The World of Chocolate

WW Milk Chocolate Digestive Biscuits

2012-02-19T14:33:00.003Z

From Paul Young's Pecan Brownie to Weight Watchers chocolate digestive biscuits. All in a day's work for a chocolate reviewer! Both products could not be further apart in terms of calorie counting or maybe flavour.
Perhaps I'm doing this biscuit a disfavour? Like many people I'm partial to the odd digestive biscuit and on really special occasions I splash out and buy some chocolate digestives. Unfortunately, for me these are usually gobbled up by the rest of the family before I have even had chance to have one myself. I have had the opportunity to taste and review some biscuits from Weight Watchers before and they were ok but didn't really grab me as a replacement for a good old traditional digestive. I have been on a diet for the past 6 months losing several pounds and have now returned to what I'd call normal eating, however, minus the biscuits and crisps. So, for me this might be an option.

In terms of packaging you have all the dietary information you'll ever need right before your eyes. A pack contains 12 biscuits and each biscuit (51 calories per biscuit) is worth one Pro Point. Perhaps the best thing about the packaging is the resealable pack which does exactly what says. I tested this several times opening and closing the pack until I lost interest and each time it resealed itself.

Milk Chocolate Digestives

The biscuit itself is a lot smaller than the traditional chocolate biscuit and is wafer thin by comparison. But, we must not forget that we're on a diet! It has a good chocolate aroma and a "Rich Tea" biscuit crunch about it. There is also sufficient chocolate covering the biscuit to keep the mouth feel moist and provide sufficient sweetness with a good taste of oats. There is an after taste at the end but nothing overpowering. It also passes the tea dunking test, my biscuit lasted an unofficial 8 seconds before disintegrating!

Overall, I think Weight Watchers have found a good recipe for this biscuit which is a great improvement on their last attempt, 8/10. New Weight Watchers Milk Chocolate Digestive Biscuits have a RRP of £1.59 for a pack of 12 and are currently listed in Morrisons and independent retailers across the country. You know you're not eating the real McCoy but you're not feeling hard done by either because it actually tastes good.

The only problem is that other people in your family might also agree...find a good hiding place!

Sea Salted Caramel Pecan Brownie

2012-02-18T11:26:00.000Z

A few days ago I unexpectedly came across Paul A Young's chocolate shop in Wardour Street and discovered a chocolate emporium that made even the stylish Hotel Chocolat look brassy and almost slightly down at heel. Which is not true as they've been spending a lot of money on their shops recently. There are now a total of three shops in his growing chocolate empire, including Camden Passage, Royal Exchange and Wardour Street, and I found this particular shop to be his best so far.

Obviously, the colour purple covers nearly every surface and provides a striking backdrop to the chocolates which are arranged in the centre of the shop on a superb dining table. As the picture shows the chocolates are not covered which some people may find off putting. However, I think this method of presentation shows them off at their best. I may be wrong but I couldn't see any prices which is probably a good thing!
Chocolate bars and brownies are situated around the edge of the room. With my retail hat on Paul's team were very professional, approachable and were obviously enthused by the products they were selling.

Mast chocolates bars from New York were also on sale at a staggering £9.00 a bar! Unfortunately, having not won the lottery that weekend I had to partake of more simple fair and opted for a good old chocolate brownie at £3.75! We could have stayed for hours oohing and cooing at the rows and rows of different chocolates but sometimes you just have to get out before your credit card goes into melt down!

I opted for the Sea Salted Carmel Pecan Brownie which is a hunky piece of chocolate and certainly not for the feint hearted. The brownie itself contains a variety of delicious ingredients including, cocoa solids 70%, organic golden caster sugar, free range eggs, golden syrup, plain flour, unsalted French butter, Maldon sea salt, caramel, milk chocolate and pecans.

This brownie should be shared as it is just too much for one person! The brownie is made up of three distinct layers, a topping of pecans, a thin layer of what I'd call cake and a base of pure chocolate ganache. I'm certainly not a brownie connoisseur and therefore I'm not sure what the exact proportions should be for the perfect brownie. However, the salt and crunchy pecans work perfectly with the dark chocolate to produce what can only be described as an unctuous confection. My only criticism would be that there wasn't enough 'cake' which meant the base was a ever so slightly wet. I would be interested to know what others think about this.

Overall this was deliciously moreish and irresistible, 9/10!

Great Garnetts Farmers Market

2012-02-11T16:57:00.000Z

This morning, Essex was turned into a massive deep freeze with temperatures falling to a mind numbing -15 that sapped the body of heat and chilled the brain so deeply that I almost came to a stand still as I set up stall at Great Garnetts ready for the first Farmers Market this year. Whilst the 'freezer like' temperatures were chilling you to the bone you could at least enjoy the beautiful clear blue sky and sunshine so bright not even a pair of Ray Bans could not save your retinas from being vaporised in a millisecond!

No honey making today!

If you've not been to Great Garnetts before I assure you that it is well worth a visit. During the week it is a traditional farm that rears in the region of 2000 prize winning pigs for bacon and delicious sausages that have won numerous Taste Awards. White and free range bronze turkeys are also reared for the Christmas table. This is is a great environment to bring the children and they get to see some of the farm animals as well if the weather is not too cold. Jonathan and Julie operate the family run business which has been developing since 1971.

Prize Winning Porkers!

Once a month the barns are thrown open to an army of would be retailers selling their homemade products. This is a thriving local market with stalls selling anything from Colchester Oysters to tomb stones! Yes, you read that correctly! This morning there was a guy selling his skills as a stone mason who would happily carve your details into a block of granite given half a chance. Fortunately, he wasn't selling coffins otherwise I'm sure he could have had you suitably buried on site.

Other interesting products include handmade dog biscuits, soaps, soft and flakey pastries, fiery chorizo sausage from Dunmow, locally cured smoked salmon and meats. Traditional pork sausages and bacon, hand reared and slaughtered on the farm are of course available.

Katy's Kitchen delights

There has been a lot of talk that many farmers markets just offer cheap tat! Well, that is not the case at Great Garnetts it is full of quality products. I've probably tried nearly everything, apart from the dog biscuits, from this market and I've always felt I've received great service, quality and value for money.

You can pick up a delicious handmade cake from Katy's Kitchen, some champagne truffles from the Chocolate Truffle Company, hand raised pies from Farm 2 Table, honey produced on the farm, fruit and vegetables from Rocket and Rhubarb grown not more than 10 miles away and a delicious curry for Saturday night?

The Chocolate Truffle Co

If you're looking for presents then choose from a great selection of pottery and silverware. Great Garnetts farmers markets are held on the second Saturday of each month, from 9.30am-12.30pm.

Dates for 2012: Feb 11, Mar 10, Apr 14, May 12, Jun 9, Jul 14, Sep 8, Oct 13, Nov 10,

PUT THEM IN YOUR DIARY NOW!!

Address: Great Garnettts, Bishops Green, Barnston, Nr Dunmow, Essex CM6 1NE

Not So Much SOHO but more SOWOW!

2012-02-09T20:20:00.000Z

A trip to SOHO can only mean one thing, cant it? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more! Can I interest you in some nice photos or perhaps you'd like to see the real thing? Well, shock horror, I'm sorry to disappoint but Cake is the new Sex! Agent Provocateur and Anne Summers give up the bondage, throw away your handcuffs and start baking cakes otherwise your days on the High Street might be numbered!

Cake, chocolate, pizza and bread in all their foodie glory have taken Wardour Street by storm. Apparently, if you're suffering from alcoholism, depression or perhaps been made redundant then starting a baking business or just making a cupcake will set you on the road to recovery. Having only an hour to explore Wardour Street here are just some of the gems that I will be returning to in the not too distant future.

Only £25! Go on she's worth it!

Of course chocolate is top of the agenda and Paul Young's corner shop was enchanting and filled from top to bottom with delicious chocolate, including some amazing Valentine's Day gifts. Staff are friendly and fun and nothing, was too much trouble. Several packets of chocolate brownie were whisked away and I'll be reviewing his Sea Salted Caramel Pecan Brownie soon.

