New Orleans has an outsized reputation for many things: it's a world-class party destination with great parades featuring lots of beads, great music, great food, low-class strip/clip joints, and a fascinating history, not to mention drive-through daquiri bars.The list of culinary classics on the savory side of the menu from this part of the south is almost endless. But from a dessert perspective, New Orleans' rep does not shine nearly so brightly. Apart from the Bananas Foster it's hard to name a truly great New Orleans dessert. And yes, I know of the beignets at Cafe du Monde with their heavy dusting of powdered sugar. And although you can order the beignets at the Cafe du Monde most any time of the day or night, the best time to eat them is in the stillness of the very early morning before the heat of the day starts to enervate the Quarter's inhabitants; washed down with a cafe au lait where the cafe is laced with chicory - so I don't really think of them as dessert.The one confection that New Orleans is known for is the praline (pronounced praw'-leen). Real New Orleans-style pralines resemble large cookies, but these cookies are made from boiled sugar in which you can find swimming pecans. The best pralines are really quite good, but for every place that makes a good one there are dozens that don't measure up. One of the best-known makers of pralines in New Orleans is Laura's Candies . While they do sell what they call truffles at Laura's, they fall into the category of "hometown favorites" and are best compared with the products of other companies at their price point, such as See's.From 2000-2005, the "Best Candy Shop" in New Orleans (as voted by the readers of Gambit magazine) was Blue Frog Chocolates . I would also categorize Blue Frog as being a hometown favorite, but one with aspirations to reach beyond their hometown. The signature Blue Frog chocolate is a molded frog made from white chocolate that is colored blue. From what I can see from the pictures on their site, these will turn your tongue blue - which may be their major attraction. Other Blue Frog specialties I would call "novelty" chocolates: molded alligators, Mardi Gras gelt, chocolate voodoo dolls, and such like. In addition to these novelty products, Blue Frog also sells products made by other companies, most of which command a higher price point. Brands include Joseph Schmidt, Green and Blacks, and Michel Cluizel. They do, however, carry one very downmarket brand of truffles imported from France, Chocmod Truffettes. Many flavors can't even be called chocolate because they don't actually contain any cocoa mass (the ingredients list for their "Original Flavor Truffettes de France is: partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, sugar, low fat cocoa, whey powder, cocoa powder, emulsifier: soy lecithin, natural flavor: vanilla). To be fair, the ingredients list for their Organic Truffles (note truffle, not truffette - a real giveaway) is not at all bad: organic cocoa mass, organic coconut oil, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa powder, organic cocoa butter, soy lecithin.With the opening of Sucr (French for sugar) in April 2007, New Orleans finally has a local artisan chocolatier that it can truly be proud of. Located betwixt and between the Garden District and Uptown on Magazine St just two hops, three skips, four jumps and some bon temps (not to mention TurboDogs) from Tipitina's. Sucr is the handiwork of successful local restaurant entrepreneur Joel Dondis and Pastry Chef/Chocolatier Tariq Hanna formerly of MotorCity in Detroit.(By an odd coincidence, I happen to have spent some time with Tariq in the Arizona desert in 2005 when he was a contestant on a Food Network Challenge that was being filmed at the Marriott Desert Ridge during the World Pastry Forum, just before the National Pastry Team Championships.)The physical presence of Sucr is quite impressive as the following photos of the exterior and chocolate case attest to. In addition to their chocolates, they make traditional breakfast pastries (Viennoiserie), a range of petit pastries, entremets (cakes), macarons, pate de fruits, chocolate-covered nuts, a selection of seasonal gelatos and sorbets, in addition to coffees, teas, and drinking chocolates, rounded out by a lunch menu that includes sandwiches and soups.
I received a nine-piece selection of their chocolates for review. Reflecting the clean, clear lines of the store, the packaging is straightforward and attractive (as can be seen in the product photo, below).
