Over the course of the seven years I've been doing this blog, I've focused on strange chocolates many times. Specifically, five times--on August 20th and October 22nd in 2012; March 21st and September 20th in 2015; and January 17th in 2016. In this post, I'll discuss a 95% cocoa offering from Lindt & Sprungli, an Arriba Nacional cacao and ginger concoction from Antidote, and a honey caramel with habanero chiles from Lake Champlain Chocolates.
Just to review, what we call "chocolate" is usually made from 3-4 main ingredients: cocoa solids, fat in the form of cocoa butter, sugar, and sometimes milk. Although there's some variances in the definition, basically 35% or more cocoa solids (and no milk) is deemed "dark chocolate," 10-20% cocoa solids, plus milk, is "milk chocolate," and 0% cocoa solids, and milk, is "white chocolate." All of the types I got for this post are well within the dark chocolate category. Which, as I've stated before, is my least favorite--I find it unpleasantly bitter and astringent compared to the others.
I purchased the Lindt & Sprungli one because it had the highest percentage of cocoa solids that I've ever seen. Although, as high as it is, it's not the most. There are several examples of 100% cocoa solids chocolates (and therefore, no cocoa butter or sugar), such as Montezuma's Absolute Black, Francois Pralus's 100%, and Ghiradelli's 100%. (I'll give these a try if/when I encounter them.) Lindt & Sprungli is an old business, dating back to 1845. David Sprungli-Schwartz and his son Rudolf Sprungli-Ammann started this company in Zurich, Switzerland, after having run a chocolate shop there since 1836. In 1899 they bought out the Lindt chocolate company, and so added to the firm's title. By 1977 the chocolates were being exported (and made, in some cases) around the world. Lindt & Sprungli has also absorbed a further four chocolate companies--Caffarel (Italy), Hofbauer (Austria), and two American ones, Russell Stover and Ghiradelli. One of their most popular brands is their Lindor line, which are individually wrapped roundish chocolates with various fillings inside. There is one possible bit of controversy, though. In 2017 they were accused of growing cocoa illegally, in national parks and other protected areas in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Lindt & Sprungli dispute this charge, but just to throw it out there.
Lake Champlain Chocolates is a Vermont establishment, operating out of Burlington. The company started in 1983, from the owner of the Ice House restaurant. They're very into post-modern, eco and health-friendly trends, as their products are proudly made without GMOs, preservatives, "extenders," additives, and use organic and fair trade ingredients "when possible." They're also "keto friendly," which I just learned is a low carb/high fat diet similar to the Atkins Diet. The owner is Jim Lampman.
Antidote is the new kid on the block, having only started in July of 2010, in Brookyn, NY in the U.S. The owner, Red Thalhammer, was a huge fan of the cocoa from Ecuador, the Arriba Nacional type. Antidote also clearly loves to experiment, as it makes chocolates combined with unusual ingredients, such as fennel, cardamom, bananas and cayenne pepper, mango and juniper, quinoa, peppercorns, and tea. Similar to Lake Champlain Chocolates, its products are organic, kosher, vegan, and gluten-free. The company also makes it a point to use the minimum amount of packaging, to eliminate waste. Finally, at least two of its offerings ("Tona," and "Xochi,") are 100% cocoa.
1) Lindt & Sprungli Excellence, 95% cocoa dark chocolate: Bar was 80 grams (2.8 ounces), and chocolate was a very dark brown, obviously. As bad as I feared--bitter, nasty, and very hard to finish.
2) Antidote Serious Chocolate, with ginger pieces: 65 gram/2.3 ounce bar. About the same hue as the Lindt & Sprungli one, only with visible white ginger chunks embedded in it. I liked the ginger bite--it was nice and significant. It helped cut the dark chocolate bitterness somewhat. (Also, the cocoa percentage was "only" 77%.) So better than the first one, but still not that great, with the dark chocolate unpleasantness once again.