You can pick up some handmade artisan bread from Gail's just across the road if you fancy. Tempting, soft delicate flakey pastries sit wantonly in the window. Gail's has been around for a long time and I can remember meeting Gail when she first started making her bread for contract caterers and we all thought she was way ahead of her time. Well I think it's the same Gail. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to stop and ask but I'll be going back to try some of their delights! If you're lucky to live in Battersea or Notting Hill you can pop into Gail's for breakfast and enjoy a crusty roll and a full English!

Of course I couldn't walk down Wardour Street without calling into Princi to see how things had changed since I was there a year ago. Well, I'm happy to report that things have improved on what was already a great place to eat. The restaurant was packed and I was whipped into a frenzy by the sheer volume of food and standard of the offerings.

There were a number of small changes such as new marketing and the new table layout that allowed more lucky people to enjoy their delicacies.

As there was nowhere to sit we picked up three pizzas including, Spinach Crescenza and Potato Speck. To finish with a sugar rush we went for Linzer Torte and Chocolate Doughnuts that ooze chocolate sauce all over your chin as they slowly burst! Londoners, you don't know how lucky you are, blessed with all these exciting foods. Total bill £21.30 for three.

Staff are amazing as they cope with the flood of customers. While you wait to be served enjoy a chomp on some free samples atop the counter.

Thank god I don't work in this street!

Orange Mantra

2012-02-05T12:18:00.000Z

Like most of the country Essex is snugly encased in a duvet of deep snow this morning. Fortunately, this avalanche did not hit us until Saturday night otherwise our return journey from Suffolk may have taken several days rather than an hour! However, that may not have been a bad thing especially as we were lucky enough to stay at Seckford Hall for a recent wedding. You can't see Seckford Hall from the A12 as it is tucked in a hollow. I for one have passed this hotel on my way to Southwold for many years without a second thought. According to historians this Tudor building started to take shape in the 1530's but it may be even older than this. The parkland setting and building are immaculate and come with some low ceilings and flooring that wouldn't be out of place on a roller coaster! The rooms are well equipped with all the modern conveniences that Henry V111 would not have enjoyed when he stayed over. However, more recent historic figures such as Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron (when he was just an MP) have stayed in these historic chambers. We only had chance to stay for breakfast but it was excellent. For the healthy eaters there was an excellent cold buffet offering a gargantuan choice of dishes and if that was not your cup of tea there was a cooked breakfast for the more traditional. Overall excellent food and service from the team. I might not get to Southwold next time! Ok, let's talk about chocolate.....

The Chocolate: Orange Mantra, my last bar from Chocolate and Love. With Fairtrade Fortnight just on the horizon it is worth mentioning that Chocolate and Love have very green credentials. Whilst they may not make their own bars they have spent a lot of time and effort to ensure their chocolate is ethically pleasing. They use 100% organic ingredients, there cocoa is sourced from small farms in Peru and The Dominican Republic, sugar is from Paraguay and vanilla is from Madagascar. Importantly there is no child labour. If any of these were not enough to make you want to buy their chocolate they also plant a tree every time you buy a bar! See WeForest.org for more detail.

65% Dark chocolate with orange oil 100g

Ok, I dropped it again! Presentation in terms of packaging is stunning but I do find the presentation of the actual bar to be a bit boring but that's me being picky. Organic dark chocolate with natural orange oil won Gold-1 Star in the Great Taste Award 2011. According to their website the orange extract is the result of cold pressing the ripe fruit peels which are from Sicily and are organic.

The bar has a good snap and the orange oil aroma is not at all overpowering. The rich chocolate melts quickly freeing up a slightly bitter orange flavour which is well balanced with sweet dark chocolate. The cocoa does well to battle against the orange and a hint of tobacco comes through at the end. It just goes to show that sourcing the right ingredients makes all the difference between a good and a bad bar of chocolate. I'm not a great fan of orange chocolate but this was very pleasant and enjoyable. Happy to award 8/10 for this bar. Buy online at Chocolate and Love at £3.20 per bar.

Ampamakia - Valrhona

2012-01-28T16:42:00.000Z

Dentures flossed, mouth cleansed of all gunk, teeth adequately brushed for no more than two minutes and sluiced out with cold, refreshing mountain water and we're ready to go! Well, mountain water might be verging on the ridiculous but I do take the job of chocolate tasting very seriously and preparation is one important aspect in the process. It's almost a sport. Perhaps, there is still time for 'chocolate tasting' to be submitted as a competition for London 2012? I'm sure Lord Coe could squeeze in a little game of chocolate tasting, perhaps between beach volley ball and weight lifting! It is ironic to think that a sporting competition, whose athletes train for years and religiously count every calorie, vitamin and mineral that might negate their way through their digestive systems are being supported by the likes of Cadbury, Coca Cola and MacDonald's. What I really want to know is what will happen with all the BMW's once the games are over? Perhaps, Top Gear can investigate that one. Ok, let's move on from Cadbury's to Valrhona, two names not usually found in the same sentence.

So far this year I've been lucky enough (thank you Santa) to have tasted and enjoyed two bars from Valrhona, including Gran Couva and El Pedregal both delicious but with totally different flavours and characteristics even though they have the same cocoa content, 64%. The third and final bar is from Madagascar, an estate grown dark chocolate. Madagascar, an island situated in the Indian Ocean, produces fine quality cocoa beans but only in very small amounts, maybe less than 0.5 per cent of world production. The Ampamakia Plantation, lies in the heart of the Sambirano river valley, a fertile and lush area where Trinitario and Criollo cocoa beans have been cultivated for more than 100 years.

Ampamakia 64%

The Chocolate: In case anybody is wondering, I did get rid of the minty fresh taste before attacking this bar. The aroma is full of fruity acidity with a hint of smokiness in the background. It is also a lot lighter in colour in comparison to the El Pedregal. Unfortunately I ate all the Gran Couva!

The actual fruitiness takes a moment or to come through as the chocolate melts. There is a real 'zest' and delightful 'tang' to this chocolate especially in comparison to the El Pedregal.

A really well presented bar that scores a 9 from the Essex judge! Out of the three bars I tasted this is possibly my favourite. Frustratingly, I now have to wait until Christmas for my next tasting of Valrhona ;(. This bar (75g) is priced at £4.75 and can be purchased from The Chocolate Trading Company.

Enjoy!

Graham's on the Green - Writtle

2012-01-20T20:26:00.001Z

Deciding on where to go for a meal can be difficult especially when the choices are limited. Good quality and value for money restaurants are few and far between especially it would seem in and around Chelmsford. That's not to say there aren't any good restaurants in Essex before anybody blows a blood vessel! Restaurants such as Barda, The Anchor of Hullbridge and The Contented Sole are three excellent restaurants that I've visited in the past. The challenge of where to go was even aired on Twitter but I'm afraid the response was fairly mute. In the end we decided to return to Graham's on the Green, a firm favourite.

Writtle, a small village on the outskirts of Chelmsford is blessed with two quality restaurants, Graham's on the Green and the Blue Bridge which was apparently frequented by Posh and Becks a year or two ago.

The restaurant was already in full swing when our small party arrived and we were greeted by the Maitre D and her team of willing helpers. The restaurant is fairly narrow with a long bar on the right side. Seating is also available at the front of the restaurant but as it was -6 degrees we passed on 'drinks on the terrace'. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and has a number of 'booths' that provide a bit of privacy. The kitchen is on full view to the customers which I for one really like as it's always good to see the guys in action.

Drinks are quickly ordered and brought to the table without too much fuss apart from the missing 'lemon' for a hot water. We chose from the a la carte menu which consists of eight starters, seven main courses and side order options. Many of which I'd had or seen before so it was a bit disappointing not to see a few new offerings.

Starters are priced from £5.00 for Leek and Potato soup finished with Roquefort cheese to Pan Fried Scallops on Rocket, Crème Fraiche and chilli jam for £9.50. I couldn't fault the soup which was delicious with flavours perfectly balanced even though there was no bread offered. Graham's House Salad was a hit with the other diners but for me the presentation was flat and boring only rescued by a good dressing.

