Chocola - Pineapple Covered in Fine Dark Chocolate - Aug. 21, 2021

Chocolate of the Day  

Chocola
Pina Cubierta de Chocolate Oscuro Fino 
(Pineapple Covered in Fine Dark Chocolate)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 4.06 oz. (115 g.) in total package
Calories: 420 calories in 1 package (4 servings)
Cost: $9.49 for 1 package
Purchased from: Piazza's, Palo Alto, CA 

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Guatemala Theme Week.

Today's Pina Cubierta de Chocolate Oscuro Fino (Pineapple Covered in Fine Dark Chocolate) pieces were from Chocola (Guatemala City, Guatemala, S.A.).

This high-end snack had a transporting* aroma included tart, sweet fruit (pineapple, other tropical fruit (perhaps cacao fruit/pulp), persimmon), faint, freshly baked pineapple upside down vanilla cake, and chocolate notes.

The triangular flat pieces of pineapple had a nice soft chew and and plenty of naturally sweet-tart fruit flavor.

With many chocolate covered fruit rounds or pieces, the fruit center is little more than a sugar-saturated, fruit-flavored jell/gel. Thankfully, this was not the case today. Yes, this was a sweet treat, but the pineapple and 50% dark chocolate were well balanced and both offered plenty of intact, authentic and complementary flavor(s) and texture.

There was a fleeting earth note in this dark chocolate toward the end of a few bites, proving its flavor hadn't been fully tamed or "smoothed" out (via, e.g., the addition of alkalized cocoa powder, extra long roast and/or conch times, etc.). I appreciated having this "darker" note paired with such a sweet and powerful fruit.

Ingredients: "Dark chocolate 50% (sugar, cocoa butter, cacao liquor, soy lecithin (emulsifier), natural vanilla), dehydrated pineapple, gum arabic (glazing agent)."

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of peanuts and/or tree nuts."

*During limited travel times in 2020-2021 (due to the Covid-19 pandemic), any visits to Hawaii or far-off, exotic lands (even other cities in the same state) have been curtailed. So, the culinary (virtual) travel adventures that chocolates from other countries offer have been doubly appreciated.