Coconut Milk Chocolate Is Delicious

June 3, 2016

*Delicious melted chocolate from Charm School Chocolate*

I love milk chocolate. There, I said it. Sometimes I want to savor a piece of the darkest chocolate, and sometimes I want to relax into the luscious creaminess of milk chocolate. And it turns out that some of the best milk chocolates I’ve tasted are actually vegan: They’re made with coconut milk! Now, this isn’t any old chocolate with coconut milk added. As with all of the chocolate I write about on this site, these goodies are all bean to bar, all the time.

Here are five of my favorite coconut milk chocolates from some of the best makers around!

Coconut Milk From Charm School Chocolate

This vegan maker has created a truly scrumptious bar with single-origin cocoa beans from Belize, coconut milk, whole vanilla beans, and sea salt. No wonder it won awards at both the 2016 International Chocolate Awards and the 2015 Good Food Awards!

Coconut Milk From Raaka Chocolate

Dark chocolate meets coconut in this 60 percent bar from the hip Brooklyn company for a bar that tastes as good as it looks. Find notes of caramel and strawberry in this melt-in-your-mouth goodie.

Coconut and Caramelized Ginger From Madre Chocolate

Caramelized ginger ups the ante in this coconut milk bar from Hawaii. There’s a reason it won a gold medal at the 2014 Northwest Chocolate Festival and is the company’s most popular seller.

Buddha Collection Truffles From French Broad Chocolates

French Broad Chocolates makes much more than bars with their bean-to-bar chocolate: At their café in Asheville, North Carolina, you’ll find cakes, cookies, drinking chocolate, and bonbons. Of course, you can also order some of those sweets online, including this coconut cream collection of vegan truffles: Think classics like chocolate caramel as well as unusual flavors like olive oil, orange, and fennel.

Coconut Couverture from Zotter Chocolate

White chocolate meets its vegan maker in this rich couverture chocolate perfect for baking or making bonbons. Zotter adds a chaser of bourbon vanilla to the mix for an added bonus.

Click here to find these chocolates in your neighborhood!

Get More Coconutty Foods Now!

What's your favorite vegan chocolate, coconut milk or not? Tell me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today!

A Mouse Ate My Stash of Chocolate

May 30, 2016

Photo courtesy Flickr user Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig — *Photo courtesy* *Flickr user Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig*

I’m not sure if it was the heat, the rain, or the insane amount of chocolate in my closet, but this summer a mouse has moved into my house. And not just any mouse. A mouse with good taste.

Because this mouse left the dog food alone (well, after I got a thick metal canister to contain it) and went straight for the good stuff. Namely, my stash of Fruition Wild Bolivian, which won a silver medal at the International Chocolate Awards and has just recently become available on their website in a limited run. My half-eaten chocolate bar, on the other hand, ran straight to the trash after I discovered that it had been nibbled on by a certain rodent.

Chocolate mice from L.A. Burdick in Manhattan — *Chocolate mice from* *L.A. Burdick* *in Manhattan*

This weekend I decided enough is enough. All opened chocolate bars had to be dealt with immediately. God knows I wouldn’t throw them out (I don’t like to waste chocolate and also there would be a serious public outcry). So I made Salted Caramel Crack Brownies from A Modern Way to Eat, my favorite cookbook, and my own secret sea salt chocolate-chip cookie recipe. Sure, it might have broken my cardinal rule of baking with high-quality chocolate (i.e., make something where you can actually taste the FLAVOR of the CHOCOLATE), but goddamn they tasted great.

Mouse: 1

Megan: 2

Of course, that might change if the mouse has enough stamina to chew through thicker material and devour the 100 unopened chocolate bars that are now sitting on my coffee table in plain sight of my “attack” dog Echo, aka 17 pounds of fluff. Just try us, mouse.

Have a similar story? Or some other delicious baked good I should make with my chocolate? Tell me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today!

Should You Be Able to Copyright a Recipe?

May 27, 2016

Last week a writer and editor at Serious Eats accused BuzzFeed of copying his recipe for halal-cart chicken and rice. This may not seem like it has anything to do with bean-to-bar chocolate, but it does.

I’ve wondered for years why you can’t copyright or trademark a recipe. Now, before the lawyers start quoting obscure statutes and caveats at me, I know, I know: You. Can’t.

The issue at hand is one of integrity.

But indulge me for a minute. A recipe, especially one used to make chocolate, is intellectual property. Many bean-to-bar makers have slaved over a hot machine trying to figure out the right temperature to roast beans, how long to roast, how long to grind and refine, how long to conche — and built or refurbished their own machinery to do it. Beyond that, each maker has her own “recipe” of how much cocoa butter to add (if she adds it, which many do), making her 70 percent chocolate bar uniquely different from another 70 percent bar.