A welcome lemon sorbet was brought to the table as a little surprise and to help clear our palettes.

Main courses is where the action is in my opinion and they didn't fail to please. Prime Fillet Steak on Chicken Liver stuffed flat mushroom with vine cherry tomatoes and rich beef jus was stunning.

Yes, the cherry tomatoes look ridiculous in the picture but the flavours are magnificent, the steak is soft and the jus is unctuous and sticky. Where was that piece of bread for dunking?!

Halibut is a tremendous fish and it has to be the 'fit' fish of the sea as far as I'm concerned. It is such a beast! Pan fried fillet of Halibut with spinach, roasted new potatoes and a red wine and shallot sauce. Chunky, firm, white flesh served with a delicious sweet onion sauce. Divine!

While we're waiting for dessert I'll tell you a little about the great team. I think everybody took a turn to assist at our table and whilst that might be a bit odd for the traditionalist it was great. Service is speedy, helpful and always with a smile. Plus, they take criticism on the chin with style. We all like desserts especially if chocolate is involved. So, we were all looking forward to a delicious treat! Unfortunately, I've forgotten the name of this dessert but the picture will help. A rather firm milk chocolate ganache on a ginger biscuit base, a physalis and a thin line of coulis. We all agreed that it lacked sufficient flavour and more ginger was required, ideally mixed into the chocolate to really give it some flavour. I suggest you ask the boss to take you to Pollen Street Social to investigate what Jason Atherton does with his desserts!

Overall, we enjoyed the bubbly atmosphere, a great meal that was well presented and served by a team who obviously enjoyed pleasing their customers. The dessert may have been below par but the teams' 'can do' attitude was obvious to all concerned. The meal was reasonably priced at £38 per person including a delicious Petit Chablis, coffee and some very tasty dark chocolate ganache truffles. We'll be back!

Graham's on the Green.

Herman - The German Friendship Cake

2012-01-14T16:01:00.001Z

Friendship cake has been around for years. In fact, I can remember a next door neighbour bringing my mother a batch to our back door almost 40 years ago, perhaps she should have kindly declined and shut the door.
But that's not very neighbourly is it?

Apparently, 'Herman the German' has gone viral and "Friendship-Kuchen", as I'm now calling it is moving swiftly from one house to another with only one thing on its mind, global cake domination. I actually believe that Herman is Frau Merkel, the German Chancellor and in a last ditch attempt to rescue the Euro she has gone on a charm offensive handing out pots of Friendship-Kuchen to senior dignitaries of the Euro countries. I'm sure Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is handy in the kitchen.

Herman with Apple and Cinnamon

So, motivated and uplifted by the recent Celebrity Bake Off I thought I'd give it a go. How difficult can it be? If you've not had the pleasure of making this cake you should be aware that it has a very strange appearance. I could not bring myself to describe it as my husband suggested! It is a milky, sloppy, blob which has about as much going for it as road kill.

Each Friendship-Kuchen comes with a set of instructions and a recipe that has a time span of several days, in fact it takes 10 days. I have a problem making a recipe that takes 10 minutes! For some unknown reason it has also been christened Herman. How did that happen? The cake originated from the United States many years ago allegedly where they call it Amish Friendship Bread. Interestingly many people have claimed responsibility for this sour-dough cake. Unbelievably, a girl scout, obviously trying to achieve a 'baking' badge to beat all badges was responsible for the blob that now crosses our doorsteps. Like a vampire you have to invite it in and that's when the fun really starts.

The life of my little Herman was nearly cut short by my health and safety conscious husband who thought it was time to throw this strange, bubbling gunk, that probably originated from an offspring's bedroom, into the recycling bin where it rightly belonged! Fortunately, he had second thoughts and left Herman to multiply and prosper as a happy yeast should do.

How to birth your own Herman Friendship-Kuchen

Firstly, get hold of your Herman. Assuming you have friends this step should be easy.

Hello my name is Herman. Yes, he's talking to you!

I am a sour-dough cake I live on your worktop for 10 days without a lid on. I cannot go in the fridge or I will die. If I stop bubbling then I am dead.

DAY

You get Herman put him in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
Stir him well
Stir him again
Feed Herman he's hungry. Add 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar and milk. Stir well
Stir well
Stir well
Stir well
Stir well
Assuming you've not lost the will to live. Herman is hungry again, add as day 4. Stir well. Divide into 4 equal portions and give 3 to friends including a copy of the instructions. Keep the 4th one.
Herman is very hungry. Stir well and add the following.

Herman with banana, pecan and mixed spice

Ingredients - (American Measures)

1 cup sugar
Half teaspoon salt
2 cups plain flour
2/3 (two thirds) cup of cooking oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 cooking apples cut into chunks
1 cup of raisins
2 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
2 heaped teaspoon baking powder

Mix everything together and put into a large greased baking tin. Sprinkle with a quarter of a cup of brown sugar and a quarter cup of melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes at 170-180c. When cold cut into finger pieces. Cake freezes well and is delicious warm with cream or ice-cream.

I did omit the topping of sugar and butter and it was delicious without! The only problem now is that I can't stop eating it!

Being protective of my family of Hermans I only gave away two and baked two varying the ingredients by replacing apples and cinnamon with banana, pecan and mixed spice....Yummy!

El Pedregal - Valrhona

2012-01-10T18:46:00.000Z

Chocolate is not a good choice of subject to talk about at this time of year. Everybody is fed up either because they've already broken their impossible New Year Resolutions or because they've just jumped on the scales only to discover that somehow they've managed to ingest the weight of a small child over the Christmas period, myself included!

Unfortunately, I've just finished working my way through a huge selection box of milk chocolate naughtiness. Well, you've got to give into temptation now and again! So, a piece of dark chocolate is required to put me back on that righteous path to saintliness! So, what could be better than starting the New Year with a rare Porcelana from Venezuela, produced by Valrhona!

El Pedregal - Venezuela

Valrhona - a name that conjours up 'quality'. They are obsessive about making a limited range of products and in comparison to the industrial giants of chocolate, only make a few thousand tons of chocolate each year. It is a little known fact that Valrhona is a subsidiary of Bongrain, a French food conglomerate that is worth billions. If you want to learn more about Valrhona I suggest you buy, Chocolate - A bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light by Mort Rosenblum available on Amazon.

The Chocolate: This particular bar is made from very special, rare, Porcelana cocoa, a form of Criollo cocoa. An almost extinct type of cocoa known for its great flavours.

In comparison to the Gran Couva that I tried recently it has a much fruitier taste and acidity that bounces off your tongue. It is also very creamy in texture and has a liquorice hint at the end, not that I could taste it. The flavour is far more intense and long lasting than the Gran Couva which was fairly 'earthy' in flavour and rather short lived.

Overall a delicious bar of chocolate beating the Gran Couva by a country mile! I award this bar 9/10. You'll have to save your pennies though as this bar is £5.95 for 75g.

The Lordship Tea Room and Food Hall

2012-01-07T13:19:00.000Z

At last!
You can almost hear the Foodies of Essex shout with joy as the Lordship Tea Rooms, come deli, come gift shop arrives in Writtle, care of, Wilkin and Sons Ltd, better known to you and me as Tiptree Jams. A short bike ride from the centre of Chelmsford and you're in the world of 'local produce' far away from the crowded shopping lanes of Tesco and Asda.

This charming shop is overseen by manageress, Tina, who said that since opening in December, business has been brisk and as we were stood chatting the place was certainly filling up quickly. Not only is the shop providing a really important service to the people of Writtle and surrounding area but it is also providing jobs to several local people. With all the doom and gloom around it is good to hear that business is thriving!

Apparently, Wilkin and Sons, have opened three other tearooms in Dedham, Heybridge and Tiptree all very lovely places to visit.
The tea room seems to be particularly popular with cyclists even on a cold January day they were sat outside enjoying a sandwich or piece of cake to help them on the next leg of their journey. I imagine in the summer the tearoom will be doing a roaring trade!