Where Sucr really shines is when it turns its attention to the flavors that New Orleans and the South are best known for - which is sort of odd when you think about it because Tariq is not a name common in cajun country. A case in point is the Blang, Sucr's interpretation of the Bananas Foster in a confection. Also in this category is the piece called Avery, a milk chocolate and caramel ganache with a pinch of Avery Island salt (Avery Island is the home of the McIlhenney company, makers of Tabasco hot sauce which uses a lot of Avery Island salt). Sucr's Magnolia pays homage to that most southern of nuts - the pecan. A final piece, Meuniere, combines the signature ingredient of the sauce, browned butter, in a white chocolate ganache infused with the flavor of toasted almonds, a common sauce meuniere garnish.The ganaches are all smooth as silk with varying densities ranging from quite wet (in the shell molded pieces) to quite firm (in the enrobed pieces). The collections all display nice variations in shapes as well as surface treatments and so are visually quite pleasing. Based on the descriptions, much if not all of the chocolate used is Felchlin, including the Bolivian Cru Sauvage and the Maracaibo Clasificado (Venezuela) 65%. If Chef Hanna consistently uses Felchlin, then the milks available to him, the Criolait (38%) and Creole (49%) are two of the best going. It sure is easier to make great confections when you start with great chocolate. Rating: Category: Gourmet, Prestige Style: Nouvelle-American Rating: Very Good to Superior Company Info: Sucr3025 Magazine StNew Orleans, LA 70115Tel. 504.520.8311Fax. 504.520.8312info@shopsucre.com www.shopsucre.com updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/09/15 19:07:08
One of the things that I am going to be setting up in the next week or so is a version of the chocolate-makers database for chocolatiers. In this way we can create our own guide.At a minimum the database will include the name, street address, city, state, and postcode, country, phone numbers, website address, founder(s) names(s), chocolatier name, and type of sales (retail, wholesale, online, retail store).I also think that a comment space for specialties, year founded, and the ability to upload a copy of the logo as well as a photo (or two) of work.If you have any ideas for what that database should include, please click the Feedback link at the bottom of this page and let me know.:: Clay
The Western Edition of The Chocolate Guide is brought to you by the same people who produced the book Chocolate French and who are also behind TasteTV, Chocolate Television, and the International Chocolate Salons in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Miami, and internationally.I reviewed the first edition of Chocolate French when it first came out, and I did not give it a very good review. Much of my criticism was leveled at the way the book was organized as well as at the apparent lack of professional copy editing and fact checking. As I remember, this level of inattention was also evident in the recipes, several of which could not actually be made successfully if the directions were followed.In my correspondence with Andre Crump the writer/editor/publisher of Chocolate French I was accused of "killing" the book - that my review on chocophile.com was somehow single-handedly responsible for stalling the sales of the book. (Poor sales had nothing to do, of course , with the fact that the book was poorly done.) I was, however, happy to see that Mr Crump was wrong in his assessment of the book's sales potential and that a second edition was published. I did not either contribute (I was asked) or review the updated version so I do not know if the structural issues I pointed out in my review of the first edition were addressed.When I heard that Mr Crump was publishing a guide to chocolatiers, chocolate makers, Boutiques [sic: comma is missing on the cover] Patisseries & Shops, I hoped that he would have learned his lesson from Cafe French and actually create a usable book.Sad to say, that is not the case. Which is not to say that the book is not useful, it's just not very usable.There are huge gaps in the businesses and areas that are covered and it's not apparent (unless you read some fine print in the front of the book) why some companies were included and featured and others overlooked, and there is no rational scheme or order that I can detect in the way the businesses that are included are ordered that would make the book's organization make sense.The book starts showing how little attention was paid to the idea of editorial consistency when you take a look at the Table of Contents and the cover page for the first section. The Table of Contents says the first section is titled "Southern California" while the Cover pages say "Southern California & Mexico." This is born out by the fact that the Nestle Museum in Mexico City is not only mentioned in the Table of Contents, it deserves four full pages of photos. But the Museum does not appear in the "Local Directory" so there's no contact information. And what, there are no other chocolatiers or chocolate companies between the San Diego and Mexico City?This lack of depth and consistency plagues the "Local Directory" at the back of each section. In the Local