November 6, 2009
Posted by Melody Kramer, November 4, 2009 at 1:15 PM
[Flickr: oskay]
See that brown chalky disc second from the bottom? That is a chocolate Necco Wafer, aka the Kevlar vest of candies. Virtually indestructible, the Necco Wafer was sent into battle with troops during World War II because it wouldn't melt or break during transit. Packs of Neccos have traveled with Admiral Byrd to the South Pole and with Donald MacMillan to the Arctic. It can withstand extreme temperatures and harsh terrain. It is, perhaps, our nation's greatest militarized fat free wafer.
You either love 'em or think they taste like a chalky hot mess.
Which is why, I think, there are two distinct thoughts regarding Necco Wafers: You either love 'em or think they taste like a chalky hot mess. I used to be firmly in the latter camp. After all, according to company history, the treats have been used as communion wafers, poker chips, and even as bulls-eyes at a target range.
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Posted by Heather Rawlinson, September 23, 2009 at 1:05 PM
"As long as you stay on this side of the sweet-savory line, the meat and chocolate trend is a great one."
Chocolate-covered bacon from Roni-Sue's. [Photographs: Robyn Lee]
Chocolate and meat may have started with the Aztecs (in their thick, chocolate-tinged mole sauce) but the food marriage has been spreading to the artisanal candy aisle and non-Mexican restaurants like Blue Hill in New York. At first I was very wary of this combination but knew I'd have to give in—if for no other reason than to say I’d at least tried it.
My first foray into chocolaty meat, probably like many others, was the Vosges bacon chocolate bar. I picked it up about a year ago and my impression was anything but good: the bacon bits tasted like Bac~Os and overpowered the chocolate to the point that I couldn’t enjoy it at all.
"Like any food trend, I feel like meat candy started out as a questionable idea that, in the hands of someone who can make good food, was well executed and thus delicious. That said, a lot of meat-based confections are pretty gross. Roni-Sue's and NuNu Chocolates bacon chocolates are very nice but most others I've tried I'd rather pass on," said Brooklyn butcher Tom Mylan on the topic.
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Posted by Heather Rawlinson, September 16, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Note: Please give a warm welcome to Heather Rawlinson, our new chocolate correspondent. She kicks things off with ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie analysis—which chips are best? You might want to grab a cold glass of milk for this one. Take it away, Heather!
[Photograph: Heather Rawlinson]
Like so many other great discoveries, the chocolate-chip cookie supposedly started out as a mistake. According to the story, which seems to border on myth, Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts intended to make chocolate cookies for her guests one day.
After running out of her usual baking chocolate, she improvised with some Nestle chocolate morsels instead. To her surprise, the chocolate chips didn't melt and combined with the dough just as her usual chocolate did. In fact, the bits kept their shape and to our eternal benefit, Mrs. Wakefield didn't throw the “mistake” away. Thus, the first chocolate-chip cookie was born.
Over 70 years later, there are now many variations of the classic, with additions such as nuts, dried fruits, and the most important component, chocolate chips, which come in a variety of forms.
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 27, 2008 at 1:00 PM
How does a serious eater justify a tour of Paris chocolatiers? In the New York Times, Amy Thomas pedals from shop to shop. There's no way she could have burned off all those chocolates, but it's the kind of rationalization I would use.
Where did she pedal?
Patrick Roger, Michel Chaudon, Pierre Hermé, Christian Constant, Jean-Charles Rochoux, Pierre Marcolini, and Michel Cluziel.
Thomas actually quotes the great Paris-based food blogger and pastry chef David Lebovitz, but in typical Times style the piece doesn't link to Lebovitz's blog, which has an incredibly discerning and passionate Paris chocolate section. My guess is that Thomas used David Lebovitz's blog as the jumping-off point for her story.
Posted by Clay Gordon, October 22, 2008 at 5:00 PM
I just got back from a trip to the Dominican Republic, where I was doing research with a client. When traveling to cocoa-producing countries such as the Dominican Republic, one thing I always look for is how locals consume cocoa and chocolate, and manifestations of this "native" form.
Generally, cocoa farmers around the world don't make the kind of chocolate we're used to eating in the United States, in large part because highly refined chocolate requires lots of power and nearly ubiquitous air conditioning and refrigeration. This may work in big cities, but not out on the farm.
For this reason, most chocolate made by farmers in cocoa-producing countries like the Dominican Republic, is consumed as a beverage, not eaten.
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