Sunday, May 12, 2013

Kumquat, Guava Chocolates - May 12, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Socola Chocolatier

1.) Kumquat
Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece / 4 piece box
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $9.95 for 1 4-piece box
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, San Francisco, CA

2.) Give it to Me Guava
Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece / 4 piece box
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $9.95 for 1 4-piece box
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, San Francisco, CA


Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week.

Happy Mother's Day to the moms out there. I celebrated this day with a small 4-piece Mother's Day Collection box from Socola Chocolatier (San Francisco, CA). (Socola is the word for chocolate in Vietnam.) I was excited to open this box and try new Socola flavors with ties to Vietnam this week.

The four flavors in this collection: Passion Fruit Vanilla Bean, Give it to Me Guava, Jasmine Tea, and Kumquat. Kumquat was a new Socola flavor. And now it's one of my new favorites.

Kumquats and Umami
I love kumquats, and the bursts of flavor contained in these small orange fruits -- that have a sweet rind and a tart center. (I have a small, recently planted kumquat tree in my yard. I'm hoping for my own tiny harvest to combine with chocolate next year.) Fresh, tropical fruits are often served as a dessert in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. And with the delicious flavors like this, I can see why.

Socola's description of this new chocolate reminded me that the tiny slivers of salt-preserved kumquat (also made into a drink in Vietnam), that were embedded in a 61% dark chocolate ganache, were high in umami flavor. (Other umami foods include parmesan cheese, mushrooms, truffles, fish and cured meats, green tea. I'm a big umami fan, so it's no wonder this chocolate rang some bells for me.)

Guava
The second flavor I'm counting for today, Give it to Me Guava, contained a tropical guava fruit gelee (pate de fruit) and dark chocolate ganache. Like the kumquat (and passion fruit) chocolates today, it was very authentic and fresh, with real fruit (in this case, guava) flavor. The Guava truffle was decorated with a white stencil of "Harriett", the flying llama, a creative mascot for the company.

Jasmine & Memories
The Jasmine Tea truffle I'd tasted and featured before on this site. It was infused with a lovely floral tea flavor. The two sisters (Susan and Wendy) behind Socola remembered sips of their grandmother's Jasmine tea when they were growing up.




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