Directory for Southern California, for example, the first entry is Chuao (which is located in Encinitas which is closer to San Diego than it is to LA). The next entry is for Leonidas in LA/Beverly Hills, followed by a raft of LA metro-area entries which appear to be grouped by city, but are not organized alphabetically by the name of the business or according to the geography of LA. Nor are multiple entries for the same company (Leonidas, for example) listed in most cases, let alone grouped together. (To be fair, the Leonidas site itself is confusing: the store referred to on myleonidas.com as being in Beverly Hills is the same store whose web site is leonidashollywood.com.) So, I can see how the editors might be initially confused, but that is exactly the sort of organization and attention to detail that readers deserve, if not expect.Furthermore, all of the entries in the Local Directories are incomplete : only a small percentage have phone numbers and none of the entries have either web site URLs or zip codes. In this day and age, surely, all of these businesses have both phones as well as web presences. In fact, the only companies with complete street addresses, phone numbers, and web addresses are the featured companies. (More on that in the conclusion.) And in the case of Chuao the address on the featured listing is different from the address in the directory, and Chuao is not the only example of this (Scharffen Berger falls victim, too). Are you confused yet? I was and still am.Nowhere is the unwillingness to do the necessary research and fact checking more apparent than in Emily Stone's article Pacific Northwest Chocolate - The Trip I Didn't Take . Now I know Emily and respect her work and her opinion, but an article like this does not excuse TCB-Cafe Press from actually doing the research. Which reveals still yet another editorial mishap. One of the companies mentioned in Emily's article is not listed in the Local Directory. (Sour grapes? Emily is one of several bloggers whose work is featured in the book and I, and other writers whose work might also be recognized, are not mentioned at all. I know why in my case. It's because of the negative review I gave of Mr Crump's first edition of Chocolate French. And frankly, this book displays so many flaws that I am glad I was not asked to contribute; it's not a project I want my name associated with. Sour grapes? You decide after looking at the book from my perspective.)In at least one case, it appears as if the writer took promotional copy directly from a brochure published by the company being featured and did not read it closely enough. The Qzina description on page 49, in the last paragraph, reads "... at each of our location [sic] hosted by their Corporate Pastry Chef." A clear case of not paying attention.Another challenge the book presents to its readers is that it does not adequately distinguish (in the table of contents - there is no index) between chocolate makers, chocolatiers, recipes, blog entries, photo essays, and specialty foods distributors. You are left on your own to figure this one out, as is puzzling out why Ghirardelli is featured, but not Lindt (its corporate parent) and there is no mention at all of See's, the largest chocolate company actually headquartered in California, and highly regarded by many.The editorial and production issues are not limited to the Table of Contents and the Local Directories: page 174 is blank except for a headline that says "Chocolate Salon." (Clearly someone was not looking closely at the page proofs when they came back from the printer.) Given the context of the facing page, missing are some photos from one of the Salons that TCB-Cafe Press organizes.And promote the various interests of TCB-Cafe Press the book does. Of the 190 pages of the book, more than 10 pages are devoted to advertising TCB-Cafe Press projects and not a guide to chocolate at all, and one of them is an ad for the same edition of the book you happen to be reading. On purpose? Or, was it supposed to be an ad for the Eastern Edition and they just weren't paying enough attention? Conclusion After reading the introduction on the Welcome Page, the actual purpose of the book becomes clearer. It's as much a promotion vehicle for the companies that support TCB-Cafe Press's television and event businesses as it is a true guide. Companies that support TCB-Cafe Press's other businesses are featured in the book; companies that do not, are not. That the next to the last page of the book is an ad for a company that has nothing to do with chocolate, but probably provides business service (promotion, PR, marketing) to TCB-Cafe Press really drives this point home.This regrettable circumstance gets in the way of the book's usefulness in other regards, too. Northern and Southern California fill about 140 pages of the book while only about 40 pages are given over to "Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia." Apparently there are no chocolatiers or chocolate makers worthy of inclusion in the book in Arizona or New Mexico, or any other state West of the Mississippi - which would be a natural dividing line unless a third, Midwest Edition, is planned.Now of course the publisher could complain that this was a print book and not a web site and therefore space