Wilkin and Sons: The firm was originally founded as the Britannia Fruit Preserving Company in 1885. The then owner, Arthur Wilkin, stipulated that has jam should be free of preservatives, colouring and glucose. In 1905 the company renamed to Wilkin and Sons, to avoid confusion with 20 or so other companies running under the Britannia banner. In 2010 the Queen visited the Tiptree jam factory as the company celebrated 125 years of making preserves.

Ok, back to present day. I applaud Wilkin and Sons for sourcing as many of their products from local suppliers including sausages and raw meats from Great Garnetts, Barnston and handmade breads from Danbury Fine Foods to name just two.

Tony Hopkins - Farm2Table

Nowadays all too often the traditional family butcher has been disappearing from our high street. It is a wonder that children know what a cow or a turkey even looks like! Fortunately, for many of us, Tony Hopkins, a butcher for 25 years, of Farm2Table is continuing the great traditions but with a modern approach. He is very keen to ensure that animal welfare and complete traceability of his products remains of paramount importance.

Coming from a catering background myself I understand how nowadays customers want to know where their Sunday fore-rib has come from and whether the eggs to make the Yorkshire pudding batter are British and Free Range. You can either buy from Lordship Food Hall, online or find Tony at Great Garnetts Farmers Market which starts again on Saturday 11 February.

We certainly enjoyed our handmade pheasant pate with a slice of delicious Poppy Seed Plait. If you enjoy haggis I spotted a few in the chiller so I for one will be looking forward to Burns Night!

The place is packed with loads of other goodies including chocolates, handmade meringues, patisserie, cheese, Maldon Salt, and as you pay at the till you can consider ordering your vegetables from Rocket and Rhubarb.

I would have liked to see some smoked meats and perhaps a few more deli options such as olives but overall a great start to the New Year!

Pizza East - Shoreditch

2012-01-07T07:33:00.001Z

Picture by Pizza East

Sorry, no chocolate this morning just pizza!

Pizza East, Shoreditch High Street, is just a hop, skip and a jump away from the frenetic craziness of Liverpool Street, especially at 5:30pm when commuters dash for home, like migrating Wildebeest.

Shoreditch, according to Google Maps, is but a 15 minute walk or probably 5 minutes on a Boris bike from Liverpool Street, god knows where you'd park it. Allegedly the name Shoreditch originally derived from 'Shore's Ditch', Jane Shore, an unlucky mistress of Edward IV supposedly died in a ditch and was buried in the area.

Pizza East is situated on the ground floor of an old tea warehouse, a rather ram-shackled old building which from the outside looks like it might be close to demolition. The entrance is dimly lit and not clearly signed, but having been before I knew where we were going. The bouncer on the door, well we assumed he was, gives the restaurant an edgy and imposing feel.

Arriving early we are seated quickly and efficiently by the receptionists. The restaurant interior is dark and cavernous with banquette chairs and communal tabling stretching for what seems like miles. It's almost institutional and refectory like. The pizza ovens can be seen way out in the back, you can sit at the Counter if you so wish to watch some pizza action. Service is very quick and our hostess reminds us that, "we need the table back in an hour and 30 minutes". No problem dear, we'll be out of here in 45 minutes!

The menu is not vast and is simply written with little or no explanation of the dishes but we ask our waitress and she has the knowledge and quickly fires off an explanation to our questions, which is always a positive.

Picture by Pizza East

The lighting is a tad too dark for me and I have to hold the menu up to the candle to see it. Think I've spotted a potential health and safety hazard here! In total there are eleven pizzas to choose from but if you don't fancy pizza you can select from the 'Wood Oven', beef lasagne or chicken cacciatore to name just two. Without setting fire to my menu we order two pizzas, Soppressata (a cured dried salami), tomato, burrata (mozzarella and cream), olive (£12.50) and a Mushroom, ricotta, spinach and egg (£9.50), which arrive quickly but, not too quickly.

The pizzas are very well presented and my fried egg is cooked to perfection, mushrooms are extremely tasty, almost meaty. The pizza crust is chunky, but not overly chewy and the base is thin and crisp, the burrata is soft and melts in the mouth. However, I do like to see what I'm eating and low lighting is not helping. What I'm lacking in visual stimuli is certainly made up for by the delicious tastes and different textures.

The tables are very close together and you can catch most of the conversations at the next table which can be interesting but annoying at the same time. A strange mix of background music including Deep Purple, Smoke on the Water, which was enjoyable for my date, but it was not something I was expecting. With a bottle of water and a cider the total bill came to a few pence over £31 including 12.5% service. Pizza East is part of the Soho House Group of companies.

Overall very good value for money, service is excellent, but they only had half a dozen tables to serve so I suppose that was expected! Certainly well worth a visit and being a chocolate fanatic I'll be back for the Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart!
http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000000102709&pubid=21000000000516689

Chocolate. Have we bitten off more than we can chew?

2012-01-02T13:40:00.000Z

Season ticket purchased ready for January's commute to London and discovered that costs have increased by just a fraction under 5% which was a bonus, as I thought it was going to be nearer 10%. Life is full of little surprises! As was the strap line from the Daily Express (13.12.2011) that I came across recently.

Apparently we'll be paying "£7 for a chocolate bar" in the not too distant future, according to Julie Carpenter of the Daily Express. To quote Julie Carpenter, there is already a huge shortage of cocoa somewhere in the region of a million tons. Potentially this chocolate calamity is only eight years away. The rising Asian market is one of the main contributory factors, according to Angus Kennedy, a leading confectionery expert, a steady demand for Western products is increasing and subsequently prices are climbing. Startlingly the Chinese only have to eat one more bar of chocolate each per year and there will be a shortage. What about America, where there has been an increased awareness and demand for 'quality' chocolate. A growing range of small Chocolatiers including the likes of Potomac are helping to spread the word in America.

According to some industry experts we might end up with less 'cocoa' and more inclusions such as nuts. But, isn't this already happening? You just have to look at the products that are coming from Austrian chocolate maker, Zotter. His "double-scooped" bars are already extremely popular, certainly not main stream, but perhaps in the future we're all be trying to make these?

Cocoa production, as many of you will know, is extremely difficult. Cocoa trees are very sensitive to temperature, humidity and also prone to disease which has proved fatal in the past. This makes the cocoa plant almost impossible to farm on a mechanised, industrial scale. According to Angus Kennedy farmers do not know how to get the best yields from their crops or store it once it has been harvested.

However, companies like Mars have been working towards more sustainable cocoa production methods to maintain the all important supply chain. The Rainforest Alliance organisation recently reported that they had teamed up with Olam International Ltd to produce the world's first Climate Friendly cocoa. They are also looking to keep production as the main focus whilst reducing deforestation and improving the livelihoods of their farmers and families.

Only a few months ago an International ban was imposed on importing cocoa from the Ivory Coast. At the time, everybody was worried that Easter Eggs would be missing from supermarket shelves. Allegedly 433,000 tonnes of cocoa sat rotting in Ivory Coast warehouses? Cadbury's actually stated that production wasn't affected as they bought their crop from neighbouring Ghana. The Cote D'Ivoire is not the only source of cocoa others include Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria and Brazil.

Some analysts believe Chocolate is 'recession proof' as many of us will reward ourselves with a small glass of wine or a bar of chocolate. This year it was reported that amongst the final panic purchases on Christmas Eve chocolate was up there with perfume and lingerie. Haven't these always been the traditional male 'default' purchases at this time of year? Interestingly, Thorntons has been suffering a downturn in business during the recent turmoil and we're less likely to see them on the high street as they move away from traditional shops to superstore shelves and a greater online presence. I for one am not convinced that this is a good long-term strategy. Have you seen how many brands there are on supermarket shelves? Thorntons produce some good chocolate and I've always found their chocolate blocks to be good value and at the same time very innovative.

So, why are they suffering? Perhaps, they're just not a la mode unlike Hotel Chocolat who are snapping up new retail locations, upgrading stores and showing a 25% surge in profits this year. You only have to visit Rabot Estate in Borough Market to see some of the prices people are willing to pay. At the recent 'Chocolate Week' held at Vinopolis one company from Hungary was charging £6.00 for a 100g bar and this did't seem to be affecting their sales. Interestingly, Hotel Chocolat now have 40 different products on sale at discounted prices some as much as 50%!

