Palato Chocolate - 65% Cacao Dark Chocolate w/ Bhutlah Pepper, Honduras (bar) - Mar. 17, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Palato Hand Crafted Chocolate

65% Cacao Dark Chocolate w/ Bhutlah Pepper, Honduras (bar) 
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's Palato Hand Crafted Chocolate 65% Cacao Dark Chocolate w/ Bhutlah Pepper, Honduras (bar) was manufactured and distributed by Palato S. de R.L. (Tegucigalpa, M.DC., Honduras).

Aroma notes for this two-ingredient chocolate included: sweet, relatively subtle dark chocolate with slight fermentation and faint vegetable (lightly smoked chili pepper) notes.

Flavor notes included: warm chocolate, lightly sweetened iced tea, and hot pepper. About halfway through tasting a piece, there was an uptick in heat (from the spicy Bhutlah pepper).

This chocolate had interesting, subtle complexity, and the balanced spiciness added interest. The hot pepper flavor was rich and nicely balanced; it tickled the throat but didn't overwhelm the other, more subtle, flavors.

Ingredients: Cacao nibs, sugar, cacao fat and dehydrated bhutlah pepper

Allergen-related information: Produced in a facility that processes tree nuts

 

Madhu Chocolate - Masala Peanut 55% Cacao (bar) - Mar. 17, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Madhu Chocolate 
Masala Peanut 55% Cacao (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.3 oz. (37 g.) / 2.6 oz. (74 g.) in total bar
Calories: 212.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.29 (approx.) for 1 bar (part of larger order $65 for 7 bars)
Purchased from: Good Food Awards Marketplace, online order

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and India Theme Week, and Day #5 of Chocolate and Colombia Theme Week.

Today's Masala Peanut 55% Cacao (bar) was from Madhu Chocolate (Austin, TX). The company offers a variety of small-batch, bean-to-bar chocolates, with India-inspired flavors--made using cacao sourced from the Tumaco region of Colombia (and cacao from India). The masala chili spice in today's bar: Guntur Sannam Chillis, from Diaspora Co.

The aroma notes for this vibrant spice bar included: sweet savory spices (cumin), sweet chocolate and nut(s).

A generous helping of peanuts and chili spices created textural range (softly crunchy nuts in a smooth dark sea) and flavor depth.

This Masala Peanut bar was a lively fusion of Old World (particularly Asia) and New World (particularly Central America) flavors--and exemplified long inter-twined food cultures.*

The chili, salt and peanut flavors in this rich, layered, spicy chocolate made me feel like I was enjoying an Indian-version of a Mexican mole** sauce. The two makers at Madhu Chocolate captured the essence of mole with a doff of hats to India-inspired flavors.

Dark rich mole sauce--often served over chicken, rice and enchiladas--contains chilies and a variety of warm spices (e.g. cinnamon, anise, black pepper, cumin, salt) as well as ground chocolate/cacao and sometimes nuts/peanuts and sesame seeds.

The cumin and chili heat levels in this dark milk bar stopped short of a hot curry dish or three-alarm chili, but the spices warmed the palette and politely cleared the sinuses. (Warning: this savory chocolate triggered the salty-sweet snack response, and I found myself wanting to go back to enjoy more and more. A judicious amount of milk (powder) may have also made this chocolate more addictive.)

Ingredients: Cacao solids, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, whole milk powder, peanuts, chili powder, cumin, salt, sesame oil

Allergen-related information: "Vegan. Gluten-free." "Contains peanuts (and milk). Prepared in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy."

*Ingredients like cacao, peanuts and many chilies originated in the Americas, but as trade routes expanded were spread far and wide. 

Peanuts were one of the first "New World" foods to be adopted across the globe in the 1500s. Spicy peanut dishes and snacks have long been popular in China, India, Africa (especially Nigeria), and can be found in many other countries.

Meanwhile, spices like cumin, black pepper and cinnamon traveled across Asia and the middle east, and eventually arrived in the Americas, often via European traders, conquistadors and settlers. (In some cases, native spices (like allspice) were replaced by imported cinnamon.)

Many modern versions of Mexican mole (and drinking chocolate(s)) are blends of indigenous and "Old World" and "New World" spices and ingredients.

**Both India and Mexico have long spice traditions. "Masala" refers to spice blends (e.g. garam masala) where spices have been dry-roasted and ground together in India (or fried and blended back into dry or wet spice blends). 