was very limited. That's nonsense. The way to handle the space issue would have been to reduce the number of pages devoted to completely and totally irrelevant (at least to true chocolate lovers interested in a real, usable, guide) content. One page of photos of the Nestle Chocolate Museum in Mexico City would have sufficed. There, I just saved three pages for useful content. The double page spread for Sacred Chocolate could also be sacrificed on the altar of more content. Two more pages available. Three pages for the How to Conduct an Interview segment. Six pages for gear, wine, and Vermeer could easily be done in three. The cover pages for each section could be done in one page, not two, saving another three pages. Losing the ads at the back would save three more. There, I just freed up 17 pages - nearly 10% of the book - for meaningful (by which I mean central to the purported premise of the book) content.At this point, after reading all the reasons I found not to like The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition , you've probably forgotten that early on I wrote, "Which is not to say that the book is not useful, it's just not very usable."The book is useful in the sense that it does list a lot of companies whose work you probably should be aware of but have never heard of, even though it fails to mention many others you should also know about. Armed with the base information the book provides, an understanding of its editorial slant, and a willingness to do a lot of your own online research, The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition is worth reading if you are planning your own trip to Discover Chocolate out West.I also want to point out that I applaud Mr Crump and his associates' efforts in promoting chocolate in general and American artisan chocolate in particular. The book is a great idea conceptually. This first edition is flawed, and I hope that the publisher works to resolve the copy editing, design, and usability issues I mention when producing future editions - these guides are supposed to be updated on a regular basis. Book Review Rating: Must Have :: Should Have :: Nice to Have :: Not Worth Shelf SpaceBy clicking on one of the images below, you can order the book whose cover is being displayed. The Chocolate Life earns a commission on each sale. When these links to products on Amazon generate sufficient sales I will remove the Google ads.
updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/20/15 14:49:23
Unfortunately, the content of the site is so poorly written, edited, proofread, and fact-checked that it's self-marginalizing and comes off as very fringe - even farther out than most on this subject. It will be interesting to see how the business takes off.
Just for fun, here is the ICCO (International Cocoa Organization) of "Chocolate Manufacturers." In looking at it I see:
None of the American craft chocolate makers on the list (e.g., Amano, Askinosie, Black Mountain, Cacao Atlanta, Escazu, Patric, Rogue, Theo ...).
Some other amazing oversights - Pralus, Bernachon, Debelis, Ambrosia, Belcolade,
Some companies that clearly don't belong on the list (Green and Black's - until recently, anyway, all G&B product was made by the Italian company ICAM; Astor, Asher's).
Does Scharffen Berger count any more (as manufacturing is supposedly done by Hershey). Dagoba as well?
It's not clear what the criteria are for inclusion. One very new company, AMMA (Brazil) is on the list.
Because of the spill over between this thread and the thread on enzymes in cacao I am temporarily closing this thread to further comments to give things a chance to calm down.
Steve -The fact that you're being grouped in with the Xocai folks can be laid, in part, at your doorstep. Your marketing of your product (and yourself) appeals to people who have already bought into your central concept. For people who have not already bought into the claims made for the raw lifestyle the claims you make - and the way you make them - comes across as unsubstantiated hype.Now there might be a real difference that makes a difference in what you do. And I, for one, am willing to do some heavy lifting and be patient, and try to understand. Many people will just dismiss it as being kooky or weird.What you may want to remember is that perception is reality for most people. And the perception that many people outside of the raw foodist community have is NOT the one you want them to have. Saying exactly the same things over and over and over again is not going to change their minds. If you are interested in winning them over you have to change the way you present your product, your company, and yourself.I say the following as a colleague and a friend - and as someone who has friends in the raw food and raw chocolate world:Now - you may not care about non-raw-foodists and from a business perspective I can understand that. However please understand that people are lumping you in with Xocai because they don't see any difference in the claims you are making and how you make them. Again - if you care - you are the only one who can move to change this perception. As I said, you may not care, but from my 15+ years of research into chocolate, chocolate marketing, and more, the burden is yours to convince us, not on us to understand you.