3) Lake Champlain Chocolates, It's Hot Honey, sweet honey caramel with habanero: Bar was 3.25 ounces/92 grams. Cocoa percentage was 57%. Similar color to the others, but squares were fuller, reflecting the filling inside. This was the strongest of the trio. Caramel was tasty, and the slight pepper bite (mostly detected as an aftertaste) was alright, too. The lower cocoa solids amount also surely helped, too. Solid overall--I might even eat this one again, unlike the others.
Therefore, there were no big shocks here. I went in expecting to dislike, or at least be underwhelmed by these selections, and that's about what happened. The only one that I enjoyed was the one with the lowest cocoa solid percentage. But, as always, I know many (most?) consumers disagree with me, and adore dark chocolate, the higher percentage of cocoa the better. So if you're one of these folks you might like, or even love these.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Chestnuts
Saw these at Wegman's a while ago, and they struck something in me. I couldn't recall if I'd had them before. I sort of vaguely recall maybe having them once, but I wasn't sure. So, clearly I bought them, to either try chestnuts for the first time, or at least the second, and the first time in a long time.
There are four basic kinds of chestnuts, and their common names are based on where these subspecies are from. These are Japanese, Chinese, European, and American. This tree is related to beeches and oaks, and mainly likes temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere (although they do also grow in Australia and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere). A couple of "chestnuts" are actually not true chestnuts--mainly water chestnuts and horse chestnuts. (The latter not only isn't a real member, but its nuts are toxic to humans, so it's kind of an important distinction.) Sadly, the American chestnut is now extremely rare. A blight in the early 20th century wiped out 3 to 4 billion trees. Even the few that remain are sometimes hybrids combined with Chinese chestnuts, which are thought to have been the source of the blight, but are also somewhat resistant to it.
I was also surprised to learn how big the trees get. In fact, the Guinness Book of World Records credits a chestnut as having the Greatest Tree Girth, with one having a circumference of 190 feet (57.9 meters). Height-wise they don't get as tall as sequoias or redwoods, but still, these can be huge woody plants. Additionally, they can also live a long time, as they have lived 2000-4000 years in extreme cases. Three individual ones have names: There's the Sacred Chestnut in Istan, Spain, the Tortworth Chestnut in England (mentioned as a boundary marker hundreds of years ago), and the Hundred-Horse Chestnut in Sicily, so named because it supposedly sheltered 100 mounted knights during an ancient thunderstorm.
The fruit of the chestnut tree, the nut, has been consumed by people for at least 4000 years, and perhaps even as long as 6000 years. The chestnuts can be eaten raw, but they're more commonly roasted, and sometimes made into a flour. From here they can then be made into breads and cakes, or used to thicken soups. Some folks even candy them, or make a kind of liquor. Nutritionally they're a bit odd for a nut, as they're comparatively low in fat, and protein, while being relatively high in carbohydrates. Chestnuts are also the only nut which have some Vitamin C. Alas, because they've become associated as a food for poor folks, their popularity has suffered a bit in the past couple of hundred years. Chestnut tree wood, meanwhile, is useful, too, as its high amount of tannin helps make it durable. Barrels made of this wood are popular for aging balsamic vinegar, and certain types of beer.
The chestnuts I bought were peeled and roasted, and evidently they had quite a journey getting to me. They're listed as being grown in China, imported by S&J Sales Co., from the U.K., and then manufactured for the Kenover Marketing Corp. out of NJ, U.S.A. The brand name is Gefen. Although it didn't specify on the bag, since they're from China, presumably they're the Chinese sub-type. They were fat (about 1 inch, or about 2.5 cm. in diameter), brown nuts, roughly circular, but with noticeable sections or lobes. The lobes made them look a little like a garlic bulb. The packaging was clearly superior, as the nuts themselves were still moist. At first bite I was reminded of the flavor of walnuts. Which is bad to me--I strongly dislike walnuts, perhaps in part because they sometimes cause me digestive issues. However, this impression was fleeting, and they grew on me pretty quickly. My subsequent bites were better. They were chewy, and soft, and had a decent taste, with a hint of sweetness. They weren't great like cashews, or macadamias, or pistachios, or peanuts (I know, peanuts are technically legumes, not nuts, but whatever) but they were respectable. I'm also curious how they taste in "bread" format, or candied, in cakes, in booze form, etc. Overall I'd recommend chestnuts.
