chocolates
Labels:
desserts,
food,
Gourmet Chocolate
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Chocolates... only the finest!Warning! This post is all about gourmet chocolates. So prepared to be enthralled and even enticed into buying some of this luscious goodies!
So after watching a certain program on discovery channel regarding making of some of the world's finest chocolates on the tele several months ago. I was psyched to get my hands on some of the chocolates featured in the show. Brands such as Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, Amedei, Amano and Michael Cluizel were featured and cheaper brands such as Hersheys, Cadbury and others were condoned.
Biting down on one of the fine bars seemed like a life changing experience and i was prepared to take the leap especially after noting that Green and Black's organic white chocolate bar studded with madagascar vanilla beans was SOOO much better than any other brands i could find in the market. And mind you Green and Black's white chocolate bar retails at $8.30 per 100g bar whereas you can get a 240g Cadbury Dreams Bar for only $3.90!!! the taste though is indeed worth the difference in price tags. So whenever i do have the urge for white chocolate (which is rather frequent) i would rather buy Green and Black's instead. A little of something good goes a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGG way. And yesh.. i do know that white chocolate isn't technically chocolate.... *sheesh*
On the other hand, i do love my dark chocolates! The darker the better. Yet i had not managed to find one with a sophiscated underlying note. It's rather depressing actually. Watching the show on tv only made me crave for the finest even more. I searched and enquired but couldn't seem to find a place or company that imported these chocoalates into Singapore. To be more specific i was banking on Amedei chocolates as their produce have ranked among some of the best chocolates in the world.
The ‘Golden Bean’, Best ‘chocolatier’ dark bar (made from existing liquor or couverture)
Gold Amedei Toscano 63% (Italy)
Gold Valrhona Manjari 64% (France)
Gold Valrhona Guanaja 70%
Gold Amedei Porcelana
Gold Amedei Chuao
Silver Amedei Toscano 66%
Silver Amedei Toscano 70%
Silver Amedei No 9
Bronze Valrhona Caraibe 66%
Bronze Hotel CHocolate St Lucia 72% (UK)
Bronze Amano Madagascar 70% (USA)
Gold Amedei Toscano 63% (Italy)
Gold Valrhona Manjari 64% (France)
Gold Valrhona Guanaja 70%
Gold Amedei Porcelana
Gold Amedei Chuao
Silver Amedei Toscano 66%
Silver Amedei Toscano 70%
Silver Amedei No 9
Bronze Valrhona Caraibe 66%
Bronze Hotel CHocolate St Lucia 72% (UK)
Bronze Amano Madagascar 70% (USA)
Finally after a freak chance by luck, i came across a shop in shaw towers whilst waiting for a movie with Babe that imported in Valrhona, Michael Cluizel and even Amedei! i was so ecstatic i almost jumped thru the roof! Seriously, it looked like i was suffering from ADHD. *yikes*. a pity the shop was closed so i had to pay another visit on another day.
And for our 1st year anniversary gift, Babe got me a box of chocolates including individual samples of assorted Michael Cluizel, Valrhona and Amedei chocolates. YUM!!! as well as a bar of "9" Chocolate by Amedei. (Porcelena which i wanted sold out just before i arrived. sigh..) The grand total for these chocolates.. a whopping $54!!! now that's some mad amount to spend on chocolates. But even so, i felt that every cent was well spent. A fine investment indeed. And no.. eating these fine chocolates will not become a bad habit. I do however think of cadbury and others as cheaper, less satisfactory alternatives...
Then you would ask, why are these chocolates so sought after and so pricey? Simple! These chocolates are single-origin, made from beans that originate from one region or sometimes even one farm. Chocolate connoisseurs argue that chocolate has varied tastes depending on where the beans used to make it are from. When chocolate are made from beans from several regions (a.k.a normal chocolates that we eat), the tastes are harder to discern. With the advent of single origin chocolate comes the idea of chocolate blends that promote the best features of chocolate. Blending varieties of single origin chocolate to produce superior chocolate is actually a very old concept, made new by a generation of chocolate experts and tasters. So chocolates are very much like wines when being assessed. Wines made from different grapes originated from different regions possess different characteristics and flavors, aromas. So do chocolates in that sense. Terms like "finish," "snap" and "sheen" are often used to describe the differences between chocolates, and tasters may discern berry, vanilla, or coffee “notes” in chocolate from one particular region.
Intrigued yet? Yes, there is a whole lot of the world of chocolate yet to be explored in the local scenes. But still, there is a market for these fine morsels. And I'm so glad to have found a shop and its gracious owner who is so extremely keen on sharing the joy of gourmet chocolates with her fellow singaporeans!
Thanks babe for the awesome chocolates.. now i shall scamper to one corner to savour a bite of my Amedei Chocolate.. Mmmm...
those that are interested in finding out more about these gourmet chocolates or shop location do drop me a mail at frost.bound@gmail.com or leave me a comment!
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4 comments:
Happy Anniversary! The chocolates look delish!
love love this recount on chocolate! anything with alcohol in it is better too!!
Happy Anniversary.
Jacque: Thanks! the chocolates not only looked delicious. They tasted divine!
Bren: I'm so glad someone actually liked the account. You should really try out Amedei Chocolates. They are the bomb!
wow, quite a madness 54 bucks for the choc, but all the same i say they are worth the price. haha. and the cadbury at 3.90 is cheaper than the supermarket price of 4.50 right?
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