Monday, March 28, 2022

Chocola - Cashew Nuts Covered in Fine Dark Chocolate - Mar. 27, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Chocola
Semillas de Maranon Cubierta de Chocolate Oscuro Fino
(Cashew Nuts Covered in Fine Dark Chocolate)
Good ++
Weight: 2.03 oz. (57.5 g.) / 4.06 oz. (115 g.) in total package
Calories: 278 calories in 1/2 package 
Cost: $4.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Piazza's, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate Snacks Theme Week.

Today's Chocola chocolate covered snack offering hailed from Guatemala, and was imported to the U.S. by Global Support, LLC.

Many chocolate covered snacks (including covered fruit bits or nuts) often lack an aroma (due to confectioners glazes and glosses* used in the outer chocolate coating to help maintain shelf life and appearance).* And the chocolate is often smooth but relatively flat in aroma and flavor.

However, today's dark chocolate covered cashews had subtle dark chocolate aroma, including faint, subtle and balanced notes I associate with fine cacao bean fermentation. 

The outer layer of smooth, almost creamy dark flavorful chocolate surrounded a heart of softly crunchy nut centers.

These chocolate and nut snack pieces not only retained an authentic, mild cashew shape but authentic, cacao and cashew nut notes with a darker than 50% cacao flavor profile: a pleasing balanced bitterness (bittersweet, not too much sugar), with a very slight earthiness, and fleeting, very faint sweet floral and warm spice notes from added vanilla.

Ingredients: Dark chocolate 50% (sugar, cocoa butter, cacao liquor, soy lecithin (emulsifier), natural vanilla), cashew nuts, acacia (glazing agent)

Allergen-related information: Contained tree nuts (cashews) and soy (lecithin), and "may contain traces of peanuts."

* At least some confectioners glazes (shellac or purified lac resin; or in today's case: acacia (also known as arabic gum or gum arabic), made from the acacia tree, and waxes (carnauba (palm wax), beeswax, other) are used in many chocolate covered snacks. These can add shine and durability (e.g. preventing chocolates from looking scuffed up as pieces bump against and tumble around each other inside packaging).

Confectioners glazes using shellac (derived from purified insect plant sap secretions) can also be found on other (non-chocolate) shiny candies and fruits. Versions of these same glazes (known as pharmaceutical glazes) are used as coatings for pills/pharmaceuticals and some cosmetics.


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