I'll conclude with a couple of tidbits about them. The ancient Greek doctors Galen and Dioscorides both touted their alleged medicinal qualities, but warned that the price was increased flatulence. Also, if you fall in love with them, and even regard them as your muse, you're not the first, as various poems and songs have been written about them. Conversely, if you find yourself hating them, you can't correctly tell a chestnut tree to go screw itself, as they are unable to self-pollinate. Finally, despite what Dr. Evil's father was reported to have said about them (in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" (1997)), I could find no evidence that chestnuts are, in fact, lazy.
There are four basic kinds of chestnuts, and their common names are based on where these subspecies are from. These are Japanese, Chinese, European, and American. This tree is related to beeches and oaks, and mainly likes temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere (although they do also grow in Australia and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere). A couple of "chestnuts" are actually not true chestnuts--mainly water chestnuts and horse chestnuts. (The latter not only isn't a real member, but its nuts are toxic to humans, so it's kind of an important distinction.) Sadly, the American chestnut is now extremely rare. A blight in the early 20th century wiped out 3 to 4 billion trees. Even the few that remain are sometimes hybrids combined with Chinese chestnuts, which are thought to have been the source of the blight, but are also somewhat resistant to it.
I was also surprised to learn how big the trees get. In fact, the Guinness Book of World Records credits a chestnut as having the Greatest Tree Girth, with one having a circumference of 190 feet (57.9 meters). Height-wise they don't get as tall as sequoias or redwoods, but still, these can be huge woody plants. Additionally, they can also live a long time, as they have lived 2000-4000 years in extreme cases. Three individual ones have names: There's the Sacred Chestnut in Istan, Spain, the Tortworth Chestnut in England (mentioned as a boundary marker hundreds of years ago), and the Hundred-Horse Chestnut in Sicily, so named because it supposedly sheltered 100 mounted knights during an ancient thunderstorm.
The fruit of the chestnut tree, the nut, has been consumed by people for at least 4000 years, and perhaps even as long as 6000 years. The chestnuts can be eaten raw, but they're more commonly roasted, and sometimes made into a flour. From here they can then be made into breads and cakes, or used to thicken soups. Some folks even candy them, or make a kind of liquor. Nutritionally they're a bit odd for a nut, as they're comparatively low in fat, and protein, while being relatively high in carbohydrates. Chestnuts are also the only nut which have some Vitamin C. Alas, because they've become associated as a food for poor folks, their popularity has suffered a bit in the past couple of hundred years. Chestnut tree wood, meanwhile, is useful, too, as its high amount of tannin helps make it durable. Barrels made of this wood are popular for aging balsamic vinegar, and certain types of beer.
The chestnuts I bought were peeled and roasted, and evidently they had quite a journey getting to me. They're listed as being grown in China, imported by S&J Sales Co., from the U.K., and then manufactured for the Kenover Marketing Corp. out of NJ, U.S.A. The brand name is Gefen. Although it didn't specify on the bag, since they're from China, presumably they're the Chinese sub-type. They were fat (about 1 inch, or about 2.5 cm. in diameter), brown nuts, roughly circular, but with noticeable sections or lobes. The lobes made them look a little like a garlic bulb. The packaging was clearly superior, as the nuts themselves were still moist. At first bite I was reminded of the flavor of walnuts. Which is bad to me--I strongly dislike walnuts, perhaps in part because they sometimes cause me digestive issues. However, this impression was fleeting, and they grew on me pretty quickly. My subsequent bites were better. They were chewy, and soft, and had a decent taste, with a hint of sweetness. They weren't great like cashews, or macadamias, or pistachios, or peanuts (I know, peanuts are technically legumes, not nuts, but whatever) but they were respectable. I'm also curious how they taste in "bread" format, or candied, in cakes, in booze form, etc. Overall I'd recommend chestnuts.
