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Friday Food and Drink Post: Dutch Treat?
When it comes to chocolate, I’ve always been a Cadbury girl. At my childhood UK home, the cows in the field below our garden used to send their milk off to the Cadbury factory at Bournville near Birmingham, and whenever I took a bite of the lovely stuff, I used to wonder if any of “my” cows had contributed to it. Perhaps it tasted the better, for that reason alone.
Cadbury’s, and most modern, mass-produced chocolate, owes its existence to two processes developed in the early 19th-century by Dutch chocolate maker Casparus van Houten and his son Coenraad. They are ubiquitous enough that the industry has been divided into “Dutched” chocolate, and all the rest, ever since.
Coenraad van Houten’s process built upon his father’s discovery that the fat could be pressed out of cocoa beans, leaving a dry powder with greatly-improved storage potential (no rancidity, and much more shelf-stable), and which expanded the possible uses for the product. But Coenraad took it a step further, treating the chocolate with an alkaline and lowering its pH. The resulting product was milder in flavor, and delicious in both powder and a chocolate bar.
For the rest of the nineteeth century, British chocolate manufacturers (Cadbury, Fry, Rowntree) continued to develop and refine their techniques, as did their American counterpart Milton Hershey. On the continent, European chocolatiers did the same, going in a slightly different direction which culminated in the late twentieth-century Chocolate Wars, finally resolved by (what else) a European Union Directive in 2003 telling the respective sides what they had to do in order to have permission to use the word “chocolate” to describe their products.
Now, sadly, everything seems to taste pretty much the same. Globalization at its best. Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods) owns Cadbury and Fry. Nestle owns Rowntree. Hershey’s bless their heart, rejected Mondelez’s offer of a $23 billion takeover in 2016 and stands on its own.
This has resulted, as it often does, in a reaction, quite similar to that in other areas such as coffee and liquor. Twenty-first century chocolate snobs promote $173 an ounce chocolate bars containing nothing but cocoa and cane sugar. Scientists, nutrionists, and faddists remind us that natural cocoa which hasn’t been “Dutched” contains more antioxidants and flavonol than that which has. Therefore, we’re supposed to believe it’s healthier, and beneficial–eat more chocolate! Yes! We’re encourage to buy “single source,” “sustainable,” and “ethically produced” products. And $4, $5, $6 chocolate bars are ubiquitously available at the corner drug store and local supermarket. (Some of them are delicious, BTW.)
But what do you think? Are you a chocoholic? An afficionado? An occasional indulger? Do you go for quality or quantity? What is your favorite? Do you ever cook with chocolate? Do you buy “Dutch Processed” or “Natural” cocoa powder? Can you even tell the difference? (Be honest.) Recipes, particularly unusual ones are welcome.
Please share.
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Good tip for the newer users. As for me, yes. That’s the workaround I always use.
:-)
This might turn out to be the never-ending Ricochet meetup. :-)
I tried a peep for the first time in at least a decade and liked it, to my shame.
@Arahant
What about Mother’s Day?
Sell a few boxes, but it tends to be a “take mother out for dinner” day.
@MarciN
Ok with me, however will be going back to a Mon & Tue schedule after an Alaska cruise next week. YeahI know, but we are calling it a semi-retirement. We can usually keep up the demand by working two or three days, it’s not a big store. So just let me know when some one is in coming and we will try to be there. We are open all week though. Doc Jay was in last year, had his kids dip some chocolates.
My buddy Sherm tends to get a bit more business for Mother’s Day. It’s after that he gets a break for a few months.
I love chocolate – I got this virtue from my Dad.
My family and I lived in Jakarta, Indonesia from 2009-2014. We found a lot of good chocolate throughout Jakarta – quite a few Dutch used to (and still do) live there.
But the best chocolate experience I had was when we were in East Java at the Loser Resort. A former Dutch coffee plantation, it was then a five-star resort. I don’t recall eating chocolate there, but I did eat a combination of just roasted coffee beans mixed with a good pinch of gula merah (coconut palm sugar – “red sugar”). After eating this combo, I thought, so this is how they make chocolate!
As for a recipe, this is my signature dish (I always use a minimum 70% cacao chocolate). And why this recipe? When we lived in Jakarta Michael Smith had a show on some food network called “Chef at Home”. He was great – simple, good food that anyone can cook.
Chocolate is amazing, and I love it too much. I like chocolate with peanut or peanut butter, or dark chocolate with fruit.
Yes I can tell the difference….and am amazed at how much we have in common……I love Cadbury too – in fact I bought two bags of the little Easter eggs with candy coating when they went on sale after Easter. I’m trying to cut back on sugar but now you are making me go eat a few just reading this! Cadbury is richer and I always thought Hersheys tasted off and its because of the burnt milk.