"Mole" has a similar meaning. Spices and ingredients are ground together (often with a stone mortar and pestle) to make a sauce or blend. The results of both: multi-layered, spicy flavors and deliciousness.

 

Lula's - Baja Chili Toffee - Feb. 10, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lula's Chocolates
(Lula Lund's Chocolates LLC)
Baja Chili Toffee
Good+++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (99 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. piece
Cost: $7.95 ?? (wild guess) - find receipt? for 1 package
Purchased from: Lula's, Carmel-by-the-Sea location, Carmel, CA

Welcome to Chocolate and Chili Theme Week! When well balanced, the blend of rich chocolatey, cacao (with fruity acid) with a hint of pepper (alkaline heat) can liven up and enhance flavors of both these plant-based staples...like yin and yang, or Bonnie and Clyde.


With luck, we can enjoy the seven chocolates for this week and avoid getting burned by the fiery tiny vegetable outlaw beasts, that can make grown men shudder in their boots: ghost pepper, guajillo, jalapeno, habanero, and chili pepper blends.

We start today's theme week in Carmel, the California coastal hamlet. Former mayors of Carmel include Western star (and successful director) Clint Eastwood. I can hear the outlaw music swelling.

I bought today's Baja Chili Toffee at a Lula's shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea (that was decorated for Valentines Day). Lula's is based in nearby Monterey, CA; and owner Scott Lund is their chief chocolatier and head honcho.

The packaging described today's toffee as "the wild child" of the company's toffee family.

Well, was it? Was it kid? Go ahead, and make my day...I'll admit it. My loopy courage was fueled by the fact that I have a cold. Chili can't really hurt me, because my taste buds are turned down a notch, right? I needn't have worried. This Baja Chili Toffee was very good, with only a few pockets of feisty heat. Not too spicy, and robustly flavorful.

The generous slab of buttery toffee, was coated with chocolate and roasted nuts and covered with chili powder the color of sunset. It was good, with a pleasant chili flavor and bite. One of the better toffees I've tasted.

My cold gave me chili eating super powers this week and may encourage me to fly too close to the sun. Well, it's time to say adios and to ride back to the ranch to rest up for tomorrow. But, before I do, I'll just take one more bite of this tasty toffee.

ChocolateSmith: Backpacker's Chocolate - May 5, 2014

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

ChocolateSmith

1.) Backpacker's Pocket Pate Chocolate
Good
Weight: 1/2 oz. (14.1 g.) / 4 oz. (113.2 g.) total package
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1 slice/piece
Cost: $9.25 for 1 package
Purchased from: ChocolateSmith, online order

2.) Chili Chocolates - Chili Pate Sampler
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 8 oz. (226.4 g.) in total box of 2
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving (2 slices)
Cost: $24.75 for 2 chili sampler pack
Purchased from: ChocolateSmith, online order

Last week, I featured bars made from cacao grown in the Dominican Republic. Today, I'm moving figuratively north --  to the Southwestern U.S. -- and featuring two unique chocolate items from ChocolateSmith (Santa Fe, New Mexico).

Backpacker's Pocket Pate Chocolate
Today I went on a group hike in the Devil's Slide area with views of the Pacific Ocean (south of San Francisco, CA) -- a perfect occasion to try today's Backpacker's Pocket Pate Chocolate. This colorful wax-covered "weather-proof chocolate" was filled with a very sweet, dark chocolate ganache. And, with a knife, this chocolate was easily cut into share-able slices/pieces with the rest of the hiking group. Thank you for the tasting help and feedback to Nancy's hiking group!

There was no rain to worry about, or sizzling temperatures, just a mild coastal breeze during today's hike. However, the wax coating seemed like a great way to contain any "meltage" that sometimes takes place in hot weather or to prevent "squishage" when stuffed in the bottom of a backpack. This plain dark chocolate Backpacker's Chocolate was also available in other flavors, including: Raspberry, Orange, Peanut Butter Brownie.

Chili Chocolates - Chili Pate Sampler
I also tried two chili-shaped chocolates -- one green "mucho ancho" and one red "sunset orange" from ChocolateSmith. These two were also wax-covered chocolates, packaged together in a Chili Pate Sampler.