Companies like Melt, Chococo, Paul A Young, Duffy, continue to do well and perhaps Angus Kennedy is right when he states that demand for premium chocolate will not be affected but it will be the staple KitKat and Dairy Milk products that may see a change in fortunes.

If overall business confidence continues to falter then the already saturated chocolate market will begin to choke and splutter with more casualties on the way. Perhaps it's not supply that is the problem but the fact that there are just too many players in the market and we'll see more merges throughout 2012.

Just remember to savour that next KitKat a bit longer and enjoy each nibble!

Posted by Richard.

Gran Couva - 2011 Vintage from Valrhona

2011-12-31T15:28:00.001Z

Have left Christine doing some interesting manual work, she is so much better at it than me. I decided to start my New Year's resolution before 2012 actually arrived in the UK. How daring of me. If you're one of those who uses a gym and never ventures outside it, then I suggest you do, as you're missing more than old episodes of Friends. Take today for example, being a bit of a Twitcher I spotted a Green Woodpecker and Kingfisher, both vibrant birds found in the Essex countryside. Joggers, there were a plenty and I came across one that was pushing a wheelbarrow through Chelmsford park. Curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't resist asking him why he was pushing a barrow. He said it was to strengthen his arms which sounded reasonable but then he went onto say that he was going shopping in Chelmsford. The conversation became a bit wacky after that so, I wished him well and quickly up'd my pace. Perhaps, I should think about joining a gym in the New Year?

Well, we're finishing the year on a high with a bar from Valrhona. This is the first time we've featured a bar from the house of Valrhona and the anticipation is palpable. The company originally started in 1922, known as La Vivarais, but it wasn't until 1947 that the brand came onto the seen. The name Valrhona was derived from the Rhone Valley. The Ecole du Grand Chocolat, opened in 1989, by the celebrated pastry chef and chocolatier Frederic Bau. I've never visited but I've been reliably informed that it is probably the best in the world by a number of chefs who have been lucky enough to attend their courses. See website for more information, Valrhona.

The Chocolate: This particular bar is from Trinidad an historic source of Trinitario cocoa beans. Nestling in the fertile hillsides of Montserrat, the little village of Gran Couva is home of one of the island's oldest plantations. This is an estate grown bar of chocolate with a 64% cocoa content. The initial aroma is very fruity with rich cocoa in the background. The mouth feel is glassy. A hint of tobacco and leather as the first chunk slowly melts followed by rich cocoa that has a pleasant sweetness about it with tobacco flavours coming in and out. The chocolate is not as intense as I thought it was going to be. Perhaps I prefer a bitter chocolate after all these years! Interestingly, I tasted a Single Origin chocolate from Peru with a 64% cocoa content and noticed an explosion of coconut that I'd never experienced before. How revealing!

Overall a delicious bar of chocolate and I look forward to tasting the two other bars, El Pedregal from Venezuela and Ampamakia from Madagascar. This bar scores 7/10 as it was delicious but I was slightly disappointed by the strength of flavours. You can purchase this bar from The Chocolate Trading Co for £4.75.
Posted by Richard.
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Strong Coffee

2011-12-28T19:11:00.002Z

If you still have room for another mince pie then you've obviously been cheating! Whilst other members of your family have been fighting their way though slices of turkey, mounds of Christmas pudding and bottomless lakes of festive mulled wine you've been sitting on the sidelines feeding your pet dog the leftover scraps or possibly whole meals. Well, if you do have a jar of mincemeat lounging in the cupboard and you would rather use it now rather than in another twelve months then I suggest you make your next batch of mince pies with dark chocolate and pecans, (As seen on The One Show). The pecans provide extra crunch and dark chocolate adds depth to the flavour. Based on a dozen mince pies I used a handful of dark chocolate (about 4oz) and pecans in this recipe.

I was very fortunate to receive three different Valrhona chocolate bars from Father Christmas this year. However, they're for later and before we get to sample them I have another offering from Zotter to review, Strong Coffee "IN & OUT". Not something I'm really looking forward to tasting!

This is another example of Zotter's 'hand-scooped' bars.
To quote from their literature. "Owing to the wonderful compositions of taste and their unique design the hand-scooped chocolates have turned into a cult. Seductive individual layers piled up, coated with homemade chocolate couverture which harmonizes with the filling and constantly merges into an impressive experience of taste. With the new "In & Out" chocolates Zotter has managed to exceed this incredible experience of taste. Using a special procedure at our factory we manufacture nut and fruit couvertures which result in increased taste and refinement".

The Chocolate: Coffee couverture - coffee and chocolate form part of the Viennese way of life. A noble bitter chocolate with a creamy filling of strong Fair Trade coffee, milk and whisky. Surrounded by Zotter's new coffee chocolate: freshly ground coffee in a combination with white chocolate uniting a tender melt and coffee aroma!

Surprise, surprise it smells of coffee! It certainly lives up to its name and the coffee aroma is very strong but what is a surprise is that the coffee flavour doesn't over power the taste buds. The whisky comes through as the creamy centre melts leaving a sweet, cold cup of coffee experience which isn't as unpleasant as it sounds. However, the taste of coffee lingers in the background for a while. Essentially this is a coffee and whisky liqueur chocolate in a bar. You're either going to like or hate this bar and whilst I enjoyed the different flavours it's not a bar I'll be buying again but don't let me put you off! Ideal for the coffee lover in your family! I tried a small sample on a friend and they literally swooned over it!

Overall I give this 6/10 for its clever use of flavours and 9/10 for packaging! You can buy this bar from Planet Organic, just click here.

Labooko - Peru Criollo 80%

2011-12-19T14:16:00.001Z

Christmas tree is finally up along with loads of festive accoutrements that would put even Harvey Nichols shop window to shame......I wish in my wildest retail dreams! I even found time to put up this Christmas wreath which I picked up at a local market. I think you'll agree that its a bit different and fairly stunning. I'm not sure how long it will last especially if the expected rains hit Essex today! A 'back up' wreath of more traditional variety maybe required before in-laws arrive on the doorstep!

The Sunday papers contained more worrying news for the High Street sector with plenty of companies showing signs of stress. A particularly startling statistic stated that 25,000 small business closed their doors this year. In the chocolate sector Thorntons position looks particularly sticky, no pun intended, whilst Hotel Chocolat are taking advantage of improved rents and opening new stores. I visited the Moorgate store recently and it's certainly much improved and brighter since they had the refit. I'm all for trade with Europe but I for one am glad that we didn't join the monetary part of the Eurozone. Even one of the guy's (Jacques Delors) who dreamt up the idea of a single currency is now having second thoughts!

Fortunately there are lots of positive ideas coming out of Europe and at least we can turn to Austria's Herr Zotter for some great and wacky chocolate ideas.

The Chocolate: This particular chocolate is not wacky, it's rare, very rare. The Criollo is the most vulnerable to disease and has the smallest yield. However, it has great aromatic qualities that make it very sought after. According to chocolate aficionados the modern 'Criollo' is a hybrid of Criollo and Trinitario. According to the blurb Zotter obtained this blend with 40% white Criollo beans of the Porcelana (a single genetic variety of cocoa beans, with more than 90% of Criollo genes) variety from the cocoa farmers of Aprocap in Peru. This cocoa was conched for 20 hours (Zotter's website states 20 minutes when the page is translated) Conching or kneading of the chocolate reduces acidity and allows aromas to develop. How long should you conch?

2 x 35gr solid chocolate bars
Organic and Fair Trade

Leather and tobacco are the first aromas to hit your senses. I'm used to eating dark chocolate with cocoa contents of between 60% and 70% and I'm out of my comfort zone with this one. A good piece of advice to follow, don't chomp your chocolate when tasting! Just let it melt on your tongue and enjoy that liquid feeling. Liquorice, fruit and a very slight bitterness develop as the first chunk of chocolate delightfully envelops your senses. This is one delicious bar of chocolate with a super smooth texture and flavours that just linger on your palette with only a hint of chalkiness. 9/10, Danke schoen Herr Zotter!