I'll conclude with a couple of tidbits about them. The ancient Greek doctors Galen and Dioscorides both touted their alleged medicinal qualities, but warned that the price was increased flatulence. Also, if you fall in love with them, and even regard them as your muse, you're not the first, as various poems and songs have been written about them. Conversely, if you find yourself hating them, you can't correctly tell a chestnut tree to go screw itself, as they are unable to self-pollinate. Finally, despite what Dr. Evil's father was reported to have said about them (in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" (1997)), I could find no evidence that chestnuts are, in fact, lazy.
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Zwieback
When I saw zwieback on sale in the Wegman's a couple of months ago, my first thought was of Scrabble. Which probably deserves some explanation. Years ago I was reading about the popular word board game, and it mentioned that "zwieback" was the 8 letter word with the highest point total. (To continue this aside, I looked it up again, and things have changed a little. Zwieback is worth 28 points, which is still very high, but there are a few other 8 letter words which equal it, such as "highjack," "maximize," and "oxazepam." Also, at least one currently accepted 8 letter word is worth more--"sovkhozy," which means "having the elements of a Soviet state farm," and is 30 points.)
But back to the food. Zwieback means "twice baked," in German, first off. It's also a form of "rusk," which refers to a type of hard dry biscuit, usually baked twice. Although, somewhat confusingly, one sub-type of zwieback, made by the Mennonite religious group, involves a variant that is only baked once, and is a soft, warm roll. However, the most common kind of zwieback is baked, sliced, and then baked again, causing a hard, dry, bread-like result. As the name suggests, zwieback is associated with Germany, but this food is also common throughout most of Europe, and into Turkey. It was originally developed in East Prussia, which is now parts of Poland, Russia, and Lithuania. The Mennonites further introduced it to selected areas of Russia, Canada, and the U.S.
The other aspect most associated with zwieback is that it's considered to be baby food. Specifically for teething infants, who like to chew on things. It's also known as a bland, simple, food appropriate for folks suffering from stomach ailments. I asked my parents, and they don't recall giving zwieback to me when I was a baby. Evidently it wasn't that popular in Southern New Jersey in the early 1970's.
The company that made the zwieback I had was Brandt, which, not surprisingly is German. Carl Brandt started the company back in 1912, serving rusk and sponge cake in a horse-drawn cart. By 1929 the process for making their rusk/zwieback was mechanized. Zwieback almost never has artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. The low moisture content (only 4%, as compared to regular bread's 45%) due to the second baking serves as a very effective preservative already. Zwieback is rather akin to traditional military rations, or "hard tack" for sailors (although hopefully without the weevils that commonly infected the tack on board). Brandt is pretty specialized, too, as its alternate products are essentially other kinds of zwieback, such as mini-zwieback pieces, and flavored zwieback. The packaging for Brandt knows who its customer base is, as well. A small child is featured on the front, under the family name. The box also warns that, "small children should not be left unattended while eating zwieback." Which sounds like sound advice, no matter what your kids are eating.
1) Brandt zwieback: It looked like tiny slices of bread--about 6.5 cm. (about 2.75 inches) square, with a crust and a yellowish-white color. Very dry and crunchy. Texture was similar to melba toast, but taste was much better, with a hint of sweetness. I also tried it with several condiments. It was okay with yellow mustard, with ketchup, and with Taco Bell hot sauce. (I know I use Taco Bell sauce to augment a lot of foods on this blog--I happen to grab extra packets every time I go, so I have a large supply of it on hand, and the packets are very portable.) Finally, I dipped some pieces in milk, and this was once again decent. I will say my parents liked it better than I did, and they probably also had it as children.
Going in, I had some misgivings about zwieback. I thought it would be tasteless and nasty like melba toast. But, it was significantly better than that. It rather reminded me of another kind of twice baked "bread," the Finnish crispbreads I tried recently (see my November 3, 2018 post).
Saturday, April 6, 2019
Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Chinese Snacks and Drinks
Unless I'm forgetting, I think this is the first post I've done about Chinese cuisine. Which is rather strange, now that I consider this. Huge, historic country, over a billion people, and nothing so far? Anyway, today I'll be talking about Shinho's spicy peanuts, Asian Gourmet's seaweed rice crackers, and Vitasoy's "Vitasoy" soy milk and chrysanthemum tea drink. The last two are made in Hong Kong.