Some makers have said that they feel their trade secrets can be stolen, while others say that merely having a recipe or watching someone make it once or twice doesn’t mean you can replicate it to the nth degree.

What do you think? Tell me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

The Best Quotes from the Biggest Chocolate Weekend This Year

May 25, 2016

*Fat Toad Caramel sauce with Taza spicy dark chocolate at the Good Food Mercantile on Saturday*

This past weekend I ate chocolate from Friday through Monday. Now, that may not sound unusual for me, but rest assured, it was, because this time I was breaking bars with the best of the chocolate industry at events for the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund, the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA), and the International Chocolate Awards.

The best story came from chocolatier Fran Bigelow of iconic Fran’s Chocolates, who told the room at the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) meeting the story of her salted caramels. When she first started making them, the idea of salt in sweets was about as foreign as a shih tzu on roller skates. But a chef friend had turned her on to it, and by golly, it worked! Her salt-fiend customers agreed, but it took everyone else a bit to catch on. Apparently one lady even pulled her aside to tell her that the kitchen had made a terrible mistake and sprinkled salt instead of sugar on top of the caramels. Heavens to Murgatroyd! Well, as we all know, salt does indeed go with sweets, from caramels to chocolate to much more. It’s one of my favorite combos.

Here are a few other amazing quotes from this weekend:

From the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund’s Media Event (that I helped put together!):

“I have to spit that out or I’ll weight 732 pounds”—cacao, cocoa, and chocolate expert Ed Seguine, on tasting chocolate all day for a living

“This is not your grandmother’s grocery store chocolate anymore."—Ed Seguine, on chocolate made with heirloom cacao

“What Guittard has made is smoother than a baby’s butt!”—Ed Seguine, on Guittard’s gorgeous bars it makes for tasting heirloom cacao

“I like the color. I used to have a burgundy jacket, so excuse me.”—Ed Seguine, about a light reddish chocolate bar

“The only species that’s more promiscuous than cacao is mankind.”—Ed Seguine, about everything, really

From the Fine Chocolate Industry Association Meeting

“Everyone who wants to be cool or hipster now is underground.”—Mark Christian of the C-Spot (he was NOT talking about my Underground Chocolate Salon, of course, right, Mark?)

“If you call it ‘artisanal aquaculture,’ people will order it!”—Professor Kristy Leissle (okay, this one was about farmed salmon, you caught me)

“I’m chococurious.”—Josh Rosen of Charm School Chocolate

“Where are we in society? We’re hot, we’re bothered.”—chocolate expert Curtis Vreeland, on why spicy chocolate is a trend

From the International Chocolate Awards Ceremony

“White is the new dark.”—chef and chocolate expert Maricel Presilla on white chocolate and flavor trends

Tell me your favorite quotes of the weekend and/or just say hello at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter!

Some Really Badass Female Chocolate Makers

May 23, 2016

buy my book!

A few weeks ago I wrote a story about Bar Au Chocolat, one of my favorite chocolate makers. It happens to be owned and operated by a woman, Nicole Trutanich. In the story I said that female chocolate makers are a rarity, a minority in a field almost completely dominated by white men.

I was talking about lone women chocolate makers, women who physically make the chocolate on their own and solely own their company. The good news is that there are many more of these women than I thought! Plus there are the many people who own companies with male partners: They might spend time working on machines, or they might keep the books, focus on marketing, or do any other number of tasks that are vital for running a business. That’s why this list includes both lone female makers and women who are part of a female-and-male team (many of them couples).

Many of these companies are brand new and pretty tiny; furthermore, most of the makers that experts consider the best in the business are owned and run by men. For example, at the 2016 Good Food Awards, no female-owned craft chocolate maker won any awards. Three out of 10, though, went to companies owned by a woman and a man (Fruition, Just Good Chocolate, and Ritual). Meanwhile at the International Chocolate Awards 2015 (the 2016 winners haven’t been announced yet), 18 American companies won awards: Only 3 of those were won by companies with female and male owners (Millcreek Cacao, Fruition, and Ritual) and only 3 were won by lone female chocolate makers (Starchild, Castronovo, and Ethereal).

Culled from your responses on Facebook to my piece and my own research, here’s an admittedly incomplete list of female chocolate makers in the U.S. This includes women who make chocolate on their own and who are part of a female-and-male team that makes chocolate together. (Thanks to Brady Belinski at FlavorsofCacao.com for an amazing list and resource.)