Did you know that Walmart has its own brand of Swiss Chocolate bar made just for them and its very good? European chocolate is far better than anything American – it must be all those healthy free-ranging cows with the cute cowbells – they breathe fresh air and eat green grass. Too bad our country may soon be eliminating them (cows) – then what will happen to milk chocolate?
PS Some chocolate companies, Godiva included, have added too much soy and chemicals – I hate soy – also there is some weird additive that they’ve started adding to some chocolate products – I received a gift in the mail of this chocolate bark and when my heart started thumping, I looked up the ingredients and it had this chocolate filler/extender in it – it was a fancy co and beautiful packaging- sigh……
My father used to ask all of us children (adults scattered to the four corners of the world) if we wanted milk or dark chocolate covered potato chips for Christmas. For some of us, that was about the only time of year you could count on intact, versus fused mass, delivery. These were the famous, or infamous, “Chippers,” by Carol Widman’s Candy of Fargo, North Dakota.
I think dark chocolate covered expresso beans are just the thing! Perfectly legal!! and guaranteed to perk you right up!!!!!!!
While I tend to take my coffee straight, I will stop at Dilettante Mocha Cafe after clearing security at SeaTac. I get a small “Xtra Dark Mocha,” made of: “Molten bittersweet chocolate (72% cacao), espresso, steamed milk.”
Here in the Desert Southwest, an occasional small bar of very dark chocolate with a hint of chili peppers is warranted.
The most delicious hot chocolate drink in the world comes from a tiny chocolate shop in Venice (the Italian one), and is halfway to chocolate puddingy thickness. It was unbelievably good, not overly sweet at all, just smooth, rich and chocolatey.
“European chocolate is far better than anything American”
I don’t think this is true. There are so many factors involved from selection of the cocoa beans to the processing methods of the companies that affect the taste and feel of the chocolate. I’ve been to lots of manufactures and had side by side tasting and good American stands up to good European, lots of times better. It depends what is compared and of course the individuals tastes. Chocolate companies typically make many different “kinds”. They have different properties and tastes depending the end users wants. I think it’s a lot like French wines vs. Calif. wine discussions.
Agreed.
I guess I’m a wine and chocolate amateur then…..maybe I better do more taste testing of both…..:-)
Do you ship?
I think there are some differences, and that it’s a matter of personal preference! Both sorts of chocolate are good, although I find as I get older that the mass-produced bland sort of chocolates (I’ve never really been a fan of Hershey’s) don’t do it for me any more, and I like the more idiosyncratic and/or different flavors I find from the smaller shops/producers. I used to love Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut, but either it’s changed substantially or I have (or we both have) and it doesn’t ring my bell these days. Any sort of dark chocolate with orange peel or orange zest, or pepper of some sort usually does the trick though!
Never mind: Found your web site, ordering a truffle assortment right now.
THE BEST!!
I’ve made candied orange peel strips and dipped them in dark chocolate a few times. Delicious!
She (View Comment):
dark chocolate with orange peel or orange zest,
Very popular item.
Days work:
(Orange peal upper right)
Calls to mind Ethel M Chocolates in Las Vegas. I’m always happy to find myself routed through McCarren Airport, especially if flying to visit my parents. Between gates, I always stop and get a small assorted box.
However, a small box of caramel chocolates from Carmel? That is something that might have to happen.
Weeping with joy.
I’m a peppermint gal. The best peppermints in the world are made and sold in Victoria, BC, by Rogers Chocolates. They are big, thick patties of peppermint, covered in dark chocolate. They are called Victoria Creams, and come in myriad fillings in addition to the peppermint. When Ray and I go to Victoria, we always come back with a big bag of Victoria Creams. My last assortment consisted of peppermint, raspberry, strawberry, orange, and caramel varieties. I also like the peppermint patties sold at See’s Candies. I don’t have a lot of nostalgia for anything in my past, but I do miss the Camp Fire Mints that we used to sell as a fund-raiser. They were made locally by Brown and Haley. When I went away to grad school in Minneapolis, I had my mother send me a half dozen boxes of mints. The stuff they sell now is terrible, and very expensive.
Mmmm. I looked up Rogers. Looks delicious!
Mint Meltaways. Fannie May has good ones.
200 calories just to look at this comment ^^^.
My kids called them ‘Icky Chickies’.
I’ve noticed that taking someone out to dinner on _____ day is a miserable experience with overcrowded restaurants offering cheap and lovelessly produced gimmicks and bad wine while trying to rush you out the door to make room for the next mis-feted mom and her offspring.
The above is probably too long for a window painter, but I imagine a lot of moms would prefer to stay home with their feet up mangeing your product.
That’s why I came up with the idea of Valiversary. Our anniversary is one week after Valentine’s Day. So we celebrate both events on one night between the two dates. It’s a great, relaxed dinner out at some wonderful restaurant that we both like – no problems with reservations, no crowds, etc.