Charlie Brooker in the London Guardian scathingly labeled “American chocolate as nothing short of revolting”. To be fair his comments relate to the Kraft takeover of the UK’s beloved Cadbury. When Brooker describes a Hershey bar by saying, ” I was plunged mouthwards into an entire universe of yuck”. He goes on to describe the taste as cardboard like but with a nastier texture “as though this was a chocolate bar that had been found in the pocked of a Civil War soldier and preserved specifically for my disenchantment”
Poor Charlie, he must have forgot that the UK held up the formation of the European Union over the definition of chocolate. You see, America only allows something to be called chocolate if it is made solely from cacao-chocolate liquor, cocoa butter and sugar-that is it. In the UK they allow the addition of cheaper, vegetable oil, to cut costs. When the EU was formed, most of Europe wanted the definition of chocolate to exclude vegetable oil. But the gourmands in Great Britain wouldn’t have it. So now, yes, in the EU you are allowed to add up to 5% vegetable oil to your “chocolate”. So Charlie perhaps there is good news afoot, maybe the quality of your beloved Cadbury will actually get better!
So, why does America have such a bad rep when it comes to chocolate? I have my thoughts, but I welcome yours.
We have many customers who only grace our doors (fax machine, website or call in their orders) only around a holiday. Rather than ordering an assortment of our chocolates, they order their favorites.
This year I see a theme-simple pleasures. Whether it’s almond bark,continental truffles or drizzled pretzles- the tastes are straightforward. I always get requests for flavors out of the ordinary-jasmine-ginger; rosewater-lemongrass; sesame-chipotle. Not this year, not even close.
It’s as if the current mood in the country-or just at JoMart-K.I.S.S- keep it simple stupid- hmmm, if only our politicians owned chocolate shops.
This story was told to me by a customer yesterday.
Her nephew was given chocolate from JoMart about 2 years ago-when he was 2 years old. Since then, JoMart is the only chocolate he will eat.
Last weekend his parents took him to a “pumpkin launching” in Suffolk County. The details were sketchy, but apparently he won. His prize was chocolate. He was put in front of a microphone to accept his prize. He started to ask questions, is it from Brooklyn?, is it JoMart? Since the mic was close to him, his questions were not immediately understood. His parents knew what he was asking, they had to break the news to him-not JoMart.
In the end-he declined the gift.
True story, but there is definitely a moral. Give children the best and they will accept nothing but, start them off with junk food, you know what happens next.
Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving to one and all…Michael
By now, unless you are living in a cave (without wi-fi) you have all seen chocolate bars touting their darkness. It is no longer unusual to see chocolate bars proclaiming 70%, 72&, 75% 80%, 91% and more. The numbers are confusing at best and disingenuous at worst.
Let’s try and simplify the numbers game. There are 3 basic ingredients in dark chocolate-chocolate liquor (aka cacao paste, cocoa mass), cocoa butter and sugar. The 2 minor players in the dark drama are pure vanilla (or artificial vanillin) and soy lecithin-an emulsifier. The 3 stars make up 99% of the total weight and the 2 co-stars add the final 1%.
In our store I use couverature that is 68%, 70%, 72% and a new organic that is 74%. The flavors range from rich to floral to acetic and very complex. Do the numbers provide a guide, not really, do they indicate an increase in bitterness, sometimes yes other times, not so much. The number reliably only indicates 1 thing-drumroll please……………….sugar content. Quite simply start with 99% and subtract the cacao (cocoa) content and you are left with the percentage of sugar (99-70, 99-68 etc)
A certain percentage of chocolate liquor is actually cocoa butter, then more cocoa butter may be added to the mixture, this make the cocoa content percentage higher without contributing much to flavor.
The next time you taste a high cocoa content bar and it doesn’t taste as bittersweet or complex as you expect- it’s not you, it’s the bar. Trust your own good taste and only only only buy what you like. Use the stated cacao (cocoa) content as a rough guide.
A little hint: to get the full flavors out of a piece of chocolate, eat it as room temperature, try to soften it a bit before putting it in your mouth and then, relax, let it slowly melt and enjoy.
I can’t help it, I always think about chocolate. Lately a lot of discussion has been taking place during my Chocolate Workshops. I usually spend some time talking about where cacao trees grow. In case some of you do not know, cacao trees grow within 20 degress North or South of the Equator. Although Latin America used to be the world leader in cacao production, for the past 100 years Africa has had that distinction. Most African cacao is produced in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire (AKA The Ivory Coast). Most people have a sense of where chocolate comes from but every so often, a workshop participant is amazed to find out that NO CACAO IS GROWN IN EUROPE. They just don’t know that cacao is a tropical tree. Once I start talking about places like Madagascar, The Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, their heads are spinning. So consider this, now that single origin chocolates are becoming commonplace, why not use them as a teaching tool?