I couldn't find any retailers in the UK that sold this chocolate as described so you may have to buy direct from Zotter, €3.25 plus postage. Buy online from Zotter. For a contrast you can buy two bars with different cocoa contents, one 60% and one 80% from Peru, from Green Tulip.

Akesson's 45% Milk Chocolate

2011-12-16T16:56:00.000Z

November 23 was the date of my last post and I've been making chocolate daily and nightly since then. I'm still making chocolate but it has calmed down a bit and allowed me to review a chocolate bar without having to worry if my own chocolate has tempered correctly!

I for one am really interested in the recent Mary Portas report which goes into great detail as to how we might save our High Streets becoming an economic desert. Increased Bingo Nights is probably one of the quirkiest ideas but you never know until you've tried it. I think High Street firms have just plodded along in the same old way not really bothering to think about how they can attract us 'would be shoppers' into town. There isn't a 'one size fits all' answer to this problem because each town and city has their own personality and different social make up which develops different needs. Villages that are not serviced by supermarkets have benefited from the rise of traditional farmers markets, providing local produce and crafts at reasonable prices. It should be fairly simple to transfer this to our High Streets but there is a lot of resistance from retailers as they see this as another attack on their profit margins. Local Councils have a big part to play and it will be interesting to see how they make it easier for the retailers and market traders to do business in future months.

Ok, let's talk about chocolate!

I picked this particular bar up from Akesson's at this year's Chocolate Week held at Vinopolis and is the first Bali Single Origin to be made in Europe. The cocoa is produced by the Sukrama family over 7 ha in the Melaya area in the Western part of the island.

The Chocolate: This bar has a cocoa content of 45% which unless I'm wrong is the highest cocoa content you can reach before it is regarded as a dark chocolate. This bar was awarded Silver at this year's Academy of Chocolate. Quoting directly from the packaging, "The chocolate is produced using natural sugar sourced from the juice of the coconut blossom, harvested by gently slicing the flower. Once collected, the nectars are kettle-boiled into a thick caramel and ground to a fine crystal. With one of the lowest glycemic index, (3 times lower than for cane sugar) this sugar s a great and healthy match to our Balinese fleur de sel".

Fleur de Sel is hand harvested sea salt and subsequently expensive. The bar is bright, well tempered and has a woody aroma and a strong sweet, creamy, dreamy, caramel flavour that works really well with the salt. Which is not too strong and I think it works better than our traditional Maldon Salt. The salt makes the flavour ever so slightly astringent but this is not unpleasant lingering on the tongue and roof of your mouth for sometime after. Every now and then your teeth crunch a granule of salt which adds an interesting texture.

An enjoyable bar of chocolate but I'm not a huge fan of salt and personally I'd like to try the chocolate without this addition as I don't think it really needs it. So, in terms of score I'm awarding this bar 8/10 for the quality of the milk chocolate. Delicious!

This bar was available from Chocolate and Love but they must be out of stock as the virtual shelf is bare! Other Akesson's bars can be purchased from The Chocolate Gourmet at £4.95 for 60g bar.

Duffy's Dark Chocolate - Panama 72%

2011-11-23T19:54:00.000Z

I made a point of picking up a bar of Duffy's Chocolate when I visited this year's Chocolate Festival and it has taken me all this time to review it. Duffy's Chocolate or Red Star Chocolate Ltd are one of a small band of artisan chocolate makers producing their own chocolate in the UK. They are very particular about the type of cocoa beans they use - they may come from a single harvest or a single region but they are always single origin. This goes a long way to ensure that the beans are of excellent quality. However, as many Chocolatiers will tell you, chocolate is such a fickle product not only to work with but also in regards to taste and flavour. The same bar made with exactly the same beans may take on a completely different character the following year! Much like wine I suppose.

To achieve superb flavours not only require's excellent cocoa beans but also a certain degree of determination and patience, a good chocolate may take up to 50 hours to conch. This is where the chocolate Alchemist's take over to develop the individual tastes and aromas by crushing the cocoa between large granite rollers.

The Chocolate: This particular bar is handmade with cocoa beans from the beautiful Bocas Del Toro archipelago, Panama. If you've never been lucky enough to visit Panama, that includes me, then Google it and you'll see how beautiful it is. Stunning! A 72% dark chocolate a taste profile described as light cherries and liquorice with leather and raisins in the after-taste as long as it's not in the afterlife, as I read it!

The bar is so smooth and there is a coolness about it, almost 'glass' like in feel. My picture actually makes it look darker than it really is. The aroma is definitely leather rather than tobacco. The liquorice flavour comes through very quickly as the first chunk melts luxuriously in your mouth. I can't pick out the cherries or raisins but there is a slight bitterness towards the end. If I only had one word to describe this bar it would be delicious!

Well done Duffy for bringing us another great bar and at £3.50 for 80g you're spoiling us. In fact I'm amazed at the price! At the recent Chocolate Festival some companies were selling their bars for £6.00/100g. This one will be at the top of my Christmas list!

To buy join the queue! Joking, click here.

La Gauloise and Classic Wheels

2011-11-09T17:28:00.000Z

A French cafe, fine patisserie and chocolate from Belgian all on sale in a London side street. Yes, a surprisingly strange mix indeed! Situated between Baker Street tube station and Marylebone you can find La Gauloise.
Surrounded on either side by two omni present high street food outlets, Pret and Tesco, this small but perfectly formed homage to French sweet delicacies continues to soldier on, well for the time being that is. There isn't room to swing a chat and you probably can't get WiFi unless you can log onto Pret next door. It always has a fantastic display of cakes and chocolate shapes to drool over in its front window. The walls inside are packed with boxes of Panettone and what seems like a never ending selection of chocolates from Classic Wheels. Who? Yes, ok we'll get to them in a minute. Back to the cakes.....which I have to say are excellent and great value for money.

Nearly everything is made by the owners with the exception of the Portuguese Custard Tarts which were very tasty by the way. If you're rushing home and want a little taste of naughtiness without breaking the bank then this is the place for you. La Gauloise can be found at 3a, Melcombe Street, London, NW1 6AE.

So, from France to Belgium and the strangely named chocolate bar, Classic Wheels. I'm sure J Clarkson would have a field day with that one. Perhaps, I should send him a bar especially as it has a picture of a very fast racing car on the front...I know its a tenuous link but, its a link!

The company originated back in 1998 and was part of the larger family run business, Gilis Group, a fine food company that started in 1909. An interesting combination of art and food. Jaak De Konninck, the Belgian artist and Patrick Gilis, the food manufacturer resulted in the creation of a range of chocolate products under the brand names, Starbrook Airlines, Classic Wheels and Fleet. The company has a worldwide distribution and can be found in 76 countries and 170 airports. The packaging is definitely retro and conjours up images of the 50's when the world was really changing for the better. To read more about their story follow the link.

The chocolate: Classic Wheels a chunky 100g bar with a cocoa content of 31%. A sweet chocolate aroma with a smooth buttery taste. It's not too sweet and the cocoa is not too strong. It will not set the world of chocolate on fire but it does the job. Especially if you're looking for that last minute gift as you rush through the airport terminal before your flight taxis down the runway without you! If they don't like the chocolate they'll certainly enjoy collecting the beautifully decorated tins! Checkout the chocolate planes....

Overall I give this bar 5/10 for flavour and 9/10 for their original packaging concept which is totally different to the norm. This bar cost me £3.45 from La Gauloise.

Just Going Nuts for Nuts!

2011-10-29T14:38:00.000+01:00

Just Nuts! This bar is probably my best seller together with the more traditional fruit and nut which always triggers off the theme tune to that famous advert. Those of a younger age will not remember or have even heard of the 'fruit and nut' advert, follow the link. Anyway nuts have formed a very important part of our diets for years and years. As a nation we just love nuts you only have to look on the high street. We just love them.

This particular bar of chocolate contains the following nuts: Brazils, cashews, almonds, peanuts and hazelnuts packed full of healthy goodness.

