Let's Talk Pro-Chocolate: Real Kinds We Like, How We Eat/Use Them
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Dove Promises, strawberries (which are on sale for $2 this week at the supermarket!) and decaf English breakfast tea...quite possibly the perfect dessert.
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I live in Belgium, pretty close to the Callebaut factory. I regularly get a whiff of chocolate when riding my bike in that direction. Also, some heavy trucks loaded with a few tons of chocolate will drive through my street every now and then.
So no way to end the day without a bite.
My favorite brand is Marcolini, but it is crazy expensive. When I buy a box (once or twice a year), I will eat one or two every night (23 kcal per piece). The taste is so rich, it stays in my mouth for quite a long time:
If there is no Marcolini available, I'll have one piece of Cote d'Or of 15gr (59 kcal) - dark with a pinch of salt.
When I travel, I take a box with me. Never a day without it !
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BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »I’m much more of a salty treat person but do occasionally fancy some chocolate. Always dark 70% and upwards, generally.
But since this thread was posted all I’ve been able to think of is a bar of chocolate that was not available for very long a few years ago that I absolutely loved. Pretty sure it was a Lindt bar, in their ‘Excellence’ range, flavoured with Lavender.
It was darker and smoother than an average UK milk chocolate but not as dark and bitter as I usually prefer. Slightly medicinal from the lavender which counteracted the sweetness of a lighter chocolate. Everybody else who tried it didn’t care for it, but I loved it, just a square at a time allowed to melt on my tongue…I can still taste it now and just wish it was still being produced!
I’ve just looked on Amazon and there are Lavender chocolate bars available but I’m not going to order one (probably…) for fear of being disappointed! 😂
I know that Newtree makes also a Lavender one. I've tried it, and kinda liked it, it was not overpowering. Shipping is as from 50€ though, but worldwide:
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Antiopelle wrote: »I live in Belgium, pretty close to the Callebaut factory. I regularly get a whiff of chocolate when riding my bike in that direction. Also, some heavy trucks loaded with a few tons of chocolate will drive through my street every now and then.
So no way to end the day without a bite.
My favorite brand is Marcolini, but it is crazy expensive. When I buy a box (once or twice a year), I will eat one or two every night (23 kcal per piece). The taste is so rich, it stays in my mouth for quite a long time:
If there is no Marcolini available, I'll have one piece of Cote d'Or of 15gr (59 kcal) - dark with a pinch of salt.
When I travel, I take a box with me. Never a day without it !
Oh, a fellow inhabitant of Belgium
Ah yes, I generally prefer Callebaut (now called Jacques?) but Côte d'Or mignonettes are nice, my parents prefer 'Noir de Noir' (and my mom will split every Mignonette in 4
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Antiopelle wrote: »I live in Belgium, pretty close to the Callebaut factory. I regularly get a whiff of chocolate when riding my bike in that direction. Also, some heavy trucks loaded with a few tons of chocolate will drive through my street every now and then.
So no way to end the day without a bite.
My favorite brand is Marcolini, but it is crazy expensive. When I buy a box (once or twice a year), I will eat one or two every night (23 kcal per piece). The taste is so rich, it stays in my mouth for quite a long time:
If there is no Marcolini available, I'll have one piece of Cote d'Or of 15gr (59 kcal) - dark with a pinch of salt.
When I travel, I take a box with me. Never a day without it !
Oh, a fellow inhabitant of Belgium
Ah yes, I generally prefer Callebaut (now called Jacques?) but Côte d'Or mignonettes are nice, my parents prefer 'Noir de Noir' (and my mom will split every Mignonette in 4 )
I split them in 12 ! 4 rows and then every piece into 3 I hate it when the rows go askew !
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I can’t have chocolate in the house. It’s like crack cocaine to me. I used to eat a couple pounds a day. My diary will validate : All my calorie fails are chocolate related, witness the Milka Triolade bar I found buried in the freezer Sunday in a moment of choco-weakness.
My #1 Fat-Me weakness was Cadbury’s Crispy Eggs. I haven’t had one in over four years.
I also like the rainbow colored Guittard nonpareils tablets or drops.
The best chocolate is See’s, out of California. Even better than Belgian. (Sorry, Belgian friends).
However, there is one place our Benelux friends excel.