I am sure there are fascinating things to teach about Cameroon. But what could be more engaging than starting the discussion with a taste of chocolate from Carmeroon?
Schools teach us about Christopher Columbus’ accidental discovery of North America. Old Chris came upon cacao bean in Guanaja-he referred to them curious almonds.
Cortez plundered the Aztecs looking for gold. Instead he made it back to Spain with a far greater treasure-cacao. Which Spain kept as a state secret of over 100 years.
Are you feeling smarter yet?
Teachers, educators listen up, steal this idea from me. No royalties wanted, just a thank you will do just fine, OK once in a while order a chocolate bar.
During the summer I try to think about work, but it is just too hard to take work seriously during the summer. Now that gardening, sitting in traffic, grilling,and extra days off are coming to an end, it’s time to get back to work.
Our first new item for the season is a sour cherry fudge truffle, topped with a (dried) sour cherry. The item is so new, there are no pictures and the item is not yet available on the website.
I am pleased to let everyone know that our chocolates bars will soon be available at Orwasher’s Bakery. Orwashers is located at 308 East 78th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenue) The phone number is 212-288-6569.
The season started off on a high note, the show that we filmed for PBS with Mike Colameco was broadcast last week. The response was terrific, thank you PBS, thank you PBS viewers.
If you find yourself in Marine Park, stop in and say Hi.
Last night we happily fed beer swilling friends at the 1st annual Good Beer event held at BAM.
Good Beer at BAM is produced by Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan magazines, in partnership with the just-launched Good Beer Seal, July Good Beer Month and GreatBrewers.com, and will benefit Just Food and Added Value.
Suffice to say- the evening was a blast. We were surrounded by an incredible group of foodies, chefs, writers, beermeisters, beer drinkers, and some of the best food that Brooklyn has to offer.
Beer is never thought of as a beverage to pair with chocolate. But think about it, the universe of flavor in a beer is as wide the the flavor combinations that can be coaxed from a cacao bean.
We look forward to the 2nd annual Good Beer event. Stay tuned for further details.
Michael
The goal, beyond curating an incredible selection of great beers in Brookyn, is perfect pairings: We hit up a dozen of our favorite food makers—like Gramercy Tavern, Co. pizzeria, Porchetta, Ici, the Good Fork, No. 7, Palo Santo, Sullivan Street Bakery—for suds-inspired fare. And we asked beer gurus to match those with selections from a dozen nearby breweries, including Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint Craft Ales, Southampton Publick House, Allagash, Ommegang, Kelso of Brooklyn, Keeghan Ales and Sly Fox.
You can of course create your own beery match made in heaven at Good Beer, but we think we’ve got five sweet contenders lined up to get you started, including Gramercy Tavern’s own homebrew and their sizzling sausages; pork dumplings from The Good Fork paired with Blue Point Brewery Toasted Lager; Pennsylvania’s Troegs Brewing Company Pale Ale and Vermont’s Clothbound Cabot Cheddar; Widow’s Hole Oysters from Greenport and LeftHand Brewing’s Milk Stout; and Greenmarket veggies served up with the spicy Allagash White.
Plus we’ve lined up beery treats from Bent Spoon, including “Dark Philosophy,” 61 percent chocolate ice cream with cherries and Ommegang’s Three Philosophers, and the Penn Shandy, a lemon, ginger, gin and pilsner cocktail from Back Forty.
Beers by: Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint Craft Ales, Southampton Publick House, Kelso of Brooklyn, Blue Point Brewery, Allagash, Troegs, Ommegang, Left Hand, Sierra Nevada, Smuttynose, Magic Hat, Victory, Keeghan Ales, Sly Fox, Peak Organic Brewing Company, Lake Placid, Ithaca Beer Company
Beer bars: Jimmy’s No. 43 and Beer Table
Food by: The Good Fork, Beer Table, Back Forty, Palo Santo, Gramercy Tavern, Jasper Hill, No. 7, Widow’s Hole Oysters, iCi, Porchetta, Co., Rose Water, Brooklyn Greenmarkets, Sullivan Street Bakery, Great Performances, JoMart Chocolates, Bent Spoon and a beer garnishes demonstration by Messermeister
Every year, ‘round about anniversary time, my husband can be seen hunting and pecking in Google. I play dumb-no mean feat-until he turns to me and says, “Do you know the gift for the 14th anniversary?”
“Diamonds,” I respond.
“No. Ivory,” he replies, “And you say ‘diamonds’ every year.”
Well, I think to myself, then why do you ask me? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a major sign of mental illness…but I don’t tell him that. Diamonds it is, and diamonds it shall remain come anniversary time, birthday, Groundhog’s Day, whatever. It isn’t as though I always get them, but that’s what the gift would be, in a perfect world.