Brazil Nuts: The creamy colour indicates that these nutty nuts are high in fats. Native Amazonians have always held these in high regard as they are a great source of protein and other nutrients. Selenium is found in large quantities and provides protection against coronary heart disease.

Cashews: The cashew nut is mildly sweet and at the same time crunchy. Like Brazil nuts they are particularly high in calories. Packed with vitamins and health promoting minerals. Contains Selenium, copper and zinc. Cashews make a great snack but avoid the salted varieties if you can.

Almonds: An almond is technically the seed of the fruit of the Almond Tree but we all refer to it as a nut. Almonds are high in mono-unsaturated fats, the same type of healthy fats that are found in olive oil. They are rich in magnesium, a mineral that helps with the body's blood flow. Potassium, an electrolyte, is also found in large quantities aiding nerve transmission.

Peanuts: Since ancient times peanuts have been high on our food lists as they are rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids that help lower 'bad cholesterols' in the body. This helps lower the possibility of a heart attack or a stroke. The nuts are also an excellent source of Vitamin E.

Hazelnuts: Incredibly nutritious and sweet in taste they are derived from the 'birch' family of trees. Hazelnut oil can be extracted and is used as a base for many medicines. Apart from being rich in energy they also provide dietary fibre or roughage which helps to relieve constipation. Lovely...

The Chocolate: Apparently chocolate is No 29 in the top 50 list of 'Things that make us Happy', click here to see the full breakdown. Closely followed by eating cake! Well there is always one 'bad boy' in the group and I'm afraid milk and white chocolates are high-fat and high-calorie foods unless you eat dark chocolate. You might have to consider sharing your chocolate. I know its unthinkable but it might help to share out the calories.

Palette Cleanser!

The Apple: There is no apple in my chocolate bar but I recommend that you enjoy an apple or two each day especially at this time of year when the English crop is at its best.

It is recommended that all food items are eaten in moderation as even nuts can be fattening if eaten by the Kilo!

Just Nuts retails at £3.00 plus postage and packing. To buy this bar click here

Akesson's 75% Criollo Cocoa

2011-10-28T18:32:00.002+01:00

It has been a very busy, busy week making chocolate and more chocolate! Christmas might come just once a year but it seems to be getting earlier and earlier! Apparently, Tesco already has cream chocolate eggs sitting in their storeroom ready for Easter. So, that's my excuse for not much blogging action this week. However, as it is National Chocolate Day in America I feel the need to review a piece of chocolate. Anyway before we get into chocolate I must mention the protesters camped outside St Paul's Cathedral. As I was in the area I thought I'd better go and see what was going on. Well, it was all very intense with people standing on the steps of St Paul's voting and listening to speakers. It was all very well organised and I can't understand why the church shut the doors to the paying public earlier this week, as everybody seemed good natured and peaceful.

Akessons's, not a name that trips off the tongue but apparently they've been on the chocolate scene for many years supplying top chefs with their fine, bean to bar chocolate. Personally I've never heard of this company but I was fortunate to meet the owner, Bertil Akesson, at Chocolate Unwrapped this year. This is a family run business set up in Madagascar during the 1970's. It is only in the past few years that he has launched his own single plantation range of bars using fine cocoa from his plantations in Madagascar and Brazil. Akesson's philosophy is to produce the most tasteful, authentic, and ethic products or carefully source them from some of the best farms around the world in order to deliver the highest standards.

This particular piece of chocolate originates from a plantation located in the Sambirano Valley, in the North-West of Madagascar. They produce 300 tons of Trinitario cocoa each year plus a limited quantity of Criollo beans- 2 tons - is harvested separately.

The Chocolate: Superb, bright dark chocolate with a clean loud 'snap' as you break off the first piece. This type of chocolate is not to be rushed, it has to be eaten slowly and with respect. A 75% cocoa content that has a subtle aroma of slightly damp forest and a delicious fruity, citrus flavour. The mouth feel is very moist with no chalky or dryness that you get with some dark chocolates. There is just a lovely tartness about this chocolate that hits the spot! The Criollo variety has very few pods and grows only in very specific conditions. A truly great bar of organic chocolate which in my opinion scores 9/10. Looking forward to the other bars in this collection.

In terms of price I paid about £12 for 3 x 60g bars but unfortunately I can't remember exactly how much I paid. The Chocolate Gourmet is selling them at £4.95 each. These are the current UK retails where you can find this bar and others from the Akesson collection.

London (Paul.A.Young, 143 Wardour Street, Soho & 33 Camden Passage, Islington & 20 The Royal Exchange, Threadneedle St. / Cave London, 210 Bermondsey St. / Allans, 75 Duke St.), Ludlow (The Chocolate Gourmet, 16 Castle St.), Pittenweem (The Cocoa Tree Shop, 9 High Street), Shrewsbury (The Chocolate Gourmet, 69a Wyle Cop), Worcester (The Chocolate Gourmet, 17 Friars St.)

I'll update the blog once I know more. Happy National Chocolate Day! To read more about National Chocolate Day click here.

Coffee Affair

2011-10-20T18:59:00.000+01:00

It has been a very, very frustrating week so far, in terms of computers and blogging. Nobody told me that moving a blog from Blogger to WordPress would be so difficult! Why do they have to make it so complicated. It's all very simple they explain. Give permission here there and everywhere and 'hey presto' your blog has been transferred. Ok, that's good but hang on where are the pictures?! Oh, we forgot to mention that you have to have a PHD in nuclear physics before this can happen. Grrr! While I count to a million and one, my new WordPress site is looking very sorry for itself and it will probably remain that way for a while until I can summon up the strength required to start again. If anybody knows of a simple way to transfer the whole blog and nothing but the blog then let me know. I might even send you one of my very own chocolate bars!

Ok, we're talking chocolate and already the endorphins are kicking in, lifting my mood! Thank goodness for chocolate!

The Chocolate: "Coffee Affair" from Chocolate and Love is dark, organic and contains 100% Fairly Traded ingredients. Don't confuse this with the Fairtrade organisation. Packaging looks fantastic!

Naked Chocolate: A well made bar of chocolate (apologies for the crack but somebody broke it..not me). The bar is bright and has a good snap which demonstrates that it has been well tempered. The bar is made by a Swiss company for Chocolate and Love. I've noticed this with several chocolate providers that they farm out their chocolate bar production to somebody else so they can concentrate on other parts of the business. I did overhear at Chocolate Unwrapped that they were looking to start home tastings which would be a fun way to start a dinner party. You might also be interested to know that Chocolate and Love are running a competition. Not just any competition they're giving away a £10,000 diamond, click here for information.

This particular bar won a Silver Award at this year's Academy of Chocolate for 'Best Flavoured Dark Bar'. They were up against Amelia Rope and Paul A Young to name just two.

The cocoa content of this bar is 55%, so not very high for a dark chocolate. I can't pick up a big coffee aroma from the bar. The bar is well balanced in terms of cocoa and coffee which makes a pleasant change. Coffee is not a flavour I would always choose as I've tasted some horrendous offerings in the past. This is all very mellow with a hint of espresso in the background. No nasty bitter flavours coming through at all, which for me, is good.

Overall a good bar of chocolate with pleasant enough flavours and at £3.20 for a 100g not a bad choice. I liked the bar and presentation and I think it deserves 7/10. To buy this bar click here.

To win a massive diamond click here.

Day Trip to London

2011-10-15T17:01:00.004+01:00

The journey from hell lay ahead but this did not deter us as we knew what the prize was at the other end. Chocolate! Network Rail or whatever they're called kindly and thoughtfully laid on several obstacles for our journey to Vinopolis earlier today. But the epic journey to London was well worth the aggravation and extreme hardship that we had to endure. Ok, so we had to get on a train, on a coach, on a tube and then we had to walk! I almost died!

London was looking it's best under glorious sunshine and blue sky. The big surprise was not the chocolate show but Borough Market. On previous visits we'd missed this spectacle and what a feast of autumnal colours and delicacies were set before us.

Borough Market it was packed to the rafters with masses of people just moving about admiring, tasting and photographing everything. In fact I almost could not believe that I was in an English market. Brilliant!