Sole Female Makers

Carol Morse at Acalli

Melanie Flores at Anahata

Nicole Trutanich Bar Au Chocolat

Regina Monaco at Bronx Grrl Chocolate

Jennifer Wicks at Burnt Fork Bend

Kristen Hard at Cacao Atlanta

Denise Castronovo at Castronovo Chocolate

Erika Chavez-Graziano at Cellar Door Chocolates

Carrie Anderson at Chocolate Compromiso

Patricia Tsai at Chocovivo

Karla McNeil-Rueda at Cru

Damaris Graves at Cultura Craft Chocolate

Lynn Kronschnabel at Del Sol

Laurie Rice at Dulcinea Craft Chocolate

Mary Ervin and Sara Miller at Ethereal Confections

Nichole Warner at Fresh Coast

Mackenzie at Map Chocolate

Katja Reitemeyer at Marin Munchies

Elena Sirignano at Mayacama

Daphne McClure at Moloa’a Bay

Makesha Duncan at Night Owl

Journey Shannon at Noir d’Ebine

Erin Andrews at Indi

Julie Waterman at Indulgence

Nancy Nadel at Oakland Chocolate Co.

Lisa Nelson at Roots

Julie McLean at Sibu Sura

Tracy Thompson at Sjolinds Chocolate

Samantha Fox at Source Chocolate

Kasey McCaslin at Stone Grindz

Rebecca Ankenbrand at Sweet Minou

Julie Farrell at Tease

Lauren Heineck at Wknd Chocolate

buy my book!

Female-and-Male Teams

Leslie and David Senk at Arete

Tamara and Zan at Batch Craft

Callie Neylan and Will Dixon at Bellflower

Tracey Britton and Eli Curtis at Bisou

Mary and Carl Matice at Cao Artisan

Debi and Ned Russell at Cello

Katherine Reed and Josiah Mayo at Chequessett

Janet, Tim, and Kevin Straub at Creo

Gila and Joel Dar at Dar

Joanne and Dan Sundell at Dark Forest

Jael and Dan Rattigan at French Broad

Renee Shuman and Logan Byrd at Frolic

Dahlia and Bryan Graham at Fruition

Sarah and Colin Hartman at Harper Macaw

Corey and David Menkes at LetterPress

Marlene and Paul Picton at Maverick

Stephanie and Andy Jackson at Middlebury

Dana Brewster and Mark DelVecchio at Millcreek Cacao Roasters

Barbara Wilson and Joe Meza at Mindo Chocolate Makers

Radinal Latuconsin and Yohanse Makmur Molucca

Katy Oursler and Stephen Beaumier at Mutari

Sandra Bedoya and David Mejia at Nibble

Alix and Toby Gadd at Nuance

Lisa and Jim Rast at Nutwhats

Tiffany and Ben Howard at Pinnacle

Rhonda, George, and Patrick Zender at Ranger

Anna Davies and Robbie Stout at Ritual

Celeste Walker and James Hull at Snake & Butterfly

Crisoire and Eric Reid at Spagnvola

Robin and Bob Williamson-Simoneaux at SRSLY

Brittany and Ash Maki at Starchild

Tiffany and Richard Dull at Tchefuncte

Michelle Holland and Scott Moore Jr. at Tejas

Kristen and Josh at Terroir

Alison and Hans Westerink at Violet Sky

Paige and Bob Leavitt at Vivra

Elaine Read and Matt Weyandt at Xocolalt

Maureen and Jim Elitzak at Zak’s

buy my book!

Did I leave someone out or make a mistake? Tell me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitterand I’ll add their name to the list.

Idiotic People Are Snorting Cacao

May 20, 2016

Behold, a video about the latest "club drug." Watch it here.

I'll take my chocolate in bar or bonbon form while I wait for this trend to pass, thank you very much.

Tell me what you think at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

Back to Chocolate Today

Bacon Does Not Belong in Chocolate

May 19, 2016

Photo courtesy Flickr user jimsideas — *Photo courtesy* *Flickr user jimsideas*

I sat down to write a post called "And the Most Ridiculous Chocolate of the Week Is..." and to highlight Zotter's Pink Coconut and Fish Marshmallow Chocolate and their RaspberryBlood (with real blood!). But there's a far more pernicious problem on our hands.

Bacon. In chocolate.

I get it: salty and sweet go together and often improve each other. I'm not disputing that. Hell, I'm not even disputing that bacon sometimes works in dessert. What I'm disputing is that people think it's COOL and OUTRAGEOUS and UNIQUE to create this combo when in fact it's the most tired, cliched inclusion ever. (Followed closely by salted caramel, but I actually like that one.) I'm calling out Vosges and all of those chocolatiers who think it's "edgy" to use bacon in their chocolate. Let's be more creative and challenge our taste buds a bit more rather than relying on the lowest common demoninator (er, denominator) to move bars.

There, I said it.

Think I'm wrong? Tell me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

Notes From the Underground Chocolate Salon

May 18, 2016

Last week a big group of us chocolate lovers met up at Raaka’s factory in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to taste some bars and gab about craft chocolate.