The Van Houten’s cocoa is worth having around just to crack the can and get a whiff. It’s chocolate perfume. A gram or two on ice cream, or pdusted on frothed coffee milk….heaven.
But my particular favorite, and the one chocolate I find I can limit easily, is Dutch hagel.
It’s like American sprinkles, only it’s real chocolate and tastes like chocolate. If I remember right, 4 grams is about 20 or so calories, and that’s a generous sprinkle on ice cream or pancakes or whatever. A box can last me a year, which isn’t something I normally use in the same sentence with “chocolate”.
I very grateful I don’t buy into the typical Dutch use, which is to coat fresh buttered bread with hagel and enjoy much like we’d eat a doughnut.3 -
springlering62 wrote: »
I can’t have chocolate in the house. It’s like crack cocaine to me. I used to eat a couple pounds a day. My diary will validate : All my calorie fails are chocolate related, witness the Milka Triolade bar I found buried in the freezer Sunday in a moment of choco-weakness.
My #1 Fat-Me weakness was Cadbury’s Crispy Eggs. I haven’t had one in over four years.
I also like the rainbow colored Guittard nonpareils tablets or drops.
The best chocolate is See’s, out of California. Even better than Belgian. (Sorry, Belgian friends).
However, there is one place our Benelux friends excel.
The Van Houten’s cocoa is worth having around just to crack the can and get a whiff. It’s chocolate perfume. A gram or two on ice cream, or pdusted on frothed coffee milk….heaven.
But my particular favorite, and the one chocolate I find I can limit easily, is Dutch hagel.
It’s like American sprinkles, only it’s real chocolate and tastes like chocolate. If I remember right, 4 grams is about 20 or so calories, and that’s a generous sprinkle on ice cream or pancakes or whatever. A box can last me a year, which isn’t something I normally use in the same sentence with “chocolate”.
I very grateful I don’t buy into the typical Dutch use, which is to coat fresh buttered bread with hagel and enjoy much like we’d eat a doughnut.
I have been known to sprinkle some Dutch-process cocoa on plain yogurt with either oats, seeds, or apples... or some combination. Not bad, and for sure a dose of the cacao bean to make smiles happen.
I think I mentioned I used to get cacao nibs for the same reason. More crunchy texture, and unprocessed. Well, less processed. It's a process to turn a cacao bean into a nib.
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SafariGalNYC wrote: »
I recently bought cacao nibs and food such as yogurt serve as a vector just for them.
Organic nibs from the Amazon! I just ordered a bag from Amazon. Thanks for the tip!
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I'd like to say I opened this box six days ago, but I opened it last night.
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It's interesting that we all refer to "Belgian chocolate," when the cacao comes from many tropical sources, but not Belgium! No shade on the seminal chocolate processing methods developed and still operating in Belgium.
The chocolate-loving world is awakening to the variations between cacao grown in different parts of the world, from different cacao species, and processed differently. It's amazing to watch a video on how the goopy white cacao beans become rich dark chocolate.0 -
It's all my fault.
I only mentioned Belgium because it the most affordable and readily-available real chocolate near me. The best chocolate I've ever eaten was in Paris and it was stoopit dear. In my reply to the OP - I stated the Belgian import was my nearest go-to for chocolate cravings - not that it was the global ultimate.
Choc on!0 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »It's interesting that we all refer to "Belgian chocolate," when the cacao comes from many tropical sources, but not Belgium! No shade on the seminal chocolate processing methods developed and still operating in Belgium.
The chocolate-loving world is awakening to the variations between cacao grown in different parts of the world, from different cacao species, and processed differently. It's amazing to watch a video on how the goopy white cacao beans become rich dark chocolate.
Well, to be fair, "Belgian chocolate" would be correct, no matter the origin of the cacao. Cacao doesn't become "chocolate" until it's processed, and if that's happening in Belgium, then it's Belgian chocolate.4 -
I use unsweetened cocoa/cacao powder pretty regularly in some savory foods, too - it adds a certain umami richness. Rich tomato-y sauces, chili, black bean soup are a few examples.
I usually use about a tablespoon for one good-sized serving of the food. If you've never tried it and want to, I'd suggest starting with less - maybe half a tablespoon per serving - then tasting and adjusting. Note that it needs to cook at least briefly for best flavor.
