Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Heavenly Taste Test

Frighteningly enough, I’ve worked across from Jacques Torres for almost 3 years. Well I guess that’s not entirely accurate because for about 6 months when I worked in Dumbo, I was around the corner. But seriously, what are the chances? And Jacques has well…pretty superb chocolates so it’s safe to say I must stay 100 ft from the establishment at all times.

Because of the close proximity, the chocolatier has been a “go-to” for quick gifts or a sweet tooth fix and I’ve gathered some favorites in the process. While their molds for various holidays and occasions are pretty jaw-dropping (think large turkeys for Thanksgiving, rabbits for Easter, and stilettos for Mother’s Day), their chocolate squares with various fillings are mouth watering as well. The two that ring a bell for me are the dark chocolate filled with red wine and their champagne truffles. Mmm. In the summer, Jacques even offers huge homemade ice cream sandwiches; the cookie on either side of the ice cream a rich and chocolately delight and in the winter, it’s their hot chocolate and “wicked” hot chocolate that keeps everyone coming back for more…even the tourists who come all the way downtown on their way to Century 21. ha.

So in my mind, this was the crème de la crème…until… Recently, my cube neighbor at work, J, showed me a new light. He mentioned this other chocolatier that I had never heard of called Vosges. I was apprehensive at first and once I checked out the website even more hesitant. It all sounded extremely interesting: dark chocolate flavored with ginger, wasabi, black sesame seeds or Mexican ancho with chipotle chillies and Ceylon cinnamon within a dark chocolate bar or even bacon infused chocolate. Yes, this sounded exotic but I wasn’t quite sure how it would taste. The answer came the next day on my desk.

J mentioned his favorite bar was the “Woolloomooloo Bar”- deep milk chocolate with roasted and salted macadamia nuts, Indonesian coconut and hemp seeds and he was kind enough to present me with this exotic chocolate bar. I decided if we were to properly evaluate the chocolate bar, we would need some sort of comparison . Cut to Me and DMoney lifting the “100 feet” rule and entering Jacques Torres to prep for the taste test. I searched for a good sampling that was comparable to the Woolloomoolo Bar, but couldn’t really find anything with a mixture of macadamia nuts, coconut and hemp seed- go figure. So I settled on getting a few pieces of chocolate in different varieties and we could just make the evaluation on overall performance. This proved to me more difficult that it sounded.

The three of us tasted the first piece of chocolate from Jacques. Delicious. Smooth, robust and wonderful. There were definitely different tastes that tied flawlessly together in a very creamy and continuous way. I couldn’t imagine Vosges beating this.

Then we opened the Vosges packaging. This bar is interesting because even the copy on the back is well thought out.
The copy reads:
"How to Eat an Exotic Candy Bar...

See... first, there should be a glossy shine to the chocolate bar, this shows a good temper; rather, a tight bond between the cocoa butter and the cocoa mass.

Smell... rub your thumb on the chocolate to help release the aromas. Inhale the chocolate and ingredient notes deeply through your nose. Can you feel it?

Snap... quality chocolate should always be dry to the touch. Break the bar into two pieces. Hear a crisp, ringing snap, which indicates a well-tempered bar of chocolate.

Taste... place the chocolate on your tongue and press it to the roof of your mouth. Within thirty seconds, the chocolate should slowly begin to melt around your tongue. The taste should not be evanescent; it should have a long, lingering finish.

Feel... recognize the life in your body as you… benefit from the anti-oxidants in chocolate, ride the natural high of chillies, boost your immune system with some of the natural ingredients. Each bar brings its own sensations and benefits. Notice how spicy bars don’t hit you until after you have swallowed.”


And so we did all of the above and it was like chocolate that I’ve never had before. Complex and nutty. Yet smooth and fluid. I could only compare it a good cookies and cream ice cream when the vanilla base is excellent and there is just enough cookies that it doesn’t overpower the ice cream but compliments it.

I had to go around the office and offer up the rest of the pieces (Ok, most of the other pieces…I saved a little for later). This stuff was too good not to share!! (or maybe I feared of gluttonously chowing the whole thing down). Regardless, there’s a new chocolatier in the hood. This one has a flagship store in Soho but is also sold at place like Balducci’s and the likes. J says Vosges ice cream is even better than their chocolate. I can’t image but I’ll dream in Chocolate.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow... what a nice post :)

j

Anonymous said...

Speaking of chocolates in Soho, this place is pretty good too. You may have heard of it. They have nice teas.

http://www.mariebelle.com/press.cfm

Laur R Garf said...

dude they sell this stuff at Whole Foods! I can't believe you'd never heard of it before. I've only tried the one with hazelnut and praline or something like that and it's good. But now I'm gonna try this one!