I’ve always been jealous of Paris in the 1920s, when artistic and literary luminaries gathered at Gertrude Stein’s house to talk and hang out: Picasso, Cézanne, Joyce, Eliot, Cocteau. Only one thing would have made it better: chocolate. That’s why I started what I’m calling the Underground Chocolate Salon, for like-minded (or not so like-minded) people to get together and talk chocolate, as well as enjoy one another’s company.

If you want a spot at the next one, in New York on July 25 from 6:30 to 8 PM, email me immediately at megan@chocolatenoise.com to let me know and I’ll send you the details and location.

In the meantime here are some notes from last week’s salon.

I included two bars made with beans from Akesson’s farm in Madagascar so we could taste the differences between two makers’ styles.

Dandelion Madagascar 70%

Acidic, bright, a fruity punch. One taster who knew her sugars REALLY well said it distinctively tasted like the “sulfur, funky note” of real cane sugar, “the first sugar right off the kettle.”

Malmo Madagascar, 70%

This bar arrived from Sweden only hours before the Salon (and isn’t available in the U.S., as far as I know). Talk about cutting it close! Smoky, bright, herbal, no particular sugar taste. Able to taste the roast, a dark roast, possibly in the smokiness.

Whole roasted bean from Oko Caribe in the Dominican Republic, from Fruition Chocolate (not available for sale)

Strong, nutty, smooth.

Fruition Wild Bolivia, 74%

Lighter in color than Madagascar bars. Smoothens out as you finish the bite. Toasty, roasty. Fruity, tart aftertaste, like a jelly flavor. Everyone’s favorite of the evening.

French Broad Norandino Peru, 70%

Fruity smell. Less bright, not very acidic, slightly chalky texture. “Winey taste.”

Caribeans Costa Rica Single-Estate from José La Fe Honecreek, 72%

This is another one that arrived shortly before the Salon, also not available in the U.S. Cinnamon, all kinds of spice, more acidic than the others. Chalky. Some tasters didn’t like how it melted in the mouth.

Honor the Farmers

May 16, 2016

A few weeks ago when I visited Raaka’s factory in Brooklyn, head chocolate maker Nate Hodge showed me this amazing book called Los Guardianes del Cacao (The Guardians of Cacao). It profiles lots of different Peruvian cacao farmers in a gorgeous, long-form way with lots of pretty pictures.

I was impressed that someone is focusing so heavily on the farmers, since they’re often ignored in this eclipsed supply chain.

Who are your favorite cacao farmers, and why?

Tell me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

I Judged the International Chocolate Awards

May 14, 2016

via GIPHY

Hello, more chocolate than you could ever eat, or would ever want to eat. (And man, I never thought I’d say that!) The chocolate world is growing exponentially, if the entries in the Americas/Asia-Pacific arm of the International Chocolate Awards are any indication.

Here’s how it works. You taste a few couverture chocolates to prime your palate, take notes on what you find, get yourself a bowl of cold polenta (which they’ve found sandpapers any leftover flavors away), and start blind-tasting anonymous entries by category. Every five chocolates or so, you go back to the couverture to see if your tastes have changed (think major palate fatigue!).

I tasted everything from solid dark chocolate bars to inclusion bars to milk bars to bonbons to white chocolate. I started at 3 PM, stopped around 8 PM, and somehow, dizzily, made my way home. The craziest part: I was the biggest wimp there. Everyone else had been judging for 3 days straight. Stomachs of steel, I say. Stomachs of steel.

Stay tuned for the winners in the coming months!

Blends Are Just as Good — If Not Better — Than Single Origin

May 13, 2016

Single-origin bread. Yes, my friends, this is now a thing, and it hit my inbox (and then my stomach) a few weeks ago. The bread (from La Brea Bakery, in case you’re interested) was good but not great. But it made me wonder, Is the foodie apocalypse near? Has “single origin” turned into a mere buzzword?

After all, “single origin” simply means that the ingredients all come from one place. It doesn’t guarantee high quality, though usually if someone cares enough to source ingredients from one location, they also care about them being pretty good.

We have this idea, though, that single origin equals good and, at least in chocolate, blend equals bad. Industrialized. Anonymous. But that’s far from the case.

Blending chocolate is not a result of industrialization and in fact has its roots in pre-Mesoamerican culture. As Maricel Presilla writes in The New Taste of Chocolate, blending “was founded on a recognition that the right combinations of different cassis have a kind of synergy, a total effect greater than the sum of its parts.” She cites a recipe for chocolate from Mexico in 1873 that calls for a blend of beans from Soconusco, Maracaybo, and Caracas. “Tabasco [cacao] can also be used in place of Maracaybo,” the recipe says, “but chocolate made with it has less body.”

In other words, it’s an art.

