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Single Origin Chocolates: The New York Times Weighs In
Yes, chocolate's trendiness has edged into that cocktail hour pontification/irritation zone. Favored cacao content is bandied about and sources are named with an air of solemnity. But with so much delicate, step-by-step artistry from bean to praline, how much stock can we put in a palate attuned to single origins?
"To say, here we have single-origin Madagascar or Trinidad, and leave people with the impression that this is what beans from Madagascar or Trinidad taste like, is misleading," Mr. Steinberg [a Scharffen Berger founder] said.
So many factors affect a piece of chocolate: not only where the beans were grown, but the skill of whoever dried, fermented and roasted them, the amount of cocoa butter that was mixed back into the crushed beans, the two- or three-day process of mixing, heating and cooling (called conching and tempering), and the touch of the chocolatier.
True, true. Read more insightful nibs in Chocolate That Flashes Its Passport, by Kim Severson.
By Kyeann Sayer | February 7, 2006 in Chocolate, Food, Food News | Permalink