Steve:To many people, the claims you make for your product are no different than the claims made by MXI for Xocai - because they are shrouded in secrecy.What you're encountering here is the same kinds of skepticism. If you want to stop people from questioning you about this you're going to have to be much more open. For example, your iron claim. Do you have an independent lab assay (e.g., Brunswick) showing the differences in iron content in your product made with and without the shell to back you up? If you do - just post it so people can see that it's real. That's all anyone is asking. We're not asking you to reveal your proprietary machinery and processes - just to back up the claims your are making for the results of your processes with independent support.What's hurting MXI (at least for members here on The Chocolate Life) is that a lot of the information they do publish is just plain wrong, and they're squirrely about the patents that cover their claims for cold processing. It smells fishy, and fishy-smelly chocolate is not a pleasant thought. (Though did you know that MXI uses hydrolyzed fish collagen in one of their products? Great protein source I am told though not very appealing from a dietary or sensory perspective.)Another thing that's hurting MXI is that the lab test they reference is several years old. To be valid, in my opinion, they need to run an assay on every batch because they make a very concrete claim for ORAC levels. The only reasons MXI gets away with this are a) they are claiming to be a dietary supplement not a food "this product is not intended to diagnose or cure any disease" and b) there is no RDA (recommended daily allowance) for ORAC.Being on the cutting edge does not exempt you from federal regulations. In cases like this my understanding is that the FDA supersedes California authority.
Steve:Have you run your interpretation past a lawyer who has experience arguing these kinds of cases with the FDA?All chocolate is, by definition, made from chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor, by definition, is made from nibs. There is no provision for making chocolate from whole beans. Here are the references:Sec. 163.111 Chocolate liquor.(a)Description. (1) Chocolate liquor is the solid or semiplastic food prepared by finely grinding cacao nibs.Sec. 163.110 Cacao nibs.(a)Description. (1) Cacao nibs is the food prepared by removing the shell from cured, cleaned, dried, and cracked cacao beans.Sec. 163.123 Sweet chocolate.(a)Description. (1) Sweet chocolate is the solid or semiplastic food prepared by intimately mixing and grinding chocolate liquor ...^ included is the definition of sweet chocolate is bittersweet chocolateEven though you're grinding whole beans you are subject to the rules related to shell content if you want to call your product chocolate. Right now, because you're not making your product from nibs, legally you can't call it chocolate. That's the way the Standards of Identity work. They determine what ingredients can be included in a food (and in many cases HOW it is made) if you want to use a certain word or term to describe it. Because your products use a process that is not in the Standard of Identity, my interpretation is that your product does not adhere to the Standard and therefore can't be called chocolate.But - I am not a lawyer and YMMV.:: Clay
Andrea:You are technically correct on this one. It makes no nevermind that they are making raw chocolate - they still need to be in compliance with the FDA standards of identity in order to call their product chocolate.However, the company is so small that the FDA is not likely to take any action unless it becomes a food safety issue, i.e., someone files a complaint because they believe they got food poisoning from eating it.:: Clay
Steve:If you take a look at my reply to Gretchen, you'll see that whether or not a specific step (e.g., roasting) is done is not at issue here.The point is that you start with beans and end with finished chocolate and that all of the steps that are undertaken to get from Beans to Bars, for each and every batch, are performed or personally (as in in-person) supervised by the company making the claim.:: Clay