That’s why I was so excited to see Raaka test out blends as part of their First Nibs subscription package in April. The Amazon Basin Blend combines San Martin, Pangoa, and Peru Nacional, all similar terrain. In the tasting notes, head chocolate maker Nate Hodge writes,

“The San Martin and Pangoa beans both share an acidic, fruit-forward flavor profile that is balanced out by the more subtle and creamy characteristics of the Peru Nacional and its prized white cacao beans.”

Then there’s the East African Blend. American makers don’t use African beans very often, but this one combines Eastern Congo, Uganda, and Madagascar for an earthy bar with “accentuated by flavors of dried fruit and birch.”

Neither of these is available for purchase yet, but there are a host of other small craft makers with great blends, as well as the masters like Guittard, Valrhona, and Bernachon. Then there are the hundreds of amazing chocolatiers who have perfected blends. Do they make lesser chocolate? I think not.

Agree? Disagree? Tell me what you think at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

What "Bean to Bar" Really Means

May 11, 2016

A few weeks ago Dove sent me a press release with an infographic of their “unique bean to bar making process.” (Think Dutching.)

Technically they’re correct. They do start with beans and make bars. The same could be said for Hershey. Of course, over the past 15 years “bean to bar” has come to mean chocolate made from scratch in small batches by artisans who buy, roast, and grind the beans themselves. But on its own, the term itself doesn’t mean much. The industry is going back and forth and forth and back about this term, with some embracing it and others letting go of it altogether. For example, French Broad recently took it off its packaging. Meanwhile expert Clay Gordon says he thinks it should be "from the bean," not "bean to bar."

What does “bean to bar” mean to YOU?

Tell me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

The Most Decadent Chocolate Pairings Ever

May 9, 2016

I almost don’t even want to tell you guys what I’ve been doing over the past few weeks. Okay, okay, I’ll spill: I’ve been tasting chocolate with CHEESE and BREAD to come up with the most decadent chocolate pairings ever for my book. I know, it’s a hard life.

I’m saving the exact pairings for the book, but here, for your reading pleasure, are a few of the bizarre tastes we’ve found along the way, as well as some hilarious quotes. Thanks to Christine Clarke of Murray’s Cheese, Tess McNamara of Lucy's Whey, Joanna Brennan, and Matt Caputo and Jessica Weaver of A Priori Specialty Foods for their excellent taste buds and sense of humor.

Cheese

We used the “milkshake method” from Murray’s, offending mothers everywhere: Take a bite of chocolate, let it melt for a second in your mouth, then take a bite of cheese.

Bad tastes:

Microwave popcorn

Cheese + chocolate equals…garlic

Good tastes:

Mashed potatoes and butter

Junior mint (not with a minty chocolate, just with the cheese-chocolate combo!)

A cheese that’s “cartoonishly umami” on its own gets mellowed with chocolate

Bread

We also used the “milkshake method” here: Take a bite of bread, chew for a little bit, then add the chocolate. You’ll lose some of the nuances of the chocolate, but it’s worth it for a good pairing. A bad pairing tastes like bread and chocolate; a good pairing tastes like a third flavor altogether.

Bad tastes:

Barbecue sauce

Beef jerky

Smoked baby diaper chocolate, or, to be exact, on remembering a chocolate we didn’t taste during the experiments: “It tastes like a baby diaper that’s put in a hot smoker, smoked until it’s petrified, put in a wood chipper, then covered in chocolate.”

Good tastes:

Cake

Peanut butter and jelly

Think cheese and chocolate don’t go together? Or think this sounds like the best thing ever? What are some of your favorite pairings? Tell me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

A Few More Pretty Chocolate Labels

May 6, 2016

Earlier this week I highlighted a few of my favorite labels from craft makers in the U.S. Now here are a few of YOUR favorites, from the U.S. and around the world. In other words, so much pretty chocolate! So little time!

Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé

From Hungary, recommended by Russell Robinson and Piotr Krzcluk

Map Chocolate

Recommended by Estelle Tracy, 37 Chocolates ("Keep a few next to my bed, if that tells you something 💕")

Harper Macaw

Recommended by Romi Burks, chocolate educator — Recommended by Romi Burks, chocolate educator

Pump Street Bakery

From Great Britain, recommended by Jason Warner

Rococo Chocolates

From Great Britain, recommended by Jason Warner ("Like French Broad, it opens up and reveals information in every panel, with the rest taken up by curious blue-tinted woodblock-looking prints.")

Dormouse Chocolate

From Great Britain, recommended by Jason Warner ("They've moved from plain plastic to more elaborate paper packaging but, having met them, I feel like it's not the right fit for them. I have no design instincts so I don't know what would be better. … — From Great Britain, recommended by Jason Warner ("They've moved from plain plastic to more elaborate paper packaging but, having met them, I feel like it's not the right fit for them. I have no design instincts so I don't know what would be better. I hope they nail it because they deserve success with the level of quality they're putting out.")

