[HPFGU-OTChatter] Chocolate Search (was Re: Profiteroles?

[P. Alexis Nguyen]

Lee
>  Now...you see???? She had to go to Germany for good chocolate! Please,
>  someone, tell me where I can find some good, reasonably priced, US-made
> Dark
>  Chocolate?

I don't know where you're based, so I don't know if these suggestions
will be feasible. At the minimum, though, I should note that I've
never found a good, inexpensive dark chocolate bar - I've had very
good bars where the price-quality ratio is exceptional, but that
doesn't really mean inexpensive since these run anywhere from $3-7 per
bar.

That said, Vosges has boutiques in many large cities across the US,
and their chocolates are available online - while the chocolate is
very good here, the standouts are the flavoured bars, which is
everything from matcha to bacon to acai berries.  Valrhona, the
chocolates that Balthazar uses in their chocolate sauces [served with
profiteroles], is available fairly widely, as far as I can tell - I've
found in many places including Trader Joe's and gourmet grocery
stores, but the selections are usually limited to the standard 56% and
76%. Jacques Torres, the famous chocolatier has good chocolates, and
if you're in the Williamsburg store in NYC, conching happens there,
which can be a fun thing to watch if you're really into chocolates.
If you want a good US company, my favourite option is Scharfenberger,
based out of CA - I've seen in occasionally in places like Trader
Joe's or even the local market, but this stuff is available online.
(All that being said, Hershey's is putting out a specialty line that
isn't half bad and will do in a pinch, and I've seen this in even
Midwest cities. Moreover, Ghiradelli, which is available almost
everywhere these days, is also fairly decent for a quick fix.)

Really, though, if you want good chocolates, read the label. The first
ingredient should be chocolate. That sounds simple until you start
reading labels and finding out that the usual first ingredient is
something like sugar or cocoa butter.

~Ali, who is laughing at how "spelling errors" is being picked up in this email