Gretchen:I think that there is a consensus that in order to accurately use the term bean-to-bar, the company must start with beans and end with finished chocolate for wholesale/industrial AND/OR retail sale. Wrapped and boxed bars or liquor (liquid or no), the final form is not the significant issue.The question is - do they have to OWN ALL of the equipment or can they contract out some of the operations as long as the work is being done under close supervision?In the end, I really don't care about the ownership of facilities issue as long as they are open and upfront about what they are doing - AND a company employee actually supervise each and every roast, grind, molding, etc. The moment they're no longer personally supervising each and every step of every batch they're contracting with someone else to do then, IMO, they are no longer bean-to-bar.I am more interested in protecting the use of the terms, "origin" and "single-origin." From my perspective it's not a true single-origin bar if there is any added cocoa butter that is not from the same origin. So, the practice of using deodorized cocoa butter of unspecified origin in a recipe means that the chocolate is no longer single-origin, it's "origin chocolate with added cocoa butter of uncertain provenance."Again, I am cool with this as long as people are up-front about it and specify the percentage of added cocoa butter that is not from the origin of the cocoa mass.:: Clay
updated by @Clay Gordon: 09/07/15 10:40:05
Aequare does not make chocolate from beans, however they are one of the few chocolatiers exporting into the US who makes confections using ingredients sourced almost exclusively in the country of origin.Aequare does work (in an advisory capacity and as a customer) with an independent grower in Ecuador who converts a portion of his crop into chocolate at a factory in Guayaquil. This grower also buys from other local growers and converts a portion of what be buys into chocolate, too.ChocolateLife member Jeffrey Stern is the founder of the company. He was born here in the US and spent years overseas working for USAID before catching the confectionery bug. His wife is Ecuadorian so they moved there several years ago with their young family. Aequare has a workshop and retail operation (Gianduja Chocolatier) in Quito and their product is available on-line and in some stores here in the US.:: Clay
Must be a cost issue. Italy is a relatively expensive place to do business. Poland doesn't have much of a history with fine chocolate, but everyone is using the same equipment and people can be trained ...
I have re-posted the online Chocolate Makers database . It is an Add-Only database, which means you can only add an entry, not edit them. This is an international directory, not just US companies.If you have any questions or comments about an entry, please submit them in this forum so that they can be make public. I will make the changes as they are brought to my attention.
The data are still available but I haven't found a good way to present it and make it both usable and useful. Still working on it.
updated by @Clay Gordon: 09/07/15 14:34:39
I think the jury is out until we have more information. For at least the last couple of years, Hershey has outsourced all liquor production in their Hershey, PA facility.Will they get (or are they already/still) back in the bean roasting and grinding business?Does anyone know for sure one way or another?
I posted a couple of links to less expensive options in a forum thread on Winnowers in the Home Brew Chocolate group. Sam Madell posted a picture of the winnower she mentions below in Photos.
Lake Champlain is definitely not b-2-b. They are just down the interstate from St Albans VT where Callebaut has a factory. All of the chocolate LCCC uses comes from Callebaut. The clue is to take a look at the origins and percentages.:: Clay
Chocolove does not manufacture the chocolate from beans, they are a fondeur, or melter. While originally everything was manufactured by a co-packer, in late 2003 they opened their own bar production facility.According to information on this page , Chocolat Frey is a bean-to-bar company. They also claim to be "... the only major chocolate brand produced entirely in Switzerland." Astoundingly, they make over 350 flavors of bars. Dolfin was founded by the Poncelet brothers who are related to the family that started Belcolade if I remember correctly. If you read their web site closely, there is no mention of bean-to-bar -- which there certainly would be if they were practicing it. They talk about the art of blending, not the art of making chocolate. Interesting news is that they were recently recognized as Belgium's first CO2-neutral chocolate company.
All:I have created a simple database that will enable us to track these companies more easily. It is located here .PLEASE DO NOT ADD ANY MORE COMPANY NAMES HERE. Please add them in the database. If you have added a company to this list, please consider making an entry in the database for it.Thanks in advance,:: Clay
To the Italian list add Venchi, Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, and Don Puglisi. To the German list add Coppeneur.I am fairly certain that the chocolate Dolfin uses is sourced from Belcolade.Also, although Vintage Plantations is headquartered here in New Jersey, manufacturing is all done in Ecuador.
