Some time ago I started a new thread on the world’s best chocolate. I was convinced that Godiva chocolates were the best of the best - dark chocolate truffles ‘n’ champagne. Brachy said no, it’s See’s which I would consider a close second [one’s sister never, ever agrees with her older sibling, sigh]. We had nominations from the world over including a wonderful sampling of Thorton’s, See’s, Godiva for the very serious debaters.
Well… I’m here to tell you that there is a new contender: Marquise de Sevigne. Yes, move over Godiva… your taste is too predictable. Sorry, See’s, see ya later. Thorton’s, your cute and pretty, but your epicurian delights can’t beat Marquise de Sevigne.
I picked up a box at CDG airport on my way back home after a quick trip to the US. This ambrosia is mouth-watering wonderful. Thick, dark chocolate with a fantastic nutty aftertaste. The green tea truffle is hard to beat. Yes, green tea truffle; first sensation is creamy, buttery milk chocolate quickly followed by the dark heavy chocolate which segues into green tea. Just a second… I’m going for another bite.
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.
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… oh, heaven. oh, delight. oh shit, Mr kiffa just took the box.
Well, I’m back and we have just polished off the three tiered box of wonderful chocolates de la Marguise de Sevigne.
Valrhona Guanaja 70%, to be specific. Kennedy and Wilson Cat’s Tongue’s come close (but boy are they bitter).
You say these Marquise de Sevigne beat Thorton’s. A big call. Certainly makes them worth seeking out. I haven’t seen Thornton’s in Australia for 5 years, and I haven’t been to the UK for more than 10. But I still recall that the cream in the truffles was fresh enough to remind me of fresh cream in my grandmother’s cooking. As a filled chocolate, I’ve yet to taste better than Thornton’s. My wallet is drooling.
I always knew there is value to eating chocolate; now there’s nutrition and health reasons as well!
Nutritional Value of Chocolate
Chocolate also has a therapeutic value since it contains :
Theobromine (600 mg.): a stimulant for the nervous and cardiac system
Phenylethylanine: (20 mg.): a “psycho-stimulant” substance acting as a neuro-transmittor and anti-depressant.
Caffeine (70mg.): which has tonic effects
Serotonin (3 mg.): relaxant.
The famous Mayo Clinic of Rochester (US), in an article published in February 2001, estimates that the consumption of chocolate several times a month brings proved health benefits.
I am a chocolate novice. I recently saw the movie “Chocolat” and I was wondering if there really are shops like this, are they a thing of the past or was it movie fiction?
My favorite is the organic milk chocolate truffle bars from Trader Joe’s. I’m sure there’s better to be had, but at $1.49 for a big bar, I’m in heavan. They also sell the German chocolate with hazelnuts that comes in a square bar. Mmmm, I think I need a chocolate fix.
I can’t believe people exist who think Hershey’s is good chocolate. :barf:
Who thinks See’s is good stuff? It’s full of wax! (I like the lemon truffles though.) Godiva’s always strikes me as a little weak. I like Ritter Sports too, fizgig, I love that slogan. “Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut.”
I make my own chocolates. No wax, just high-quality chocolate, butter, and other fine ingredients. The room has to be very cold for them to harden correctly, but they taste better than anything else I’ve ever had. Not to brag or anything. Here, try it yourself.
I quit Hersheys when I discovered Wilbur Buds, made in Pennsylvania. My folks remembered them. I found them at www.vermontcountrystore.com. They are smoother and creamier than Hersheys by a long shot, and I think it’s because one of the ingredients in chocolate liquor.
Ethel M chocolates make Godiva taste like dog food. Ethel M is the gormet division on M & M Mars. Their milk chocolate is to die for, but for a special treat try the white chocolate…I would take that over my man sometimes!
droste extra dark chocolate, it’s 72 % cocoa (not quite baking chocolate), it is the finest melt in your mouth dark chocolate that i have ever experienced.
Depends what you mean by “shops like this.” If you mean small, locally owned chocolatiers that create their own top-quality product in the back room, then a most joyful YES!
Here in Chicago, there was one when I was a kid called Ideal Candies; it was on Clark St, a couple of blocks north of Belmont, where Mia Francesca is now (also yummy Italian food, but not at all the same!). All candy was made in the back room; the owner had a bit of a crush on my mom, so once he showed us the back room, complete with huge simmering cauldron of chocolate on a low flame. It was every little girl’s fantasy! Sadly, they closed down after something like 80 years of continuous operation when the owner retired and couldn’t convince the kids to take over the business.
Now, though, in Evanston, just five miles north or so on Main Street, we have Piron Belgian Chocolatiers. (The owner, oddly enough, is the son of the crazy Belgian janitor who managed the apartment building half a block away where my family lived until I was 4 years old.) I’m SOOO sorry the rest of you guys will probably never get to taste their product, but that just leaves more for me! Each creation is more incredible than the next…so if you’re ever in Evanston, Illinois, make it a special stop on your itinerary. You won’t be sorry.
Damn, you’re giving me cravings, and Piron is closed on Sundays…
All brown chocolate has to have chocolate liquor by legal definition. It’s one of the things that distinguishes the heavenly richness of real chocolate from the crap found on Butterfingers.
I live near Hershey, and have been to Chocolate World twice now. Yeah, I know it’s Hershey’s and not fine gourmet chocolate, but I get to take the tour ride and visit Zappo when I go, so it’s all good.
Milka chocolate is the best chocolate I’ve ever had.
I was in Cologne, Germany a couple of years ago and happened to wander into a Kaufhalle store where they had many chocolate bars to choose from. The lilac wrapper of the Milka chocolate bar caught my eye and I’ve been in love with it ever since. On my annual treks to Germany, I always bring back at least a suitcase full of it. You find it in the US now and then, but it’s sporadic. Walgreens currently sells the regular sized bar for 1.99. Target used to carry it, but no longer.
Piron in Evanston is great. So is Vosgues in Chicago. (Pronounced Vozh, with an o like in know). They make the best truffles and do some really good ones with unusual ingredients like peppers and wasabi.
Best I’ve had is found at:
Watson’s Candies
Address: 996 Main St
Walpole, MA 02081-2828
Voice: 508-668-2634
Product: Hard & soft chocolate candy
This shop was founded by my wife’s grandparents during the early thirties. Pop Watson’s job selling hats ended with the depression so Doris and Pop headed into Boston exceedingly early one morning and bought a truck load of candy making equipment under somewhat obscure circumstances. I think the real explanation is that someone was losing their shop and wanted to sell the equipment out from under the bank. The shop is under its third set of owners now I believe and still making candies as well as ever. We have some cool old photos of my father in law and his father hand-pulling candy canes.
Anyway, their chocolates are all hand dipped, right behind the counter. Their fudge is absolutely incredible and well worth the call. My wife has a copy of the recipe and it makes the internist in her quail. The guilt of eating it only adds to the flavor.
Be sure to ask for the Belgian imports at the Godiva stall (in USA) there are usually a couple of items that are imported, they are much better than the Godiva name items made in the US.
Also for US made chocolate “Schafen Berger” (spelling is wrong, sorry) blocks of cooking chocolate is fantastic, at least as good as Valhrona.
Since they only sell by the half-pound and pound I can’t afford to get them that often but these chocolates are so fresh and tasty. I whole-heartedly recommend them.