Chocolate Tree

From Great Britain, recommended by Jason Warner (he had a lot to say)

And the comment of the day, about pretty labels, from Andrew Baker:
"I have found that if careful I can preserve wrappers while consuming contents. Empty husks madden hungry colleagues."

Don’t You Dare Call Chocolate “Sinful”

May 4, 2016

Photo courtesy Flickr user donireewalker — *Photo courtesy* *Flickr user donireewalker*

Sinfully delicious. Wickedly rich. Obscenely decadent. I’m sick of hearing these words about dessert in general and chocolate in particular.

I know, I know, sugar will kill you and gluttony and all of that. But I think this bias goes deeper than the fact that sugar and (some types of) fat are bad for you. After all, people apply those words to a solid bar as often as they do a chocolate cake.

I’ve been rereading The True History of Chocolate as I work on my book, and I can’t help but think of this hilarious anecdote in it about the Marquis de Sade, who was a huge chocolate lover. In 1772 in Marseilles, long before he was jailed, the Marquis supposedly handed out chocolate pastilles laced with Spanish fly so that people “began to burn with unchaste ardor,” a writer noted of the incident. Naturally, a chocolate-fueled orgy followed, with some people dying “of their frightful priapic excesses.”

That story isn’t just about repressed desires of different sorts. It’s also about the general confusion around chocolate that dates back to the early days, when the Europeans first tried it and weren’t too sure what to make of it. Was it healthy or unhealthy? Food or drink? Pious or nefarious? We’re still debating many of these questions, as demonstrated by the endless parade of stories proclaiming chocolate is good for you or bad for you or will help your workout, for example.

Regardless, we clearly love the stuff. So maybe we should take a cue from the ancient Mayans and Aztecs, who weren’t confused about chocolate at all. To them it was a holy food, respected for its power but not feared, especially not for its calories.

Tell me what you know about chocolate and sin, whether it's a historical story or a personal one. Email me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or tell me on Facebook or Twitter, and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today!

4 Chocolate Bars Too Pretty to Eat

April 30, 2016

Sometimes I yammer too much. So rather than write a long story about how we judge books (and chocolate bars!) by their cover, today I’m going to let the labels speak for themselves. Here are four of the prettiest craft chocolate packages in the country.

Ritual

Ritual just redesigned their packaging, and the Southwestern-inspired theme fits with the company’s Utah roots.

Dick Taylor

Dick Taylor enlisted the help of co-founder Dustin Taylor’s brother, a designer, to create a label that’s “like the 1890s, but simple.”

Dandelion

Dandelion designed its own handmade paper for their delicate wrappers.

French Broad

French Broad recently redesigned their packaging to look like a book; collect all the bars for a complete library.

Did I forget someone? Or do you think it's beside the point to talk about packaging? Tell me what you think at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today!

Smoky Chocolate Mousse

April 28, 2016

I’m not a fan of smoky chocolate. This may come as a surprise to some, since I’m from Texas, land of smoked everything. But that savory taste you get in a lot of cacao from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and so on? Not for me.

But it can really work in recipes. The smoky undertones of the PNG brownie in Dandelion’s brownie flightblew me away when I tried it, and I haven’t quite recovered.

Recently Evan LeRoy, the pitmaster at Freedmen’s Barbecue in Austin (my favorite spot), sent me a recipe for a smoked chocolate mousse where he actually SMOKED the chocolate. Like, ON A GRILL. He kind of reverse-engineered the drying process that they use in Papua New Guinea. I thought, well, why not just use PNG chocolate in it? So without further ado, here’s the recipe:

Smoky Chocolate Mousse

8 ounces smoky chocolate (Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Java), chopped

1 C + ¾ C heavy cream, separated

4oz powdered sugar

1oz bourbon

Smoked salt, optional

1. Whip 1 C heavy cream with 4oz powdered sugar, and 1oz bourbon to stiff peaks. Simultaneously heat 3/4 C heavy cream to a low simmer.

2. Pour the warm cream in a blender and start on low. Slowly add the chopped chocolate. Add a heavy pinch smoked salt and blend covered on high for a few seconds until all combined to create a ganache.

3. Fold in the ganache to the whipped cream in three batches as to not deflate the whipped cream. Make sure everything is combined and the lumps are gone. Pour into serving vessels and chill to set. To serve, top with smoked salt.

In my upcoming book, I'm including all sorts of chocolate-forward recipes like this, where you can actually taste the flavor notes of the chocolate. I can't wait to share them with you!

Do you have a special recipe that you make with craft chocolate? Tell me all about it! Write me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today!

I Threw Away Chocolate, and I'm Not Ashamed

April 27, 2016

Last weekend I sent out what I thought was an innocent little tweet:

Boyfriend just laid down the law and made me prioritize and toss chocolate stash. What would you keep, and what would you throw away???
— Megan Giller (@MeganGiller) April 23, 2016

Oh, it’s the middle of the day on a Saturday, I thought. No one will pay attention.

