
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


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.)

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.

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.