Thursday, November 21, 2013

Barlovento - Meyer Lemon Zest - Nov. 21, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Barlovento Chocolates
Meyer Lemon Zest truffle
Good ++
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) in 1 truffle
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 truffle
Cost: $2.00 (estimate) for 1 truffle
Purchased from: Barlovento Chocolates (table at Marin Civic Center Thursday Farmers Market)

I'm often asked: "After 7 years, where do I find new chocolates to try?" My answer is: Everywhere! After 7 years, I'm still finding new chocolatiers where I live, in the San Francisco Bay Area, to say nothing of the rest of the world.

Today I drove up to the Marin Civic Center Farmers Market (north of San Francisco, CA) to buy a few Meyer Lemon Zest truffles from Barlovento Chocolates (Oakland, CA). It was worth the drive. I enjoyed meeting the Barlovento rep. and other vendors at the Farmers Market -- and tasting delicious foodstuffs.

The Meyer Lemon dark chocolate truffle, decorated with thin, lemon yellow squiggles, was filled with a very creamy ganache infused with authentic tasting Meyer lemon zest. The Meyer lemon has a sunnier, sweeter flavor than other varieties; and it pairs well with chocolate.

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Lemon Theme Week. And Meyer lemons have been well represented thus far.


Rogue - Sambirano bar - Nov. 20, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Rogue Chocolatier
Sambirano 70% bar
Very Good
Weight: .848 oz. (24 g.) /  2.12 oz. (60 g.) total bar
Calories: 127 calories (estimate) in 40% of 1 bar
Cost: $12.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Lemon Theme Week.

What does this lovely Sambirano* 70% single origin bar from Rogue Chocolatier (Three Rivers, MA) have to do with lemons? The answer has to do with experimenting with flavor pairings.

Much like there are color groupings that will work better in a given context than others -- one can pair chocolate with items that mirror, complement or oppose certain characteristics of a bar. Sometimes the pairings result in delightful surprises and sometimes the results are oddly unpredictable.

The profile (tasting notes) printed on this bar's packaging stated: "citrus, rum raisin, toast." I mimicked the tasting notes, by pairing this bar with slices of (gluten-free) raisin toast, drizzled with Meyer lemon infused olive oil; Myers's dark rum, and Meyer lemon jam.

I enjoyed the pairing; however, with a bar this good, I also made sure to savor bites of chocolate before, during and after the toast plate items. This artfully complex bar did indeed have very pleasing, well-balanced citrus and raisin notes.

*This 70% Sambirano bar was made with cacao beans from the Akesson Estate, in Madagascar. The most recent batch (bar) may have slightly different tasting notes. Much like a wine, batches differ from year to year.
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