| With Valentine's Day just around the corner, isn't it | | | | accessible to casual chocolate lovers.Tasting |
| about time that your treated your significant other to | | | | (Finally!)Take a bite of the chocolate, and let it slowly |
| some chocolate? For a change, try a really respected | | | | melt on your tongue. The texture should be perfectly |
| brand, take your time, and concentrate on the whole | | | | smooth with no hint of graininess. The flavor should |
| chocolate experience.So here are some guidelines for | | | | last long on the tongue and be pleasant all the way |
| what to look for in chocolate, but be forewarned, | | | | down. This long "hangtime" allows you to search for |
| eating *really* good chocolate trains your taste buds | | | | other secondary tastes. Is it nutty? Is it fruity? Is it |
| to identify mediocre chocolate. Once you've tasted | | | | woody? Tasting great chocolate is similar to wine |
| the good stuff, there's no going | | | | tasting in a way.With cheaper chocolates, I find that |
| back...AppearanceThe chocolate should be smooth | | | | that their lower cocoa butter content makes for a |
| and shiny. If there are white blemishes on it (known | | | | less smooth texture and a shorter lasting flavor. |
| as bloom), it could be a sign that the chocolate was | | | | Worse, preservatives often lend an unpleasant |
| not properly stored. It could be that the chocolate | | | | aftertaste.With a little practice, you'll be able to spot |
| was warmed to the point where it melted or it was | | | | bad chocolate instantly. It's both a blessing and a |
| stored in a moist refrigerator. A little bit of bloom | | | | curse; you might not see supermarket chocolate bars |
| shouldn't affect taste much but the texture won't be | | | | quite the same way anymore, but you'll be in nirvana |
| as smooth. If you're paying for good quality | | | | when you get a piece of high-quality |
| chocolate, you should make sure that it's being | | | | chocolate.Recommended BrandsThis is not an |
| treated right.SnapTry bending the chocolate. It should | | | | exhaustive list of good chocolate makers, but they all |
| break off with a clean snap. If it bends, it probably | | | | make premium chocolate and are not too hard to |
| means that the chocolate maker is substituting | | | | find in the US.Callebaut |
| vegetable oil for cocoa butter, which lends chocolate | | | | Cote d'Or |
| its magically smooth texture.The Percentage | | | | Dagoba |
| DarknessThe main ingredient in chocolate is derived | | | | Domori |
| from the cacao bean. A lot of the time you'll see a | | | | El Rey |
| percentage sign on the chocolate package that tells | | | | Ghirardelli |
| you how much cacao is in the chocolate. The higher | | | | Green & Black's |
| the percentage, the more bitter the chocolate will be. | | | | Lindt |
| Darker chocolates usually have a higher cacao | | | | Michel Cluizel |
| percentage.The percentage to choose is largely a | | | | Scharfen Berger |
| matter of taste, but to taste the complex flavors of | | | | ValrhonaHowie Wang is creator of the FoodieView |
| good chocolate, I would aim for above 60% cacao. | | | | Recipe Search Engine, where you can find thousands |
| This level is often called semi-sweet.Chocolates that | | | | of chocolate recipes. |
| are above 80% are pretty bitter and not as | | | | |