There is a similar discussion on American bean-to-bar companies here .Any questions or updates about the American companies on this list should be directed to that forum thread .Information, comments, and thoughts about non-US companies (including Mexico and Canada) should go here.
Casey:Thanks for posting this and pointing me to that discussion. It's quite interesting and nuanced, even discussing whether or not a company that starts from liquor (as opposed to roasting their own beans should be included).
Jacques Torres in NoTri (north of TriBeCa - corner of King and Hudson) and on the UWS (73/Amsterdam) has coffee and chocolate beverages and you can sit at the bar or at tables or couches.Not all that far from the NoTri JT is The Chocolate Bar in the West Village.Charbonnel et Walker the UK chocolate company has a lounge in Saks on 5th across from Rock Center.La Maison du Chocolat - both in Rock Center as well as on the UES on Madison Ave.Way downtown in the Wall Street area is Christopher Norman. A couple of table tops and a counter. My favorite there is their champagne, white chocolate, and goat cheese truffle dipped in dark chocolate and dusted with roasted herbs.On the UWS not sure if the Scharffen Berger boutique is still open, but it's at 83/Amsterdam.Out in Brooklyn you could try The Chocolate Room (5th/Warren/Prospect - thechocolateroombrooklyn.com).
It turns out that it was really, really easy to set up, so I did it. When you go to the photo upload page you'll see the links. Simply follow the instructions. Note: you must have a Flickr account to do this.Flickrlicious is right! Nearly 500,000 photos tagged with chocolate, nearly 8,000 with cacao, and over 44,000 with cocoa.
A new member posted a link to an album of photos on Flickr.The software I use for this network does have the ability to enable people to import Flickr albums. I haven't done this because I don't use Flickr. But, if enough people want me to, I will.What do you think? Should I set up Flickr importing?
updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/19/15 13:08:53
The 20 best chocolate Easter eggs (in the UK) Dateline: London Whether you are scouring the aisles for sugary, shiny treats for your kids or browsing the local deli for an organic, 70 per cent cocoa indulgence for yourself there has never been more choice for chocolate lovers at Easter.In all price ranges and across all tastes it is now possible to buy good quality chocolate eggs with a high cocoa content. Even better, garish packaging is being replaced by the likes of hand-painted wooden eggs, and pleasingly kitsch boxes with more than a nod to Victoriana. Of course, the sugar highs of the trashier end of the Easter egg market traditionally beloved of the Brits are still readily available (and this list includes a few of the yummiest) but in the post-Green & Blacks era, it is just as easy to find the dark, organic, fairtrade and handmade kind. So, here are 20 of the best arranged in price order and now it's over to you for the hard bit - choosing.
Gourmet demand revives Central America cocoa farms Mar 9 - Dateline: Panama Indigenous people grew cocoa here more than 2,000 years ago. Now, their descendants are reviving the crop to meet world demand for high-quality chocolate. Throughout Central America, farmers are planting cocoa, taking advantage of high world cocoa prices and the premium their cocoa commands.In the 1990s [many farmers in Panama] abandoned the crop when the trees were hit by fungus and world prices were low. Now gourmet chocolate companies are turning to growers in Central America to supply cocoa that can be labeled organic and "fair trade," under which companies pledge to pay third-world farmers more for their crops.A cocoa expert at the Costa Rica-based tropical research center CATIE stimates Central America's cocoa output rose 40 percent over the last three years to between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes in the 2006/2007 harvest. Planted area reached 21,000 hectares (52,000 acres), and another 2,000 hectares are expected to be planted this year."Cocoa is one of the few cash crop alternatives in poor, indigenous areas," the researcher said.
