the maple production facility as a way to both honor their partner and provide transparency about the ingredient source.

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What started out as a casual hobby, making the best chocolate possible in small batches has become a passion for husband-and-wife team Drew & Erica Gilmour in the Ottawa Valley of Ontario, Canada. They are industrious (like their namesake), without being industrial.

The inside of the outer label lists the 10 steps they take in the bean-to-bar process (this information is also shown in greater detail and with more photos on their website). My favorite part was seeing an illustration of a vintage melangeur (conching machine), the one used as part of a recent bean-to-bar class was tiny (and modern) in comparison!

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The hummingbird graphic on the front of the outer packaging reminds me of Maori tattoo art, so I’m not sure what I was expecting the mold to look like.

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What a surprise to peel back the gold foil wrapping to see a bar comprised of 8 squares of different heights and images imprinted on them. It reminded me of a childhood block puzzle that still needed to be re-arranged into a final cohesive image.

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In a happy twist of fate, the chocolate bar had broken in such a way that if re-positioned, it almost looked like a bird with outstretched wings or a stealth bomber, depending on how you look at it! 😉

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As I was taking photos, I enjoyed the enticing chocolate aroma. So, it surprised me that the first couple of bites produced a slightly bitter, fruity taste (like unripe raspberries). Though it doesn’t say so on the packaging itself, their website indicates that the Trinitario beans used for this bar come from Northern Dominican Republic, so that would explain the fruity notes. The bitterness faded and evolved into a fairly mild maple syrup flavor. As I continued to sample more squares, this time letting the chocolate melt in my mouth, it seemed like the maple sweetness was “cumulative” and it certainly seemed like it was heightened toward the end of my tasting. Surprisingly intense and complex for just two ingredients!

To read about all the awards they won this year (2016) from the UK-based Academy of Chocolate, go to: http://hummingbirdchocolate.com/press/

B is for Bonnat

“If it is good for your palate, it cannot be bad for your soul.” – Bonnat Chocolatier’s motto since 1884! Now that’s a motto I can fully embrace!

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I first heard about Bonnat through Chloé Doutre-Roussel’s 2005 book entitled “The Chocolate Connoisseur” and it has taken me a decade to finally try this chocolate for myself! Was Bonnat the forefather of the single-origin & single-estate concepts? It certainly seems so; since in 1902, Bonnat’s first dark chocolate bars were made with beans from specific countries (Venezuela and Madagascar) and they were the first to propose a range of 75% cacao bars, each made with beans from a specific country. In 1983, they also introduced a single-estate bar, which has since been adopted by others.

The rare, coveted and expensive Porcelana is the purest form of the Criollo bean (one of the three main types of beans in the world) and grows in an ancestral planation located South of Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. Immature Porcelana cacao pods are said to be pale, translucent, smooth and enamel-like in color and the unripe beans are also pure white. Here is a link to an article with photos of the pod & bean: http://www.somachocolate.com/blogs/news/18222553-porcelana-finally-after-a-decade-of-waiting

As you may have noticed, in addition to learning about different chocolates, I wanted this project to be an opportunity to delve into details that might otherwise be overlooked. One thing usually leads to another & it is easy to lose track of time, falling through the “rabbit hole” of research. Today I was able to satisfy my curiosity on most things, but some remain elusive mysteries…like this coat of arms:

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The top reminds me of a rook chess piece or castle wall, there is also a deer-like animal featured with what appear to be two gold rings on the shield surrounded by a wreath of leaves. Hopefully further research will answer the burning questions I still have and provide a back story to the family’s history.

What I did learn was that the Bonnat family comes from a long line of liqueur makers, confectioners and pastry chefs (ancient professions working with sugar and plants). Being unfamiliar with Latin, I was curious about “vis mea in labore” and didn’t really trust Google’s “my business is in trouble” translation…so I turned to a couple of my friends for their assistance. It seems that the translation is closer to “my strength in effort” or “my strength is in work.” Since chocolate making is very much an art, it makes sense that their coat of arms motto would refer to the labor needed in their craft.

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Unwrapping the bar from the shiny inner silver foil you see 32 nearly perfect rectangles and the imprinted logo where the center 4 rectangles would have been. “Voiron” caught my eye as an unfamiliar name/term. A Google Maps search led me to a 2012 photo of Ėglise Saint-Bruno de Voiron – a cathedral built in 1864-1873 that just happens to be 0.1 miles away from the Bonnat Chocolatier shop in the village of Cours Senozan in France. I can only imagine what it must be like to daily see the gorgeous gothic architectural gem that is featured at the top left corner of each bar’s outer wrapper.

There was a delicate aroma along with the uniform visual appearance. Separating the rectangles from each other produced a nice snap. Overall the mouthfeel was silky, buttery and smooth probably due to the cocoa butter that was used. Initially, there were earthy and almost coffee-like flavors (maybe based on how the beans were roasted?) Secondarily, there was a subtle fruity, but not overly sweet taste. Despite all these positives, I was a little underwhelmed by the hype of the Porcelana bar and feel guilty, thinking that I should like this more than I did.

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As the outer wrapper says, these chocolates are “to be enjoyed” – so follow me on Instagram as I sample seven other Bonnat flavors over the next few weeks (or maybe months?)

To learn more, check out: http://bonnat-chocolatier.com/en