But, what to get him? For the most part, he finds presents to be a terrific waste of time (we are a mixed marriage). He’ll hem and haw about a new guitar, but only HE can pick it out. Cashmere socks are absurd, he doesn’t need more sweaters, he wears scrubs at work, he’ll buy his own music, thank you, and the books he gets at the exchange downstairs in our apartment’s basement work for him. Every now and again, he’ll splurge on something for the summer bungalow, but I don’t really think that counts as a gift for him, especially since our daughters hog anything electronic. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
For years I agonized-okay, I didn’t actually agonize, but I was troubled. But now, whatever the occasion I know what to do: I log onto JoMart and order him the halvah steaks dipped in dark chocolate. It’s a no-brainer, and he actually is thrilled when I surprise him with them. He has a ritual whereby, after dinner, he carefully sculpts a section off the huge hunk, places it on a plate, and cuts it into slivers, which he delicately eats. My husband is a big guy with a bigger appetite, so there are few times his culinary actions can be described as “delicate.” The girls and I delight in ordering them for him for no specific occasion, as there are few more delightful family moments than when he starts foraging through the goodies bin and sees an untouched JoMart box. We can actually see the synapse spring into life as his face lights up.
So, a kiss on the hand might work in some families, but if it ain’t carats or halvah, pass us by. Thanks, guys!
Just when you thought it was safe to have a quiet summer conversation. Not anymore, you can now follow JoMart Chocolates on Twitter. That’s right, cancel your subscriptions, disconnect cable and buy a Palm, Blackberry or iPhone. In between comparison shopping, watching re-runs of Grey’s Anatomy, or finding out what Jack Bauer is really up to, you can now follow us on Twitter. Whether it is my latest blog entry, a daily coupon, a new taste or just to let you know what we are cooking.
Go to our website, you can join our newsletter (more coupons) and sign up to follow us on Facebook or Twitter-or get really crazy and follow us on both-WOW, what a deal.
In keeping with the spirit of the day, time to return to cutting marshmallow.
Several years ago-about 15 to be exact-, Stanley,a friend-actually his family owned Fan-Fan, a wonderful Chinese takeout in Fresh Meadows-asked me what I thought about chocolate as a delivery system. Perhaps the msg-the naturally occuring one, not the added on-had muddled my brain, or maybe it was the ride on the LIE, but I have to admit I was at a loss for words.
This took place in the old days, 1994 or so. Those were the days before the establishment of the EU. Chocolate was not referred to by percentage, dark chocolate was known as semi-sweet or bittersweet, and we hadn’t heard of Monica Lewinsky-yet, but I digress.
Once my brain re-engaged I asked Stanley what he meant. He felt that because of chocolate’s wide appeal, it would be great to fill with vitamins or specific healthy additives. I argued that I want people buying and eating chocolate strictly for pleasure. If people are buying chocolate to help improve their memory or their prostate, it would seem more like medicine, OK, really good tasting medicine. I wanted no part of it.
JoMart does have a history with chocolate as a delivery system. In the 1950’s my father-Martin, the Mart of JoMart-entered into a working agreement with Endo, a local drug manufacturer. Each month after my dad washed (with supervision) a 500 lb melter-our current dark 68% dark chocolate- and melted a special dark chocolate-Endo scientists would add aspirin to the chocolate. Once the aspirin and chocolate was properly mixed, my dad would mold tiny tablets. They were little break-up squares consisting of apples. The parent would break off an apple-or 2, and administer the really good medicine to their ” I hate medicine, it tastes yecchy” child. Eureka, eat chocolate, get better.
Apparently the folks as Endo, or maybe a focus group decided that this was a bad idea. Although my dad told this story many times, and I still have the molds!, I never thought much of chocolate has a delivery system. Though there was that time in sleepaway camp and that package of Exlax….
Today, as if by wizardry, my dad’s stories and Stanley’s idea came back to me. If you have watched TV lately, you might have seen the Activia yogurt commercials. Somehow buying yogurt to “keep you regular” AKA-eat yogurt and poop, doesn’t bother me, it seems OK, but chocolate-NEVER!
Clearly I was not asked, but I read today-after I made marshmallow I needed a break- that a probiotic chocolate that has been available in Europe since 2007 is coming to America. According to Wikepedia (the all knowing source of everything) probiotics strengthen the immune system to combat allergies, excessive alcohol intake, stress, exposure to toxic substances, and other diseases.
The world of food is changing. Medicine seeks to taste like our favorite fruits, chocolate is filled with herbs, spices, nutrients and additives, and everything else tastes like chicken.
Chocolate as a delivery system. That’s like taking an actor and making him president. Oh well, back to work
