British Chocolate:
The New York Times has this piece on the superiority of British chocolate over American standards like the Hershey bar. What the article misses is that chocolate everywhere, not just Britain, is better than U.S. chocolate. Forget Belgium--even places that I wouldn't have expected to be chocolate havens, like Israel and Greece, have basic chocolate bars that are vastly superior to basic American chocolate.
2. Would you link to the piece in question?
Greece is a haven for all things sweet.
Don't forget Ghirardelli's, and, if you are into confections, Joseph Schmidt truffles (which may also be made by Hershey's....?) and Recchiuti's. San Fran is a veritable chocolate haven.
San Diego has Chuao* and Cambridge has Burdick's.
*which only supports the point about non-American chocolate being far superiour to anything made in the States.
Someone's never tasted a Nestle bar in his life.
Yup, eating a regular milk chocolate Hershey's bar is like eating sand that is vaguely chocolate flavored.
Scharffen Berger rocks, for the moment. Unfortunately they were bought out by, wait for it, The Hershey Co. Grrrrrrrrrrr......
As for Ghirardelli's, their dark chocolates are nearly flavorless even if they have a nice, crisp temper.
Ironically, there are Taco Bells in Mexico...of course, the US also exports Hershey's chocolate. If there is one thing the US still knows how to export, it is bad food (and bad nutrition).
But you can buy it for $3.49/lb at Trader Joe's.
the article of course mentions basic chocolate because it is at least relevant to the discussion of candy bars, but the main thrust of the article -- as well as the headline and photos -- is about candy bars.
At any rate, my favorite chocolate related candy is Marabou (Scandinavian company owned by Nestle)'s Mint krokant chocolate bars. Damn those are good. The Marabou Pigall is a close second.
There are exceptions, of course. The Green &Black 'Dark Maya Gold' and 'Dark with Ginger' are very nice. The Cadbury 'Crunchie' (though inferior to the Australian Nestle's 'Violet Crumble') is a personal addiction.
I will reject Greek chocolates under any circumstance (texture, sweetness), but find Turkish chocolates amazingly good. Other European chocolates range from poor to excellent, strictly according to price. Things get iffy east of Poland, though.
In order to become a mass-market product, it has to appeal, at least minimally, to a huge section of the population. Widely popular has to hit the middle range of sweetness, bitterness, saltiness. Widely popular movies cannot be too cerebral -- or too silly, neither too raunchy nor too prudish. Widely popular cars must economically without being too chintzy, and on.
I assume that someone sitting around eating $10 bars of Scharffen Berger, watching movies from Slovakia, and driving an Avanti understands that those products happen to meet his needs very precisely, but only fit the needs of very small sections of the market, and that Hersheys, Hollywood, and Honda fit (more loosely) a much larger group.
2oz $2 at TJ's.
Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar 1.55oz $.89 at 7/11.
$1/oz vs. $.57/oz. Definitely more expensive but not as much as you would suggest and sooooo much better.
IIRC, Hershey's bought SB in 2005.
I truly enjoy a plain Hershey bar once in a while. But then again sometimes I prefer a Steak &Shake steakburger to fresh sushi or a fine Italian pasta from a local 4-star restaurant, too.
Nope, the wrapper in front of me says 2oz, same size I've always bought at TJ's. But I can't swear that there aren't regional differences.
And, grrrr, Hershey did buy Scharffen Berger. So far the quality seems the same, but I'm in West Coast and we get chocolate from the original factory. I can't speak to the East Coast. I really wish they hadn't sold out, though.
Personally, I like almost all the kinds of chocolate that I've tried (Swiss, Korean, Russian, etc.,) though if I have any kind of dark chocolate with mint, I have to wait about a month before Andes' taste good again. It annoys me, as I like them whenever I haven't had dark chocolate (with mint) lately. And the most expensive chocolates I've ever had didn't put me off my Kisses.
(random Hershey remark: much of the profit from the sale of their products helps out these kids. This is why I buy Twizzlers rather than Red Vines when both are available. ^_^)
Someone's never tasted a Nestle bar in his life.
Palmer (Easter bunnies and school fundraisers.)
I once had an Israeli chocolate from the Passover section that was definitely top taste for year-round. I was pleasantly surprised.
But our cigarettes and nylon stockings still rule.
Huh. There is hot chocolate, which is technically chocolate melted into cream, and hot cocoa, which is made from a powder. Do your friends get the cocoa powder (which probably comes with the spices and sugar added)?
Mexican hot chocolate has chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. Chili powder is optional. Some people put eggs in it, too. If you are feeling really ambitious, you can make it over the stove and froth it with a molinillo.
Incidentally, does anyone know of a beer that costs more to produce than Budweiser? If so, can someone inform the folks at A.B., so they can update the printing on their can?
It's definitely an acquired taste, and Americans have by and large acquired it. I think you just have to think of it as a separate flavor category from regular chocolate bars though. I'd guess the problem a lot of Europeans have is that they eat one expecting it to taste like traditional chocolate, and the sour flavor is so unexpected it puts them off. If you specially marketed the sour flavor that might sell better than pretending it's not there.
I like it, I think the sour taste contrasts nicely with the massive sugar rush (and goes particularly well with almonds.) But I also like schmancy European chocolate and tacky English candy bars as well (mmmm, cadbury flakes).