Selecting Chocolate
All that glitters is not gold
The new trend is for people to be sophisticated in their chocolates. I hear about people saying that chocolate is good because it is from a particular country, or it is a particular brand. This is supposed to impress others or to convince consumers that they have a good product. Rather than go into detail, I will just provide a few guidelines:
- Buying chocolate is like buying a car. There are many varieties of manufacturers and different countries of origin. To say that a chocolate is good because it is Belgian, for example, is like saying that you bought a North American vehicle. There are many manufacturers who have different levels of quality. As we know from vehicles, other countries produce high quality vehicles too. Do not assume that the country of origin guarantees good chocolate.
- The other mistake consumers make is that they say they bought a particular brand or from a particular manufacturer. Going back to the cars, it is like saying that you bought a Ford – it could be the quality of a Pinto or it could be a luxury vehicle. Indeed, with the global mergers it could be a Jaguar, Volvo, or another international subsidiary. Even if it is a “quality” name, there is differing quality of manufacture of the different models depending upon where the automobile was manufactured. So it is with chocolate. A popular Belgian brand (that is familiar to many in Western Canada), produces it chocolate in Belgian, Canada and the United States. The North American manufacturing is based upon the European standards, but the various ingredients are different, (the sugar and milk, for example). The end result is that the properties for the North American manufactured “Belgian” chocolate are different than that manufactured in Europe. For my money, I would only use the European chocolate for fine chocolates.
The bottom line is that do not assume that the quality is there because it is related to the brand or country of origin. I would suggest that you read “about chocolate” in an earlier section to gain some basic knowledge. Relate this as well to the NY Times article for additional fun.
Select a section below to learn more about chocolate:
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