Rabot Estate Broken Slabs

A brief saunter around the Rabot Estate shop was too much for my wallet and I had to make my escape to Chocolate Unwrapped. The bags (on the left) in the picture were £9.00 a go! So, I settled for a chocolate mousse shot at £2.00 which I shared of course. A tasty snack but lacked finish which was a bit disappointing.

Onwards to Chocolate Unwrapped at Vinopolis! There seemed to be more vendors there this year including several new ones which was good to see. These were just some of the companies that we saw and sampled: Paul A Young; Duffy; Akesson's from Sweden; Paul Wayne Gregory; Pacari; Ecuador ChocoFest; Chococo; Chocolate and Love; The Chocolate Lover's Wine; chocoMe from Hungary; Rococo and so many more! After two hours we'd had our full of chocolate and these are just some of the bars we purchased.

If you have time tomorrow this is well worth a visit and great experience for novices as you can taste as much chocolate as you like! There is also a program of talks and demonstrations throughout the day.

A Piece of Forest

2011-10-06T18:48:00.000+01:00

Well, within the world of catering there was only one event of any real importance taking place in the UK and that of course was the "Great British Bake Off" final. Forget X-Factor and Come Strictly Prancing or whatever it's called these days! Well, I actually love both of these but the GBBO has just got better and better. The Facebook servers must have been lit up like a Christmas tree with all the catty, I mean, well informed and objective comments from baking ladies around the country! Congratulations to Jo Wheatley, who is from Southend-on-Sea and a fellow Essex lady. My cravings for all things sweet just go through the roof when this programme is on. Darn you! Darn you GBBO!

Unfortunately, a rather well endowed squirrel stole the show. Within seconds the Twitterazzi were Tweeting pictures of the animals attributes around the world. I could almost hear Mary Berry choking on her meringue. That certainly boosted your rankings, hey BBC2?

This leads me nicely into the next Zotter post, A Piece of Forest, a place where you might find squirrels and fluffy monsters...yeah, ok I think you get the picture.

Described as Chestnut and Milk Couverture. I quote, "The piece of forest is filled with cranberry ganache (somebody has made a typo and put canache) on home-made nougat with walnut oil. This irresistible filling is covered with sweet chestnut coating, which has been newly developed by Zotter in its chocolate factory". The reason they've called it, A Piece of Forest will become clear soon and you'll be able to see the wood for the trees!

The bar has a chunky, clunky feel to it that makes it feel bigger than its 70g. Unfortunately, there is a lot of bloom on the bar as it was a sample and has probably been in and out of crates for a few weeks. Bloom is caused by temperature fluctuations and whilst not aesthetically pleasing it will not do you any harm. Sweet milky chocolate aroma wafts up through the air as I breathe deeply. This is a 40% milk chocolate. 65% of the ingredients are Fairtrade and a big % of the products are from controlled organic cultivation. I'm not really getting the chestnut or walnut as the tart, sharp cranberry is very powerful and floods out the other flavours. The soft ganache is very pleasant and the bar works well I would just like a bit more walnut and chestnut.

Not bad for a posh piece of Turkish Delight! Overall an enjoyable bar of chocolate scoring 6/10 for flavour. As usual Zotter score highly for their presentation. Priced at £3.35 from Confection Affection!. As I mentioned before the bar is so named because Zotter are committed to a project in Laos under the leadership of the WWF and Austrian Federal Forests. For each "piece of forest" chocolate sold, a new tree will be planted in the rainforest.

Well done Zotter!

Filthy Rich - 71% Dark and Organic

2011-10-01T10:01:00.002+01:00

What a week! The economies of Europe are in melt down. Prime Minister Merkle has propped up the Greece economy so much that effectively Greece is now Germany's bitch. They now have more support than Chesty Morgan, Google it and you'll see what I mean. If Greece default on their loans then which bits are they going to cut off? Don't bother racing down to the poolside to grab a sun lounger as it will be a pointless exercise - the Germans will already own them! Meanwhile British workers swelter in the unseasonably high temperatures. Some lucky few escape and head to Brighton, soon to be renamed Brightonabados, if these temperatures continue. Somebody in government has suggested that increasing the speed limit to 80 mph will stimulate the economy and he's probably right. Look at Germany, they have a good economy and they have autobahns. I can't believe we never made that connection before. A so called 'City Trader', interviewed on BBC1, dreams of the next double dip recession. There are always those that are going to try to make a fast buck from a disaster and become Filthy Rich.

Ok, I know that is a rubbish link but this review can only get better. Filthy Rich, what a fantastic name, sounds like something Harry Enfield might have said. Created by Chocolate and Love an online chocolate boutique. Founded by Richard O'Connor and Birgitte Hovmand entrepreneurs who travelled round the globe to bring us some of the very best chocolate back to the UK.

The Chocolate: This colourful, vibrant packaging has a bejewelled quality feel about it and conceals a bar which is described as containing premium quality cocoa from Fairtrade cooperatives in the Dominican Republic and Peru . The aroma from this chocolate is making the hairs on my neck stand up. If you're an early riser, like myself, you'll know that recently the mornings have been very cool and slightly damp which gives the air an intoxicating forest smell. Well this is exactly what I'm getting from this bar which is deep and intense wood, tobacco and fruit, possibly blackberry, but that may just be my imagination running away with me. Anyway it certainly hits the spot!

The sharpness of the fruit comes through slowly as the chunk of chocolate luxuriously melts on your tongue. The chocolate is smooth, rich and has a delicious liquid mouth feel. In comparison to 'Crushed Diamonds', which I gave a score of 9/10, this bar is in another league. At £3.20 for a 100g bar this is good value for a really great bar of chocolate. This bar receives 9.5 points and this is only because I never give 10 out 10 because the producers might stop trying! I recommend you stock up today. Click here to buy online.

If you're visiting London then you can find their bars in Harvey Nichols.

Plus, for the chocoholics out there Chocolate Unwrapped will be taking place on 15 and 16 October at Vinopolis, London.

Choklad Mork 70%

2011-09-24T18:09:00.003+01:00

A trip to IKEA, Lakeside, for some light equipment for my business finished with a walk round their Swedish food section which seems to be getting bigger and bigger each time I go there, as demand for Swedish food increases. The restaurant was actually busier than the rest of the store as the good people of Essex lapped up the special Meat Ball offer! To my surprise I found some huge bars of IKEA chocolate at what I might call crazy prices.

Well, for once I purchased something from IKEA that came as a flat pack but didn't actually require any instructions or DIY. Just coordination, hands and a mouth required for this task which made a pleasant change.

The Chocolate: Well, what can I tell you? This is a dark chocolate with a 70% cocoa content and that's about all the information there is, pretty much like the information they provide with their flat packs....ok I jest, I've always found them very helpful. Fortunately, my Mechanical Engineering degree comes in useful sometimes!

Flat Pack Version

Ok, let's examine this offering further. Certified by UTZ which is one of the largest sustainability programs for coffee, cocoa and tea in the world. Brands that have committed themselves to the sourcing of UTZ certified raw materials are global market leaders. These are just some of the companies that are included in their list: Heinz, Dunn Bros Coffee, Mars Chocolate, Nestle and of course IKEA. The bar itself is produced in Spain for IKEA.

Apologies for the drab brown theme today!

The outer packaging is a bit flimsy and the bar has taken a bit of a knock. The bar is well made having a bright and shiny appearance. It also has a good snap! The aroma from this bar is of strong tobacco. The high cocoa content gives a chalky but, not too dry mouth feel to this bar. The strong initial aroma does not follow through into the flavour and it doesn't really develop further which is a bit of a shame. There are certainly hints of fruit but I'd like a bit more.

What amazes me about this product is the price. In these harsh economic times how do they manage to sell this for £0.95. At these prices you can't really go wrong. So, 9/10 for value for money and 6/10 for flavour. Certainly a good tasting bar of dark chocolate at a most incredible price!

You'll probably never hear me say this again but, I'm going back in for more Swedish chocolate flat packs. To view IKEA Food click here.

Posted by Richard.