ChocolateBet: July 21, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

2 oz.
ChocoVivo
Cherries, Almonds and Black Peppercorns bar
Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) / 2.6 oz. (74 g.) total bar
Calories: 292 calories
Cost: $7.00 total bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage

I tried another stone-ground rustic chocolate today, for Day#7 of Chocolate and Pepper Theme Week. This Cherries, Almonds and Black Peppercorns bar from ChocoVivo was made from Trinitario beans from Tabasco, Mexico, and was described on the package label as "chunky and minty." Each bite of this dark bar had slightly chewy (bing cherries) and crunchy (almonds) elements. The black pepper was barely detectable in the bar that I had. The texture of this chocolate bar was less than silky smooth (as expected), but was not unpleasant. The maker claims that more of the nutritional elements are preserved with less processing.

ChocolateBet: July 19, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 package
Taza Chocolate
Chocolate Mexicano - Salt and Pepper
Good +
Weight: 0.675 oz. (19.25 g.) / 2.7 oz. (77 g.) total package
Calories: 99 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.00
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Pepper Theme Week. During a theme week I generally try to incorporate a beverage that contains chocolate and the theme of the week ingredient, if available.

Today I made some Taza Chocolate hot drinking chocolate from the company's Mexican style, "Salt and Pepper, Stone Ground and Organic" offering. (A range of other flavors are also available.) Sold in a package of two discs (that are further segmented into wedges), these coarsely ground wedges can be eaten without the addition of hot water and/or hot milk as well.

Stone ground is an acquired taste, or I should say texture, for some. It may not appeal to those who swoon over the velvety smoothness of a Swiss-style chocolate. If you do make a hot beverage, make sure to take time to stir and allow the ingredients to fully dissolve, otherwise you may end up with puddling of salt and pepper sludge at the bottom of your cup.

ChocolateBet: July 18, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/3 bar
Xocolatl de David
Parmigiano-Reggiano bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .726 oz. (20.46 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) bar
Calories: 108 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.95 total bar
Purchased from: Fog City News, San Francisco, CA

Xocolatl de David (Portland, OR) has produced some very nice savory chocolate bars. This bar with Parmigiano-Reggiano --yes, parmesan cheese -- was made with 72% cacao from Ecuador. It was less sweet, which allowed the cheesey flavors to come through.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Pepper Theme Week. It was also the day when four different ideas for peppery, (gluten free) savory snack foods mixed with chocolate that had been percolating in my head this week, finally saw the light of day. I tried several snack + cacao combos:

1.) Spicy Cocoa Barbeque Cassava Chips
2.) Olive Oyl popcorn with nuts, dried fruits, black pepper and chocolate
3.) Sea Salt and Black Pepper Kettle potato chips with lemon pepper chocolate fondue
4.) Black pepper sprinkled on this Xocolatl dark bar with parmesan cheese; sea salt and black pepper twigs with this bar, and also oven crisped bacon and pepper with this bar.

It's all good. Savory, crunchy things do pair well with chocolate and pepper, with varying degrees of success.

I also wanted to try making a few sweet chocolate and pepper items: chocolate ice cream with pepper, stuffed fresh figs with whipped cream, nutmeg, chopped nuts, port and pepper; and pfeffernusse/pepper  cookies. Expect to see these in the future...

ChocolateBet: July 17, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 small bar
Teuscher Chocolatier
Schokolade mit Rosa Pfeffer
(Chocolate with Pink Pepper)
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.)
Calories: 134 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.50
Purchased from: Teuscher shop, Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA

Continuing on yesterday's combination of dark chocolate and pink peppercorns, today I nibbled on a Teuscher Chocolatier Schokolade mit Rosa Pfeffer (or, translated into English: Chocolate with Pink Pepper) bar. A cacao/cocoa solids base of between 45 and 55 percent is about right for this combination. Chocolate that was any more bitter would likely dampen the pink pepper notes.

Like yesterday's Madre Chocolate Pink Peppercorn dark bar, there was a hint of vanilla. Unlike yesterday's bar, there were almost no detectable pink pepper skins for visual or textural interest (and no smoked salt). But, the Swiss are famous for their very smooth chocolates, and that was just fine here.

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Pepper Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: July 16, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Madre Chocolate
Pink Peppercorn Smoked Salt (bar)
Very Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21.5 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 109 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Pepper Theme Week. This week focuses primarily on add-ins to chocolates in the form of peppercorns, often accompanied by a little salt. Happily, there are chocolates available now with almost every type and color of peppercorn imaginable.

Today's bar was unique, and place-specific in just about every way -- from the bar's molded design that includes Maya-influenced, historic totem-like figures, to incorporation of locally grown island cacao and other ingredients. Madre Chocolate's 70% dark "Locavore" (vegan, soy-free) bar was rich and fruity tasting, and riddled with flecks of rosy-colored, Hawaiian pink peppercorn -- from the peppercorn skins is my guess. Madre Chocolate specializes in hand-crafted, lightly processed, bean-to-bar items, made from locally grown cacao. For example, the smoked sea salt and pink peppercorns in this bar are from Hawaii as well. The only ingredient not from Hawaii that I could see: a hint of Mexican vanilla.

ChocolateBet: July 15, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 package
Nosh This
Salt and Pepper Caramels
Very Good +
Weight: approx. 1.3 oz. (36.8 g.)
Calories: 187 calories (estimate)
Cost: Approximately $4 for 2 pieces
Purchased from: Nosh This, San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Pepper Theme Week. San Francisco-based Nosh This offers a variety of salt caramels and confections, including Bacon Crack -- written about previously on Chocolate Banquet. This Salt and Pepper Caramel was very good. The chocolate coatings and caramel centers were well executed; and I enjoyed the micro-bursts of freshly ground black pepper flavor, amongst savory salt overtones.

Unfortunately, while I was getting my camera out earlier to photograph these caramels, I laid this small package to rest on my dining room table -- directly under a skylight, for a few minutes. And the sun had its way with this artfully prepared treat. It still tasted wonderful, but I'm not including a picture for this reason.

ChocolateBet: July 14, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

2 small squares
Dolfin
Lait Hot Masala
Very Good +
Weight: .32 oz. (9 g.) for 2 squares/ 7.6 oz.(216 g.) total box of 48 squares
Calories: 48 calories (estimate)
Cost: $19.95 total box of 48 squares
Purchased from: Fog City News, in San Francisco, CA

Today was the first day of Chocolate and Pepper Theme Week. Dolfin's small, individually wrapped, milk chocolate square flavored with hot masala spices was part of a 48-piece assortment of different flavors. Judging from the tiny illustration on this square, a hot masala mix generally contains pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and other spices.