20°N & 20°S

A Little Easter Treat

 

 

I have been sitting on these and now it's time to savor them. A little Easter treat for myself. Not only is it the sea salt caramel mou, but it's the Assam flavored on. I love it.

Thank you, Angelo.

 

Durand ~ Madagascar Criollo 70%

 

 

One of the first fine French chocolatiers I got to work with or sell while working at Formaggio Kitchen. The bars weren't there yet when I was working there, or they just started coming in when I left. This was many years ago though. They had wonderful cocoa powders and truffles. Good for picking up a sweet treat or a present while getting your other provisions from the store. I sold A LOT of it.

I've used their cocoa powder in previous beer dinners. Cocoa rubbed Venison with a Madeira cocoa glaze and blue cheese foam paired with Berkshire Brewing Co. Coffeehouse Porter. As well as a cocoa-cinnamon vinaigrette for a winter citrus salad of arugula and Charolais goat cheese paired with Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etra. Worked like a charm thanks to Steve Brand from Upstairs On The Square.

 

Via FK:

This little patisserie and tea salon started making chocolates infused with herbs and spices during Christmas time in 1987 in response to customer demand. Now they are considered one of the top chocolatiers in France. The Maitre Chocolatier Mme Brigitte Roussel was introduced to us by Raphael whose artisinal jams we import and which have quite a following in the US. With 30 different flavors, each of the handmade chocolates are numbered and the boxes of 16 chocolates come with a guide of the flavors that correspond to each Numero. All of the chocolates are made from dark chocolate of 64% cacao content which is paired beautifully with exotic spices, flowers and teas. We find that these chocolates are always a great source of entertainment and pleasure at the end of a meal.

 

I was going to write this long post about branding and the word Criollo, but I think I have a lot more reading to do about varietals and criollo especially, before I broach the subject again about how hybrids, buzz words, and a general lack of understanding about Criollo has swept through the population and made it easy for people simply brand their bars as such. I will just have to give them the benefit of the doubt and spare my readers a long diatribe that even I don't fully understand yet.

There are Madagascar Criollo plantations and this would be one of those bars with beans sourced from it, but I don't know enough about it or the hybrids from Madagascar to intelligently discuss it right now.

 

Madagascar Criollo 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Criollo

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, non GMO soya lecithin.

Sample Size: 100g

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, simple and typical tablet molding, non-monogrammed molding, a little surface matting from the plastic on the packaege and some minor chocolate particles but an otherwise unblemished surface.

Score: 90

Snap: Excellent snap. Very firm, deep snap with a loud crisp sound. Slightly crumbly break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Very soft aroma. Soft wood, almonds, a little spicy, and lightly smoky.

Score: 84

Taste: Roasted cacao, cocoa-y, wood, almonds, sweet, no acidity or astringency, deep plums, oak, and red wine, musty, lingering biscuit flavors and lingering raisins and wine, clean finish.

Score: 94

Texture: Smooth and creamy texture, very silky quality, medium melt-time.

Score: 94

 

I am confused about how this was packaged. A big tablet of chocolate not wrapped in any foil or plastic, and then put in a cardboard box with a cellophane window. I can tell that a lot of the integrity was evaporated on this bar. The aroma is very weak. Understandably, bars are meant to be consumed in a relatively quick manner once packaged and bought, but still. This should have been more properly wrapped up.

Flavor wise, it's quite sophisticated. Lightly sweet and properly balanced, no acidity or astringency to be found, the bitters balance nicely with the sugars, there is a lovely hot cocoa flavor right up front with some wood and almond flavors and then it opens up. Some wonderfully deep plums, musty wine barrels, and deep red wine flavors. There is a lovely floral taste the sort of surrounds the whole thing.

The snap is excellent, perfect molding and ounces for that. The texture sort of tricked me at first. At first I thought it was a little hard and waxy, but it's actually quite nice. Very silky, smooth, and creamy once it opens up. My apartment may have been a little too cold upon first opening.

I think I went into this not wanting to like it because of the criollo controversy, but I don't really have a bad word to say about it except I am perplexed by it's packaging. Needs to wrapped up more.

 

Final Score: 91.2

   score
  B+