EASTER… Besides ham for dinner CHOCOLATE has to be one of the biggest things my family associates with EASTER dinner & the holiday!
The city I grew up in was lucky enough to call home to not one, two, or even three chocolate companies… but FOUR of them that I can think of off the top of my head! Each are family owned enterprises and they are all very good. The two companies, Stefanelli and Pulakos have huge followings and its like a Coke vs. Pepsi ‘war’ as to which you like. The other two, Romolo and Stewarts are smaller but their products are just as good.
So I thought it might be fun to have a Cookbook Club Chocolate Tasting Party! What should you look for when evaluating chocolate? Here are some tips that will help to make your Cookbook Club Chocolate Tasting successful!
So what makes good chocolate besides childhood memories? How does one be objectively evaluate such a heavenly tasting confection? Just click on the link below to READ MORE and find out how to have your OWN Cookbook Club Chocolate Tasting Party!
Well, for those that make their living at it you want to keep the following five [5] key words:
- Visual
- Snap
- Aroma
- Feeling
- Taste
Approach tasting chocolate similarly to how you taste test a fine bottle of wine. First you have theVISUAL appearance of the chocolate: Look for even texture with a shiny gloss to its finish. You don’t want any discolorations or pitting. Color itself is not an indication of quality. Now LISTEN for its SNAP:
True professionals feel that you should be able to hear a clear crisp ’snapping’ sound when breaking a piece from it’s bar.
Now, just like you take in the bouquet of wine you want to take in the AROMA of the chocolate:
You will find that this varies widely, depending on where the beans are grown throughout the world, so YOU need to smell LOTS of different types of chocolate and YOU need to find out what are YOUR favorites!
When you taste wine you always swish some on your palate, well, the feeling on your tongue applies to chocolate too:
Really good chocolate will melt in your mouth without chewing. Break off a piece and hold it on your tongue… does it melt well? Does it feel good on your palate? Does it leave a good feeling, without a waxy feel, in your mouth?
Lastly, BUT most important, TASTE: As that piece of chocolate melts on your tongue you will discover that just like a good wine you will have an initial taste, a mid-taste experience, and then the taste that is left in your mouth, or aftertaste, which I like to be long and linger so that I can remember that exquisite flavor for awhile. I do not want to taste any binder like wax, before, during, or after tasting my chocolate.
The true TASTE is a personal thing… again what better way to decide what YOU like than to TASTE a LOT of CHOCOLATE? Do you like milk, dark, or white chocolate, which isn’t really chocolate at all!?
Better yet, have a Cookbook Club Chocolate Tasting PARTY! Have each of your guests bring a different brand of chocolate, and maybe some each of milk and dark chocolates [white if you prefer too] and cut each into sampling size and just go wild! Can you imagine how GOOD that would taste and how much FUN it will be??? Want to take your CHOCOLATE TASTING PARTY to a higher level of experience? Cookbook Club 101 suggests you COMBINE your chocolate tasting with WINE tasting!
MORE on THAT to COME so be sure to WATCH for a WINE & CHOCOLATE pairings post SOON!
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April 5th, 2010 
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