But it got a BIG response, including its own hashtag, #keepthestash:

@MeganGiller I'd keep the chocolate and throw away the boyfriend. He should be supportive of your projects.
— Chocophile George (@chocophilenyc) April 23, 2016

@MeganGiller Rogue stays, Corallo goes?
— Joe Fox (@SilverSpringJoe) April 23, 2016

@MeganGiller the boyfriend
— andrea grimes (@andreagrimes) April 23, 2016

@MeganGiller If it's only bloomed, it can be melted into milk for delicious hot chocolate.
— Chocophile George (@chocophilenyc) April 23, 2016

@MeganGiller You can chop it up for chocolate chip cookies or brownies, too.
— Chocophile George (@chocophilenyc) April 23, 2016

@MeganGiller eat what you can now, get rid of anything gross, rationalize keeping the rest by organizing and categorizing :)
— Alan P Woods (@ATroubleU) April 23, 2016

@MeganGiller throw away the boyfriend
— Maverick Chocolate (@MaverickChoco) April 23, 2016

Blasphemy! @MeganGiller don't waste it!!! Make hot fudge or fondue!!!
— With Love from BK (@withlovefrombk) April 23, 2016

Best tweet we've seen all day! #KeepTheStash @MeganGiller! https://t.co/DwsPsoKam1
— Bean Bar You (@BeanBarYou) April 24, 2016

@MeganGiller @chocophilenyc sounds like a hot chocolate party is in order.
— Dan Rattigan (@RattiganDan) April 24, 2016

Now, my first reaction was to

Clarify that it was really my doing and that I don't know why I brought my boyfriend into it
Get defensive and tell everyone that I was tossing Green & Blacks and Scharffen Berger that had been sitting in my cabinet for three years, as well as some samples from new makers that, well, weren’t so enjoyable. I’d been hoarding it for all this time, planning to make cookies, drinking chocolate, and so on, but there are only so many calories in a day. Then there were about 10 packages with one or two squares left in them, which I’ve kept to taste and retaste. I’m almost afraid to finish a bar, especially a really, really good one. Tiny morsels of Soma, Rogue, and Patric fill my cabinets. On Saturday I bit the bullet — well, actually the chocolate bar — and polished them off.

I then had to clear out a massive drawer in my closet to stash all of the chocolate, since it had taken over the kitchen and part of the office and needed to be relocated. (I won’t even get into how many empty packages I have laying around, a collection that I plan to keep forever to remind myself what bars I’ve tried and also the ridiculous volume of chocolate that I’ve eaten over the years.) The stuff I couldn’t keep was repurposed, mostly given to some very lucky neighbors.

This exercise as well as the reaction on Twitter made me realize how much food waste is not part of the conversation — and how much it should be. When I reviewed restaurants for places like Texas Monthly and Zagat Austin, I would wince every time chefs sent out 10 dishes for just a friend and me, knowing we couldn’t finish everything. Sure, it’s a fabulous lifestyle, but it’s also super wasteful. The entire food industry perpetuates this status quo, and it can be shocking to people who aren’t part of that world.

In the case of those chocolate bars, farmers took a lot of care with those beans. They were then shipped across the world to be treated lovingly by a craft maker, who then sent them to a store or to me directly. That’s a lot of time, energy, manpower, and carbon footprint to simply throw away. But chocolate makers as well as people in the industry and even good old chocolate-obsessed folks do it all the time. Is it part of the process, or a waste? What do you do with your leftover chocolate?

Write me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

You Should Pay $100 for This Chocolate

April 25, 2016

A few weeks ago I sat waiting at a café for the self-proclaimed “most hated man in chocolate,” Mark Christian of C-Spot. The slim, red-haired guy who appeared from the Upper West Side on his bike took me by surprise, launching into conversation about “cocoa doodle gurus” (i.e., experts) and “a bucking bronco of a chocolate” (i.e., a particularly flavorful bar).

He slipped me some cacao beans out of what I think was a cigarette case. “Guess the origin,” he said excitedly. They were amazing: Dark, decadent, roasty. I had no idea what they were. “Now try this chocolate,” he said, cradling the label so I couldn’t see where it came from. Equally delicious, smooth and creamy. Turned out the beans were from Cuba, and A. Morin used those same beans to make the chocolate I tried.

Mark kept showering me with goodies, always accompanied by the (frankly intimidating) guessing game. Far and away, I was most impressed with the Heirloom Chocolate Series, a box of seven half-ounce bars made with heirloom cacao.

What’s heirloom cacao? Well, there used to be many, many varieties of cacao in the world. Some have disappeared naturally while others are being replaced with higher-yielding varieties like the dreaded man-made CCN-51 (which supposedly tastes like sh*t). That’s why some people in the industry got together to form the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund, which hopes to encourage farmers to continue to grow quality cacao by designating strands of it as “heirloom,” which go for much higher prices.