It doesn't taste overtly chocolate-y, just richer . . . and yes, it makes the food a darker color if not already dark.
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I hadn't thought about adding to savory dishes. I don't know why that escaped me. Had I thought of it, I could have experimented with the huge lunch I just cooked. On the other hand, I knew it would be good as it was and would have been sad to have taken away from the deliciousness.2
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Ah, I have found my people. Chocolate connoisseurs, unite!
For a tiny treat, I keep some Baker’s 70% in the cupboard and melt a little to eat with fresh strawberries, or sometimes make a frozen chocolate-covered banana. I have some very simple, quick chocolate pudding recipes, too. I got inspired by the Great Canadian Baking Show to make chocolate ganache (yum!) and tempered chocolate (fail).
For a while, I decided my favourite quality chocolate was Baci (there’s a significant Italian population where I live).
But then a friend introduced me to Peace by Chocolate, a company based in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The story behind it is amazing; it’s run by a Syrian refugee family who made a new life here in Canada. The chocolates are absolutely sublime, and I think they now ship to the States too.
https://peacebychocolate.ca/3 -
Lidl has a high quality, “woke” type (for lack of the right words) chocolate bar called Way To Go.
They are delicious but deadly. The pecan and coconut are amazing.
And really great price.
And let’s not forget Niederegger of Lubeck for those of us who fancy marzipan with a nice coat of chocolate. It comes in 101 flavor variations.3 -
Oh dear. I may have to block this thread….:5
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@AnnPT77 : I love the idea of cocoa powder in tomato sauce! I sometimes make a beef, onion, pepper stir fry with tomato paste which would be excellent with a little cocoa powder, I think. Maybe also a little nutmeg.1
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@springlering62 I see that "Way To Go" is supported by the Fairtrade organization, which is definitely "woke" in the absolute best sense. No one wants to support human trafficking or child labor to get their chocolate fix! I am happy to buy Fairtrade certified products when I like them.
I commonly buy Lindt 72% Cacao chocolate at our supermarket. Lindt is not Fairtrade certified, but they do claim to adhere to fair business practices. And the chocolate is very good! (Best of the supermarket brands, IMHO.) Organizations like Fairtrade help raise awareness and push the larger companies to act better and I really appreciate that.3 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »@AnnPT77 : I love the idea of cocoa powder in tomato sauce! I sometimes make a beef, onion, pepper stir fry with tomato paste which would be excellent with a little cocoa powder, I think. Maybe also a little nutmeg.
That sounds promising!
The cocoa/cacao in savory foods is of course a sort of branch off the idea of things like the dark mole sauces, where chocolate is typically added near the end of sauce prep. The cocoa powder needs a bit more cooking, IMO, for best flavor. I think of this (cocoa in sauces) as a sort of vegetarian trick to add a bit of umami and . . . I don't know, almost a slight quasi-metallic tang (?) that some meats have to vegetarian dishes where appropriate, while not actually tasting like meat (a thing I mostly never liked all that much, even in my youth when I ate it).
I'm going to risk a digression, since this is my thread
. Nutmeg *is* also good in savories, either in the sort of Indian or Caribbean flavor profile (like jerk spices) among others, and of course nutmeg in cheese sauce is a classic. Further afield, if you like a bit of heat, jerk style hot sauce is delicious on grapefruit.
Oooo, I can bring it back on topic: Those Caribbean-ish flavorings are also good with chocolate! 1 -
The cocoa/cacao in savory foods is of course a sort of branch off the idea of things like the dark mole sauces, where chocolate is typically added near the end of sauce prep. The cocoa powder needs a bit more cooking, IMO, for best flavor. I think of this (cocoa in sauces) as a sort of vegetarian trick to add a bit of umami and . . . I don't know, almost a slight quasi-metallic tang (?) that some meats have to vegetarian dishes where appropriate, while not actually tasting like meat (a thing I mostly never liked all that much, even in my youth when I ate it).