The Yantai Shinho Enterprise Foods Company, Limited, began in 1992. Or, as the website puts it, the firm "started its journey from a bag of soybean paste." Other products from this immense conglomerate include sauces (especially, obviously, soy sauces), soups, dumplings, cold salads, snacks, candy, cider wines, and vinegar beverages (see my February 16, 2019 post for more on that topic). As I'm getting so used to reading lately, the company is very green and responsible. They're focused on sustainable agricultural practices, and don't use chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, or GMOs, and use organically grown plants. Shinho's also into "holistic food education," whatever that means. It's working--their products are sold in over 100 countries around the world, or 40 million households (this seems like an odd way of calculating sales to me, but there it is). Alas, all I can tell you about the rice cracker company is its name (Asian Gourmet), and that its label reads "product of China." I also was stymied by the lack of online information about Asian Gourmet's distribution company, SC Trading Company, LLC.
Vitasoy was founded by a Dr. Lo Kwee-seong in 1940. He was reportedly inspired by hearing about how healthy soy products were, and in addition saw soy milk as a product with a potentially large customer base because many Chinese folks are lactose intolerant. The company's first incarnation was as a door to door soy milk delivery business, done by bicycle couriers. After an interruption due to World War II, the company restarted in 1945 and has flourished ever since. By the late 1960's Vitasoy (also the name of their flagship soy milk drink) was the #2 soft drink in the country, trailing only Coca-Cola. By 1979 it was sold in the U.S. Currently it's available in over 40 countries worldwide, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, mainland China, Macau, Southeast Asia, Singapore, and much of Europe. The company also makes fruit juices, coffee, teas, tofu, and other plant "milks" (See my February 16, 2018 post for more about this general topic). Like Shinho they're committed to using organic farming methods, and no GMOs. Among other health and nutrition information provided on the company website, they wanted consumers to know that soy products don't decrease fertility in men, nor do they "feminize" them.
Finally, I don't believe I've ever had chrysanthemums before. This flower has been cultivated in China for at least 3500 years. It's been consumed in teas since the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.). The leaves are sometimes boiled or steamed, and eaten as salad greens, or used as aroma enhancers in soups, or garnishes for sashimi (in Japanese cuisine, of course). Along with orchids (spring), bamboo (summer), and plum blossom (winter), the chrysanthemum (autumn) is a staple of Chinese art, known collectively as the Four Nobles, or Four Gentlemen, and used to symbolize the listed seasons of the year. In contrast, this flower has a different symbolic interpretation in Europe, as they're associated with death. Chrysanthemums are recent imports to the U.S., as the first ones were brought over by Colonel John Stevens, and grown in my home state of New Jersey in 1798.
1) Shinho, Huang Fei Hong brand, spicy peanuts: These looked like peanuts with reddish-brown strips mixed in. They had a nice spice bite--it seemed medium at first, but kind of grew as I continued eating them. Tasty. Peanuts are hard to mess up, and these don't, they're more than okay.
2) Asian Gourmet rice crackers, seaweed flavor: Yellowish-white in color, round, with a diameter of about 5 cm. (2 inches), with green flecks on them. They tasted like rice crackers with a slight seaweed tinge. Alright, but not great. I would have preferred a stronger seaweed flavor, as they're a tad bland.
3) Vitasoy "Vitasoy" soy milk drink: Came in a 250 mL (8.45 ounce) cardboard container, complete with attached straw, like the "juice boxes" so common in American child lunches. Looks like off-white milk. Taste is okay, similar to the other plant-based "milks" I've had. Some sweetness. Solid.
4) Vitasoy chrysanthemum tea: Same container size and straw-equipped like the other Vitasoy. There was real chrysanthemum in this, too--it's not artificial flavors (although there is sugar added). Tastes like tea, with a little sweetness, so like a regular iced tea with a weak flavoring. Not bad, but not especially good, either. Not as good as the soy milk kind. Its color was corresponding weak, too--very pale, like slightly dirty water.
Therefore, all in all, none of these were a negative experience. And the spicy peanuts were the best of the bunch.