So far seven strands have been officially designated “heirloom.” Mark enlisted chocolate makers Fruition, Zokoko, Millcreek Cacao Roasters, Manoa, Mindo, and Brasstown to make bars with each variety. The cacao is from Ecuador, Bolivia, Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Belize. Mark’s palate is impeccable, and I love how his quirkiness shines through in the tasting notes, with descriptions like “cocoa nuts ‘n honey,” “cookie dough,” “chocolate hash,” and “volcanic coral.”

I’ve been talking a lot about the right price for a bar of chocolate lately, from $10 to $325. This box combines the best cacao in the world with the most talented makers in the world, curated by one of the most esteemed chocolate experts in the world, without any bullshit or marketing. $100? Seems like a steal to me.

Agree? Disagree? Write me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today!

Notes From the Underground Chocolate Salon

April 20, 2016

Ten chocolate bars. Seven people. And a lot of conversation. Last week's Underground Chocolate Salon was great fun, and I want to tell you about it.

If you want a spot at the next one, in New York on MAY 25 from 6:30 to 8 PM, email me immediately at megan@chocolatenoise.com to let me know and I’ll send you the details and location.

In the meantime here are some notes from last week’s salon.

This time everyone brought a bar or two that they liked or that they wanted to try, so we had a huge variety. One person noted that after reading my thoughts about Askinosie's new whiskey bar, she bought a few as gifts. When she shared them with friends, a few people disliked it so much they spit it out! I'm curious if they were surprised by the unique tastes in the chocolate because they had never tried bean-to-bar chocolate or if it was the whiskey taste itself that bothered them (she wasn't sure). It's true that trying chocolate with strong flavor notes can surprise and overwhelm people at first — in both good and bad ways.

Anyway, on to the tastings.

Michel Cluizel 66% Mexico

Smells smoky and earthy, tastes of red fruit and raisins. Includes vanilla, which intensifies/throws everything off.

French Broad 68% Nicaragua

"Smells like Taza," something stone and mineral. Tastes nutty, very dark roast, more bitter. Licorice. Acidity in front.

Woodblock 70% Peru

Tastes acidic and of red fruit. Coarser texture, fudgy, thick bar. Not a lasting bar, has a short finish. A bit astringent.

Durci 70% Rio Caribe, Venezuela

Smells of herbs and licorice. Tastes sweet and of herbs and licorice, maybe horseradish. Nice texture, snappier, definitely a lot of added cocoa butter in this one. Too buttery for some people, flat. No astringent aftertaste.

Dandelion 70% Mantuano, Venezuela

Tastes round and complete. Lots of chocolate tastes, an end note of fruit, specifically dried cherries and spice. Bit of astringency at the end.

Pump Street 72% Madagascar

Tastes flat initially but huge burst of red fruit as it finishes.

Askinosie 72% Tanzania

Tastes earthy, a little acidic, dried fruit like raisins. High cocoa butter content, a dairy taste and something like molasses or burned sugar (in a good way). Might have to do with the type of sugar they use.

Marou 76% Ba Ria Vietnam

Smells like chocolate chocolate chocolate. Tastes strong even though it's still relatively low cocoa percentage. Coffee, toasted nuts, meaty.

Bisou 76% Honduras, "American Style"

Smells like licorice, smoke, cleaning products, ammonia, moldy. Tastes like cough medicine, very astringent. Bad aftertaste. Possibly made using underfermented beans?

Several people disliked this chocolate so much that they asked me why Bisou would sell something that was so clearly not up to snuff. That's a complicated question. On the one hand, people are still figuring out how to make good chocolate, and companies need to recoup costs of expensive beans and the time and energy it took to make the chocolate. On the other hand, should we pay for people's experiments? I don't want to throw Bisou under the bus, but at the same time, it's important to be honest about what's happening in the industry, and what we're tasting.

Pump Street 85% Ecuador

Smells yeasty and tastes mild, not very chocolatey. Not floral like most Ecuadorian cacao but still hay, grassy, vegetal, raw nuts. "Empty" for an 85%, lots of added cocoa butter.

This salon raised lots of questions. Have thoughts about them? Write me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook or Twitter and I'll include your comments in the next Chocolate Today.

Coconut Milk From Charm School Chocolate

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From the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund’s Media Event (that I helped put together!):

From the Fine Chocolate Industry Association Meeting

From the International Chocolate Awards Ceremony

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Sole Female Makers

Female-and-Male Teams

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Cheese

Bad tastes:

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Bread

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Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé

Map Chocolate

Harper Macaw

Pump Street Bakery

Rococo Chocolates

Dormouse Chocolate

Chocolate Tree

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Ritual

Dick Taylor

Dandelion

French Broad

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