Did you know that a chocolate bar can’t be called a chocolate bar if it doesn’t contain cocoa mass and cocoa butter?
That’s a candy bar. Twix? Caramilk? Coffee Crisp? Candy bars. Its doesn’t mean they don’t taste good, you just can’t call them chocolate bars – and you can’t pretend they’re good for you.
All that talk of chocolate being good for you is talking about dark chocolate, and the higher quality, the better.
Which is where artisanal chocolate makers come in, and bean-to-bar chocolatiers are even more impressive, doing everything themselves from roasting, cracking, grinding, winnowing, tempering and conching the chocolate themselves. Now, a lot are even using fairtrade beans (yes, just like coffee) and direct-trade and making single origin bars.
Don’t know what that all means?
That’s why I hosted a taste test on Global TV in Montreal this morning to get the host, Kim Sullivan, to taste the difference. She tasted bars from Avanaa, Chocolats Monarque, Colibri and Lindt. The first three are made by Montreal companies and the first two are made in Montreal.
Chocolate terroir? Kim’s now a believer. Here’s the segment:
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