The Yantai Shinho Enterprise Foods Company, Limited, began in 1992. Or, as the website puts it, the firm "started its journey from a bag of soybean paste." Other products from this immense conglomerate include sauces (especially, obviously, soy sauces), soups, dumplings, cold salads, snacks, candy, cider wines, and vinegar beverages (see my February 16, 2019 post for more on that topic). As I'm getting so used to reading lately, the company is very green and responsible. They're focused on sustainable agricultural practices, and don't use chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, or GMOs, and use organically grown plants. Shinho's also into "holistic food education," whatever that means. It's working--their products are sold in over 100 countries around the world, or 40 million households (this seems like an odd way of calculating sales to me, but there it is). Alas, all I can tell you about the rice cracker company is its name (Asian Gourmet), and that its label reads "product of China." I also was stymied by the lack of online information about Asian Gourmet's distribution company, SC Trading Company, LLC.
Vitasoy was founded by a Dr. Lo Kwee-seong in 1940. He was reportedly inspired by hearing about how healthy soy products were, and in addition saw soy milk as a product with a potentially large customer base because many Chinese folks are lactose intolerant. The company's first incarnation was as a door to door soy milk delivery business, done by bicycle couriers. After an interruption due to World War II, the company restarted in 1945 and has flourished ever since. By the late 1960's Vitasoy (also the name of their flagship soy milk drink) was the #2 soft drink in the country, trailing only Coca-Cola. By 1979 it was sold in the U.S. Currently it's available in over 40 countries worldwide, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, mainland China, Macau, Southeast Asia, Singapore, and much of Europe. The company also makes fruit juices, coffee, teas, tofu, and other plant "milks" (See my February 16, 2018 post for more about this general topic). Like Shinho they're committed to using organic farming methods, and no GMOs. Among other health and nutrition information provided on the company website, they wanted consumers to know that soy products don't decrease fertility in men, nor do they "feminize" them.
Finally, I don't believe I've ever had chrysanthemums before. This flower has been cultivated in China for at least 3500 years. It's been consumed in teas since the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.). The leaves are sometimes boiled or steamed, and eaten as salad greens, or used as aroma enhancers in soups, or garnishes for sashimi (in Japanese cuisine, of course). Along with orchids (spring), bamboo (summer), and plum blossom (winter), the chrysanthemum (autumn) is a staple of Chinese art, known collectively as the Four Nobles, or Four Gentlemen, and used to symbolize the listed seasons of the year. In contrast, this flower has a different symbolic interpretation in Europe, as they're associated with death. Chrysanthemums are recent imports to the U.S., as the first ones were brought over by Colonel John Stevens, and grown in my home state of New Jersey in 1798.
1) Shinho, Huang Fei Hong brand, spicy peanuts: These looked like peanuts with reddish-brown strips mixed in. They had a nice spice bite--it seemed medium at first, but kind of grew as I continued eating them. Tasty. Peanuts are hard to mess up, and these don't, they're more than okay.
2) Asian Gourmet rice crackers, seaweed flavor: Yellowish-white in color, round, with a diameter of about 5 cm. (2 inches), with green flecks on them. They tasted like rice crackers with a slight seaweed tinge. Alright, but not great. I would have preferred a stronger seaweed flavor, as they're a tad bland.
3) Vitasoy "Vitasoy" soy milk drink: Came in a 250 mL (8.45 ounce) cardboard container, complete with attached straw, like the "juice boxes" so common in American child lunches. Looks like off-white milk. Taste is okay, similar to the other plant-based "milks" I've had. Some sweetness. Solid.
4) Vitasoy chrysanthemum tea: Same container size and straw-equipped like the other Vitasoy. There was real chrysanthemum in this, too--it's not artificial flavors (although there is sugar added). Tastes like tea, with a little sweetness, so like a regular iced tea with a weak flavoring. Not bad, but not especially good, either. Not as good as the soy milk kind. Its color was corresponding weak, too--very pale, like slightly dirty water.
Therefore, all in all, none of these were a negative experience. And the spicy peanuts were the best of the bunch.
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