Chocolate of the Day: Fine and Raw Chocolate
Sea Salt 70% bar
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 165 calories (per label) in 1 bar
Cost: $25.00 for a 5-bar set
Purchased from: Fine and Raw Chocolate, Brooklyn, NY (online order)Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Cowgirls Week.
Today's Sea Salt bar was from Fine and Raw Chocolates (Brooklyn, NY). The company operates a factory and cafe in Bushwick, Brooklyn (NY) and was founded by Daniel Sklaar.
Fine and Raw bars are sweetened with coconut sugar and made using "50% raw and 50% roasted chocolate." (Raw chocolate can be milder than roasted cacao. It sometimes lacks flavor that can be coaxed out (or lost) with roasting and processing with higher temperatures.)
The dark chocolate flavor in today's bar was well balanced with the far-flung constellation of sea salt sparkles on the back of the bar. Ingredients: "organic cacao bean(s), organic coconut sugar, organic cacao butter, organic sea salt"Cowgirl Art and Chocolate
The company's collection of Brooklyn Bonnie bars,* including today's bar, were all adorned with illustrations of girls from the wild west, who were described on the label as"...ladies who are bold, independent, brave, sassy, eloquent and tasty." It's always interesting to hear the stories behind and inspiration for different chocolates.
The cowgirl on today's Sea Salt 70% bar wore a black cowgirl hat and cowgirl boots, and an outfit, not really suitable for roping and riding. The line drawings in the packaging were reminiscent of illustrations from the 1900s, from artists like Gil Elvgren** and other painters and illustrators.On a slightly more wholesome note, there is also a long tradition of vaquero (cowboy) and vaquera (cowgirl) painting going back many years in Mexico (a country with a long chocolate history). And some of these artworks romanticizes the hard work done at ranches. or revolution-related narratives. Artists representing this genre include Jesus Helguera 1910 - 1971). These warm-toned works would be lovely on chocolate bar packaging should copyright owners agree. But, we digress.
*The five bars in this set included Alderwood Smoked Salt, Espresso, Ginger, Hazelnut Butter and Sea Salt.
**Gillette (Gil) Elvgren (1914 - 1980) was an American painters perhaps best known for his pin-up girls, including several cowgirl illustrations that graced magazines and advertisements.