French chocolate mousse murderer gets 20-year jail term Feb 26 - Dateline: Paris A 45-year-old French farmer was Tuesday sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering his parents by lacing their chocolate mousse with a highly-toxic insecticide.Beaumont, who lived with his parents in the town of Chalmaison east of Paris, allegedly mixed bug repellent recommended for use on vines or beets in the mousse that was served at dinner. During questioning, he admitted to having murdered his parents, saying he wanted to get rid of his mother who was authoritative and disapproved of his girlfriend. Since the earliest days of the Spanish conquest of Central America, chocolate has been used to disguise the taste of poisons - which are often bitter.
Cocoa Climbs To Fresh Highs On Weather, US Dollar Feb 28 - Dateline: NYC U.S. pit-traded cocoa futures continued their uptrend, vaulting to their highest point since January 1984 as ongoing unfavorable growing weather and a weaker U.S. dollar buttressed gains, analysts said. Most-active May futures settled $101 higher at $2,733 a metric ton and the nearby March contract settled up $95 at $2,717."The ongoing moisture shortfall being suffered by the West African cocoa belt could substantially reduce the April-September midcrop," said Dan Vaught, analyst at A.G. Edwards in St. Louis. A lack of rain and dry seasonal winds are straining crop development in African cocoa growing regions, meteorologists reported. Chances for a few isolated showers and thunderstorms in the area are possible, but there are no forecasts for significant precipitation, according to DTN Meteorlogix.All-time lows in the U.S. dollar against the euro also boosted cocoa prices, analysts said. "Barring a strong (U.S.) dollar, $2,800 looks like the next test" likely by the end of the week, Cordier said. Profit taking in cocoa could occur if the dollar and euro prices correct, he noted.
Indian chocolate demand fuels domestic cocoa increases Feb 25 - Dateline: India In response to rising demand in the chocolate industry and reduce dependency on imports, Indian cocoa producers have said they will increase domestic cocoa production by 60 per cent in the next four years.Chocolate consumption is gaining popularity in the country due to increasing prosperity coupled with a shift in food habits, pushing up the country's cocoa imports. Firms across the country have announced plans to step-up domestic production from 10,000 tonnes to 16,000 tonnes, according to Reuters. The country's annual cocoa demand is thought to be around 18,000 tonnes.
Chocolate Beer Can Be A Treat Feb 28 - Dateline: Hartford, CT When the Boston Beer Co. introduced Chocolate Bock several years ago, it was well received but invoked primal grunts of disapproval from some aficionados and guzzlers of light lager alike. Chocolate beer may appear trendy, but the "trend" goes back 3,000 years.Chemical analysis of drinking vessels found in digs in what is now Honduras have revealed that man used cacao as early as 1,100 B.C. The early inhabitants of the Ulia Valley did not, however, produce the precursors of the Hershey bar or hot chocolate. Rather, they fermented a prize beer from cacao pulp.The frothy, bitter brew was often seasoned with chilies, spices and honey. Thus, the entire chocolate industry is likely an unintended off-shoot of early Mesoamericans' desire for an alcoholic beverage to accompany a feast, or a human sacrifice.
Robbers in Israel Steal Chocolate Spread Feb 27 - Dateline: Jerusalem Israeli police are on the lookout for thieves with a super-sized chocolate craving. The robbers broke into a factory in the northern Israeli city of Haifa late Monday and walked away with nearly 100 tons of chocolate spread.
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updated by @Clay Gordon: 12/13/24 12:16:07
My experience traveling to tropical countries is that there is no good local chocolate - at least of the kind we are most familiar with here in the US - because it's just too darned hot all the time. However, you may find some chocolate that's made in other countries that does not make it into the US on a regular basis in Duty Free shops.I know that cocoa can be grown in these places because they are in the correct latitudes, but none of them are known as producing countries. If you do find chocolate, it will probably be in some form that's similar to that found in other hot countries (e.g., a ball that is grated to make hot chocolate with), or incorporated into some local specialty.If you do find some, make sure to take and post photos. Oh, and take and post some photos anyway - I know I'd like to see some tropical scenery right about now as it was 19 degrees F this morning when I woke up.
