Chocolates of Belgium

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 20:37:00 -0400

Brussels chocolate haven

Mention Belgium, and chocolates pretty much always first come to mind. Now I LOVE Belgian chocolate, but I was too naive when I submitted myself to finding the best chocolate in Belgium for my family. In the course of ~3 days and 5 cities, I walked into more than 30 chocolate shops, ate nearly a kilo of chocolate, and spent more money on an ephemeral luxury than I would have liked. That's not counting the time and calories wasted. Why the spite? Because sadly, none amazed me...

The most famous brands were Pierre Marcolini, Wittamer, Neuhaus, Godiva, and Leonidas. I automatically skipped Godiva because it was all over the States, and I already wasn't a big fan of it; but, this may have been a mistake when I encountered this article AFTER I returned... As with many chocolates that cross continents, they were manufactured locally and tended to be tailored to the local tastes; and this was the case with Godiva.

Regardless, my skepticism for big brand names was further confirmed when a gourmand friend "unrecommended" all 5. Still, I didn't know how daunting (and probably hopeless) my challenge was until I arrived in Belgium. Chocolate shops were everywhere. The worst was Brussels, where nearly every street in the city centre had one; and where there was one, there were bound to be 2. One street block had 6, composing ~1/3 of the shops!! I even noticed 2 distinct classes of shops: the higher ones either sold their own chocolates or carried ones like Cafe Tasse, New Tree, and at times Guylian and a few Cotê d'Or; the lower ones were filled with Cotê d'Or, Cupido, and praline seashell mimics. Sadly, most of the lower class shops were very stereotypically operated by Asians...

So how did I approach this task? First, eliminate all concept of money. Second, be prepared to eat LOTS of chocolate; so much, it becomes your main source of daily nutrition. Third, assess the appearance. Fourth, consider its globalisation. Fifth, buy varying types. Sixth (and finally), try it.

Truthfully, as much as I didn't want to consider the big brands, there were just too many local ones. But enough said; here were my assessments:

Dumon (located only in Bruges and highly recommended by guides): The textural contrast between the shell and filling was too big; the flavor did not compensate. There were some interesting flavors (lavender, jasmin, chili lemon, etc), and the ganach filling was the solid type rather than the semi-translucent creamy type that I tend to associate with lower grade chocolate.
Planète Chocolat (located in Brussels and offers a tour + tasting every Sat at 4pm): Same texture and flavor problem. Worse, it was the semi-translucent creamy filling with most chocolates dissipating into a sugary confection
Chocopolis(Brussels): Same texture and flavor problem; better than Planète Chocolat; flavor a bit light; nothing particularly special
Leonidas: If the mint chocolate sample was representative of the rest, then it failed quite miserably as the basic shell chocolate tasted of high sugar content rather than cacao solids.
Wittamer (also sells decadent-looking desserts and pastries): More intricate and delicate in appearance, but still similar texture and flavor problem. I even found some with the semi-translucent filling. There were some interesting flavors, but some were too light (cannelle) while others were overpowering (sencha).
Pierre Marcolini (also sells limited fancy desserts with an extremely high class storefront): Very intricate and delicate in appearance. Again, texture and flavor problem. BUT, the flavor was much more pronounced, although not enough to compensate the textural contrast. Still, they win for flavor.
Neuhaus: If their Noix Doble represented all their pralines, it wins for the texture and flavor complement. The shell had the characteristic pronounced crunch, but it was somewhat mellowed by the thickness of the shell and cruchiness of nuts in the filling. The caramelisation of the nuts enhanced the nutty flavor that matched the textural contrast. Plus, the extra layer of shell chocolate in the middle masked the semi-soft ganache. The Criollo from the ganache collection had the same texture problem, while the truffle seemed a tad bit too hard.

Essentially, Pierre Marcolini won for the flavor but Neuhaus garnered the best for its overall texture and flavor complement. Still, none were "great."

Dumon store front

So then, what AM I looking for? Well, after much thought, I've tentatively concluded that, for me, a filled chocolate ("bon-bon") should have a thick enough shell to mellow the sharp crunch of a thin shell, and the texture between the shell and filling and flavor needs to complement rather than emphasize the differences. For example, biting into a ganache bon-bon would first yield a low frequency and gentle "thump" before encountering a creamy smooth ganache and ending with a noticeable release of flavors. It is not the higher frequency "crunch" that disintegrates the whole shell and distinctly leads to a softer ganache with either just a hint or a sensory overload of flavor. Summed up, it's a flavor-infused chocolate versus shell + ganache + flavor...

Too high an expectation? Yes. But it's because Belgium was famous for it's chocolate that I assumed I could make such a high expectation. Even so, will I ever find one that matches my ideal bon-bon? We shall see...

Wittamer

Pierre Marcolini

Planète Chocolat

Chocolate Tasting

British vs. American Chocolate Bars

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:44:53 -0400

Okay, so I wasn't planning to meddle with my blog anymore this week as I've basically been living at the lab, and I leave for France tomorrow; but I just saw the article The World’s Best Candy Bars? English, of Course from the NYTimes and definitely had to comment on it.

The difference between British and American chocolate can be boiled down to milky/creamy versus sugary sweet, respectively. Initially, I wasn't aware of the difference. I had tried Cadbury's in the US to see why it was so popular but was completely disgusted by it, so I was fairly hesitant to try it here in the UK (foolishness??). But when I finally did, I was completely amazed at the difference. My advice: don't try Cadbury's made in America. But this may result from my somewhat lack of affinity towards the original Hershey's because it's so sweet... Still, I can't even say I'm that big a fan of Cadbury's chocolate, *laughs*.

After that, I was keenly interested with trying the popular chocolate bars that only exist in the UK as well as the British versions of American chocolate bars. One interesting note is the relationship between Mars bar, Snickers, Milky Way, and Three Musketeers. First, the Mars bar only exists in the UK while Three Musketeers only exists in the US. In the UK, the Mars bar tastes like the Snickers in the US and the Milky Way like the Three Musketeers. I can't say I really like the Mars bar (nor anything made by Mars...I was shocked when the Galaxy bar curved rather than break when I tried to break a piece off...). Nor do I like the Smarties much as you can kinda taste the milk flavor. I still prefer the American Kit Kat and Twix. But I do have to say that I prefer the British Snickers bar because it's not so sweet. And last but not least, if you love Ferrero Rocher, you HAVE to try Kinder Bueno.

Gourmet Scientist - Chocolates

Chocolates of Belgium

British vs. American Chocolate Bars