creative concepts in chocolate
this is not you're father's candy bar!
by amy
reiley with meredith cella
Is it just me, or is the world of chocolate
getting more creative by the minute? (And by creative I mean weird,
but in the most positive of lights.) In the past six months I've
been introduced to more variations on a theme than I ever thought
possible. My have we grown since the days of Milton
Hershey! The business of chocolatiering in America and beyond
has progressed into a new, highly sophisticated age.
I've watched a shift over the past few years from chocolates
shaped in classic bars to jewel-like presentations of tiny, highly
flavored morsels. I believe many of the smaller chocolatiers have
taken their cues from Vosges, the Chicago-based
chocolate company who made Americans feel that a new millennium
called for a hatbox filled with confections. I mean, aren't
foil-wrapped bars so last millennium? And its true, after viewing
Vosges, what chocolatier could
ever go back to a
Whitman's sampler format, when plush-topped pillow boxes could
elevate chocolate to the psychological preciousness of a fine gemstone?
I naïvely thought that the jeweler's presentations would stop at
the box - I was wrong. But I have to admit a girlish squeal escaped
from my jaded lips when a box of Chocouture's
Diamond Collection made by Chicago's Chocolatines
arrived via the UPS truck last week. A Tiffany
blue-topped box held inside four round, sparkling diamonds.
As much as I like to think I deserve it, I am not accustomed to
receiving diamonds in
the mail. So when the Chocouture arrived, I immediately dove in and
crunched my way through one of the precious gems, and the premium
dark chocolate pillow on which it was perched. (In light of current
conflict, I am very much anti-diamond. But,
boys take note, these are sparkling gemstones I would always be
happy to accept and a beautiful alternative to conflict
diamonds.)
The Chocouture diamonds were perfectly formed, crystal clear,
sugar paste replicas of the real thing, stunning in their
simplicity. The chocolate truffles the "diamonds" topped were
filled with a lightly flavored single-malt
Scotch ganache and dusted in 24
karat gold. Yes, they were more than a little bit superfluously
adorned, but these chocolates are nothing short of a
girl's best friend
.
Listen up, gentlemen: they are outrageously priced for the
quality of the chocolate, but if you cannot afford to give a girl
the jewel she deserves, shell out for these chocolates and you will
be out of the doghouse and/or between the
sheets in seconds flat.
Having friends over for sushi night? Look to Romanicos. Their
simple, red-topped boxes aren't quite so decadent as their
counterpart's, but the mail order bonbons are sure to deliver. A
box of Miami
Sushi will easily satisfy four while giving you an excellent
workout of laughter.
Why the giggles? Because inside each box is a perfectly formed
sushi platter… made of chocolate. Salmon
made of painted white chocolate over
dried mango
is nestled next to a chocolate-wrapped roll filled with crisp rice
and
marzipan
. There's even "ginger"
and "wasabi," hold the soy sauce, please!
I credit Vosges with
not only starting the American trend of the art of chocolate
presentation, but also in the blending of culinary flavors to
create truffles of great complexity.
Although I first saw the trend of using
spices like anise, wasabi and saffron
mixed with chocolate in Europe about 20 years ago, it was thanks to
Vosges that truffle-spicing caught on Stateside. A particular
favorite confectionary concept of mine is Vosges
aphrodisiac hat box, which contains chile chocolate toffee and
other aphrodisiac-spiced chocolates to get your blood
pumping.
But not even Vosges could have dreamed
up my favorite new chocolate bar, the Firecracker. Introduced by
Southern California-based Chuao Chocolatier in
time for Christmas '08, the
Firecracker combines premium dark chocolate with chipotle and
unflavored pop
rocks. Yes, I said pop rocks, those candies you put on
your tongue as a kid and waited for them to make tingly music in
your mouth. The Firecracker is sold as a bar or bonbon. I've tried
it in both forms and think I'll need to try a few more before I
decide on my favorite. (If you prefer your aphrodisiacs
to slide down smooth, I highly recommend the
passion fruit caramel-filled chocolate Chuao introduced a
couple years ago. Who can resist an aphrodisiac with passion in the name?)
Outside the box chocolatiering is
definitely the way of the future, as can not only be seen at home
in the products of Chuao and its wildly creative counterparts but
also abroad in the work of chocolatiers like New
Zealand's Hanna Fredrick and her Mamor Chocolates. Fredrick,
bless her, makes an aphrodisiac
chocolate for men from a blend of Belgian chocolate with the
Asian herb Eurycoma Longifolia,
(used in Southeast Asia for centuries to enhance a man's energy,
stamina and sexual performance).
And speaking of blessing her, if
you need a little positive mojo with your chocolate fix, I have to
recommend the newest thing in functional foods: Intentional
Chocolate.
Every chocolate from this
New Age
manufacturer is blessed with good intentions meant to be passed on
to the eater. (The company also passes
on 50% of its profits to organizations benefiting humankind).
Whether or not those good intentions will enhance your life is up
to you, but the chocolates are of excellent quality and will most
certainly, if nothing else, bless your palate with a burst of
creamy goodness.
for more new looks in chocolate, check out Meredith's chocolate
cookbooks review
