Trader Joe's - Milk and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Popcorn - Oct. 9, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Milk and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Popcorn
Good - Good +
Weight: 3 oz. (85 g.) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total package
Calories: 420 calories in 1/2 package
Cost: $2.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Salt and Savory Theme Week.

Today's Milk and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Popcorn was from Trader Joe's (based in Monrovia, CA).

This sweet and salty snack had a light, soft loft and crunch, and the combination of milk and dark chocolate coating was well balanced with the salted caramel popcorn at the core of every piece.

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Cacao Sampaka - Dark Chocolate with Ibiza Sea Salt (bar) - Oct. 8, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Cacao Sampaka
Chocolate Negro Flor de Sal de Ibiza (bar)
Good +
Weight: 2.64 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 418.7 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Village Market, Ferry Building Marketplace, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Salt and Savory Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Negro (Dark Chocolate) Flor de Sal de Ibiza (bar) was from Cacao Sampaka (Barcelona, Spain). Imagine, if you will, eating this chocolate on a beautiful beach on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, Spain (where the sea salt in this bar originated), about 500 km from Barcelona (where the bar was created).

This dark bar, in a beautifully designed wrapper, had a smooth texture with a creamy, rapid melt. The chocolate (no % specified) had a relatively smooth but opaque dark flavor (likely from a Forastero* variety of cacao if I had to guess), with a slightly earthy note, and with a twinkle and light crunch of Ibiza sea salt crystals.

Savory Chocolate - Chicken Mole
Switching continents from Europe to South America...We've also been enjoying cooking up different variations on chicken mole this week, using combinations of onions, spices, mesquite, chili, pepper, salt, dark chocolate, butter, nuts and seeds (almond, pumpkin, sesame) and other ingredients lightly simmered with chicken.

*Forastero cacao is quite common and is cultivated widely in West Africa, Brazil and elsewhere. The majority of chocolate bars are made using this variety of cacao. It is known for a relatively bold flavor, and for being relatively more robust (and disease resistant) than more delicate heritage varieties, e.g. Criollo cacao that may have more delicate fruit and cream notes.

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Dolfin - Milk Chocolate with Salted Butter Caramel bar - Oct. 7, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dolfin SA
Milk Chocolate with Salted Butter Caramel bar
Good +
Weight: 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 380 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $7.00 in 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate, Salt and Savory Theme Week.

Today's Milk Chocolate with Salted Butter Caramel bar was from Dolfin SA (Wauthier-Braine, Belgium).

This smooth, creamy milk chocolate caramel bar contained butter and Guerande sea salt. And, like yesterday's dark milk chocolate savory bar with pretzels and sea salt, this combination was a bit addictive.

Added vanilla and caramel flavorings gave the bar a distinct butterscotch flavor and finish.

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TCHO - Pretzel Crunch Dark Milk Chocolate with Pretzel and Sea Salt (bar) - Oct. 6, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

TCHO
Pretzel Crunch - Dark Milk Chocolate with Pretzel and Sea Salt 54% Cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate Salt and Savory Theme Week.

Today's Pretzel Crunch Dark Milk Chocolate 54% Cacao (bar) was from TCHO (Berkeley, CA).

The bar embraced the seductive blend of dark milk chocolate and salt that offered sweet creaminess and savory crunch. Gluten free pretzel pieces contributed the soft crunchy texture and satisfying salt and carb content.

Thank you to Hannah at SweetE Organic for your great assistance/counter help—and in letting me know that this bar was gluten free.

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Tabal Chocolate - Reishi Superfood 70% (bar) - Oct. 5, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Tabal Chocolate
Reishi Superfood 70% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 225 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Salt and Savory Theme Week.

This Reishi Superfood 70% (bar) was crafted by Tabal Chocolate (Wauwatosa, WI). The company serves drinking chocolates and other items (such as chocolates infused with teas and superfoods) in their chocolate factory and lounge in Wisconsin. And bars can be ordered from them online.

The dark chocolate in this bar had a satsifying umami* (slightly savory) aroma. This three-ingredient bar (cacao, organic cane sugar and Reishi mushroom) was relatively sweet but about average for a 70 percent blend. (It would be interesting to try a 75% version of this bar that might have been part of the selection/testing process.)

The dark chocolate had a true chocolate and light fruit and light spice flavor notes, and a smooth, even melt and texture—with a very fine granularity (powdered reishi mushrooms perhaps?)—and a pleasing, very subtle umami flavor note throughout.

Some might find it tempting to add salt along with potentially savory flavor inclusions, but there was no salt listed in the ingredients. And that was fine. (You can always add your own tiny pinch of sea salt if you feel the need, or are curious.)

This bar was vegan, soy free and gluten free.

*Umami is a Japanese term describing a range of flavors that many associate with "savory" or the presence of L-glutamate, IMP and GMP. (Umami flavors can be found in mushrooms, cheeses, bacon and other forms of meat, ripe tomatoes and certain types of seafood and seaweeds.)

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Nature fans: On a tangentially related note, if you're interested in beneficial fungi, don't miss the film "Fantastic Fungi: Magic Beneath Your Feet." Playing in select theaters now.

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.

Ocho - Dark Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt 60% Dark mini bars - Oct. 4, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ocho (Five Star Organics)

Dark Chocolate Caramel 60% Dark Sea Salt Caramel (Mini)

Good - Good +

Weight: 1.34 oz. (38 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total package

Calories: 180 calories in 3 small mini bars/pieces

Cost: $2.99 for 1 package

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Salt and Savory Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Ocho Dark Chocolate Caramel 60% Dark With Sea Salt individually-wrapped Minis were from Five Star Organics LLC (Oakland, CA), an early producer of organic candy bars.

These organic, two-bite-sized caramel mini bars with sea salt were covered in 60 percent cocoa dark chocolate.

As with most caramel chocolates, these were fairly sweet, but these Non GMO and Gluten Free treats were made with organic butter and organic cane sugar and with no artificial ingredients with a balanced touch of sea salt. Thank you Five Star Organics.

Ingredients: Organic dark chocolate (organic cacao beans, organic evaporated cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin), organic tapioca, organic cane sugar, organic sweetened condensed milk (organic milk, organic sugar, organic milk butter (organic cream, salt), water, salt and organic vanilla extract.

Chocolate Tree - Haggis Spice Dark Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 3, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolate Tree
Haggis Spice Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.)  / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 135.5 calories in 1/4  bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Greetings and welcome to the first day of Salt and Savory Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Haggis Spice Dark Chocolate bar hails from Chocolate Tree (Haddington, Scotland).

This bar smelled like a savory stew or porridge, with rosemary, pepper, sea salt and pepper doing their best to convince me this was true. These and other traditional haggis spices* were blended with (gluten free pinhead) oats and organic dark chocolate to create this unique bar.**

The chocolate was a relatively bold, but smooth dark chocolate, which had a relatively smooth melt. However, you'll experience tiny chewy bits of other ingredients embedded in this chocolate, yielding flavor spikes of rosemary and spice, tiny sparkles of sea salt and oats. This blend of salt, savory and sweet was well balanced and fun to try.

*Ingredients: Organic sugar, organic cocoa mass, organic cocoa butter, organic vanilla, gluten free pinhead oats (8%). Haggis spice (2%): organic black pepper, organic rosemary, sea salt, organic coriander seed, organic mace and organic thyme.

**You may have heard that haggis also contains sheep's innards. Fear not. There were no animal parts in today's vegetarian chocolate bar. It contained only the spices and salt used to make this traditional Scottish savory dish.

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.