Green Chili - Mucho Ancho Pate
The green (Mucho Ancho) chili pepper was filled with a sweet, dark chocolate ganache "infused with earthy tones of local ancho chili"

Red Chili - Sunset Orange Pate
The red (Sunset Orange) chili pepper was filled with a sweet "dark chocolate orange ganache infused with a spicy blend of local chili and cinnamon."

Happy Cinco de Mayo to those who celebrate this day.

Patric Chocolate Holy Mole! bar - Oct. 22, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Patric Chocolate
Holy Mole! bar
Very Good
Weight: .76 oz. (21.45 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 114 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $8.99 (plus shipping for online orders)
Purchased from: Patric Chocolate (online order)

The thing about great chocolate is that I enjoy it so much more, and I'm satisfied with so much less. An apparent contradiction, but not necessarily so when it comes to well-crafted chocolates. I stopped after eating "only" 1/3 of today's bar, and enjoyed lingering notes of chocolate, chilies and cinnamon.

Alan "Patric" McClure, of Patric Chocolate (Columbia, MO), and his crew, know their way around well-crafted chocolate -- largely because they've been meticulous about quality, with each step in the chocolate-making process -- from sourcing the right cacao beans to finishing with fine flavor additions.

Today's Patric Chocolate's Holy Mole! smooth, dark chocolate bar contained a flavorful blend of fairly traded cacao from Papua New Guinea and Ghana; Spanish smoked pimenton from La Vera, chilies de arbol; cinnamon; and a hint of vanilla salt. This perfectly balanced melange of flavors played off each other beautifully.

The Holy Mole! bar was a collaboration with Zingerman's (a well-known deli and group of family-owned, food-related businesses in Ann Arbor, MI). 

ChocolateBet: September 22, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

2/5 bar
Artisan du Chocolat
Mole Chili bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .636 oz. (18 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) total bar
Calories: 95 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Spicy Pepper Theme Week. This Mole Chili dark chocolate (70% Cocoa) bar from Artisan du Chocolat (London) contained a mix of ingredients found in mole sauce: chile mulato, chile ancho, chile pasilla, chile chipotle, ground almonds, tortilla, thyme, and other spices. Despite all the different peppers, this bar was not too spicy.

I suspect if you melted this bar in with some red or enchilada sauce and baked it with poultry, you'd have an interesting chicken/turkey dish with mole sauce -- a delicious way to incorporate chocolate into sweet and savory dishes.

ChocolateBet: December 22, 2010

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Sacred Chocolates

1.) "Ixcacao" truffle (pictured on right)
1/2 truffle

Peruvian maca, mesquite, topped with Ocumare cacao nibs
OK + - Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14 g.) (estimate) / 4.5 oz. (127 g.) total box of 9 truffles
Calories: 35 calories (estimate)
Cost: $ part of a 9-piece truffle assortment box
Purchased from: Chocolate.com site

2.) "Sacred Fire" truffle (pictured above, left)
1/2 truffle

Dark ganache flavored with ancho, morita, guajilo, pasillo, chipotle chilies with black pepper, cinnamon; and topped with small piece of gold leaf
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14 g.) (estimate) / 4.5 oz. (127 g.) total box of 9 truffles
Calories: 35 calories (estimate)
Cost: $ part of a 9-piece truffle assortment box
Purchased from: Chocolate.com site

These Sacred Chocolates truffles incorporate stories and ingredients from Central and South America -- the birthplace of chocolate. Ixcacao is a goddess of chocolate.

ChocolateBet: October 19, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolove
Chilies and Cherries in Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good
Weight:  1.066 oz. (30 g.) in 1/3 bar / 3.2 oz. (90 grams) total bar
Calories: 151 calories for 1/3 bar
Cost: $3.99
Purchased from: Z. Cioccolatos, North Beach, San Francisco, CA

I brought this Chocolove bar with me on my business trip to Texas this week -- in case I didn't have time to search for new chocolates. I thought this chocolate with (ancho and chipotle) chili peppers in it might be a good thematic choice given that I'd be in Texas.

The bar was made of good, quality dark (55% cocoa content) chocolate; and it could have passed for a higher percentage than this. I really liked the fact that I could taste the cherries and the chilies in this well-balanced bar.

The "free" love poem inside the wrapper was clever.

This subject of this passionate poem reminded me to go back and rent/watch two movies: "Chocolat" with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche; and also "Como Agua Para Chocolate" (aka Like Water for Chocolate). Both are good films for lovers of chocolate, chilies, and love poems.