Isn't it really amazing? A food we associate with sweetness actually can also be used to create an entirely different one of the five tastes. And while we're at it, when it's not sweetened, it's actually just a little bitter. Three of five flavors from one plant product. I veritable trifecta of flavor. Adding salt and vinegar for the "quintafecta." Is there actually a word to describe a run of FIVE wins?2 -
The cocoa/cacao in savory foods is of course a sort of branch off the idea of things like the dark mole sauces, where chocolate is typically added near the end of sauce prep. The cocoa powder needs a bit more cooking, IMO, for best flavor. I think of this (cocoa in sauces) as a sort of vegetarian trick to add a bit of umami and . . . I don't know, almost a slight quasi-metallic tang (?) that some meats have to vegetarian dishes where appropriate, while not actually tasting like meat (a thing I mostly never liked all that much, even in my youth when I ate it).
Isn't it really amazing? A food we associate with sweetness actually can also be used to create an entirely different one of the five tastes. And while we're at it, when it's not sweetened, it's actually just a little bitter. Three of five flavors from one plant product. I veritable trifecta of flavor. Adding salt and vinegar for the "quintafecta." Is there actually a word to describe a run of FIVE wins?
It's amazing actually when I add chocolate to my mole and how it transforms it into a totally different product. I adjust the amounts depending on which entree I'm preparing for my menu. cheers2 -
The cocoa/cacao in savory foods is of course a sort of branch off the idea of things like the dark mole sauces, where chocolate is typically added near the end of sauce prep. The cocoa powder needs a bit more cooking, IMO, for best flavor. I think of this (cocoa in sauces) as a sort of vegetarian trick to add a bit of umami and . . . I don't know, almost a slight quasi-metallic tang (?) that some meats have to vegetarian dishes where appropriate, while not actually tasting like meat (a thing I mostly never liked all that much, even in my youth when I ate it).
Isn't it really amazing? A food we associate with sweetness actually can also be used to create an entirely different one of the five tastes. And while we're at it, when it's not sweetened, it's actually just a little bitter. Three of five flavors from one plant product. I veritable trifecta of flavor. Adding salt and vinegar for the "quintafecta." Is there actually a word to describe a run of FIVE wins?
Yeah! Also, good chocolate/cocoa/cacao is a nicely complex blend of flavors. I think that's why we humans like it so much (well, probably that and in most chocolate the fats and some sugar (negligible in cocoa powder)! ).
Cocoa powder also has some fiber, and a surprising amount of protein (EAA incomplete, though - low on methionine** ). The cacao powder I usually use claims 26% of calories from protein, and per 8g (a bit over a tablespoon) almost 3 grams of fiber, 160mg of potassium, around 57 mg magnesium (18% DV), over 5% of daily iron . . . whoo-hoo, it's a superfood!
Maybe it's the bitterness that led me to say "quasi-metallic".
** source (of unclear authority): https://www.soupersage.com/complete-protein-pairings/cocoa-powder1 -
Whaattt !!! There is no such thing Sprinlering !!springlering62 wrote: »Even better than Belgian. (Sorry, Belgian friends).springlering62 wrote: »However, there is one place our Benelux friends excel.
That's Dutch, ow the blasphemy !!
(although I might slightly agree with you - but I wouldn't say it out loud)
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Antiopelle wrote: »
Whaattt !!! There is no such thing Sprinlering !!springlering62 wrote: »Even better than Belgian. (Sorry, Belgian friends).springlering62 wrote: »However, there is one place our Benelux friends excel.
That's Dutch, ow the blasphemy !!
(although I might slightly agree with you - but I wouldn't say it out loud)
Jacques has great 'hagelslag' as well!
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Antiopelle wrote: »springlering62 wrote: »However, there is one place our Benelux friends excel.
That's Dutch, ow the blasphemy !!
To us, Benelux is Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg. 😚0 -
I picked up some organic Cacao Nibs today to add to yogurt. Mmmm.
In a moment of weakness, I also grabbed a bar of Theo 85% dark chocolate with salted cashews.
What the heck am I even thinking? I bet it will be good. That's what I'm thinking.5 -
As I see it, the problem with nuts in chocolate is that they leave less room for more chocolate. 🤔4
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springlering62 wrote: »As I see it, the problem with nuts in chocolate is that they leave less room for more chocolate. 🤔
Yeah, there's that. But I wanted the salt, and I have had almonds before. This will be a new flavor combination.
I have no idea how I manged to NOT open the package yesterday.3 -
springlering62 wrote: »As I see it, the problem with nuts in chocolate is that they leave less room for more chocolate. 🤔
Amen. Peanut butter, on the other hand, is great.1
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