Even more evidence of a terrible American malaise

missy · Post by **missy** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:36 am

another dark chocolate person here!!!

Tom just found Perugina at the store! Yummy!

chrisoff · Post by **chrisoff** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:56 am

Americans just don't know what they're doing with chocolate. I didn't eat one single chocolate bar I liked over there

Chocolate doesn't have to be over 70% to be good either (although I love dark chocolate, I just have to be wary of it due to migraines) we have many, many wonderful types of milk chocolate that softly melts in the mouth. Chocolate with praline and hazlenuts and mint and fudge and toffee and caramel...

*does homer style drooling thing*

I need some chocolate.

*runs to vending machine*

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:03 am

chrisoff wrote:Americans just don't know what they're doing with chocolate.

Now there's a statement loaded with irony. So what are South American Chocolate bars like? That's where the stuff comes from, isn't it?

chrisoff · Post by **chrisoff** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:56 am

Innocent Bystander wrote: Now there's a statement loaded with irony. So what are South American Chocolate bars like? That's where the stuff comes from, isn't it?

Ok, I meant North Americans.

djm · Post by **djm** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:58 am

I'm sure you Brits ccertainly can't be mouthing off over that Cadbury's drek (?). Talk about tasteless muck!

djm

mutepointe · Post by **mutepointe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:09 am

i'm almost done with this book "candy freak." my wife got it from the library and couldn't put it down. for light reading, it's a hoot.

http://www.amazon.com/Candyfreak-Journe ... 1565124219

my brother the priest was just visiting and gave my wife a slew of boxes of chocolates that he had been given recently. he is clueless about normal life and had no idea what a 1 pound box of godiva chocolates was. there are two chocolatiers in the town he is currently stationed who attend his church. i always thought milk chocolate could be a whole lot better and these two did it.

djm · Post by **djm** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:19 am

I laughed when I read the name of the author of Candyfreak. I laughed even harder at this review of Candyfreak:
http://www.stevenalmond.com/public/reviews/cf/wdig.html

djm

chrisoff · Post by **chrisoff** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:49 am

djm wrote:I'm sure you Brits ccertainly can't be mouthing off over that Cadbury's drek (?). Talk about tasteless muck!

djm

It's not my favourite, but Dairy Milk is still superior to Hershey's and all the other crap I ate in the US. But no it's not worth mouthing off over, not when we have Thornton's and Green and Blacks. Then there's all the european makers who are frickin geniuses.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 8:33 am

Cadbury's is just greasy brown muck, I'm the first to admit. Everything seems to be sweetness-driven these days. Gimme something tangy, spicy, a bit sharp, a bit of bite. Palates awake!

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:35 am

chrisoff wrote:Americans just don't know what they're doing with chocolate. I didn't eat one single chocolate bar I liked over there

Chocolate doesn't have to be over 70% to be good either (although I love dark chocolate, I just have to be wary of it due to migraines) we have many, many wonderful types of milk chocolate that softly melts in the mouth. Chocolate with praline and hazlenuts and mint and fudge and toffee and caramel...

*does homer style drooling thing*

I need some chocolate.

*runs to vending machine*

There's a large part of american chocolate bars that are made up of different waxes that are used as fillers to make the chocolate mixture go farther (ergo, more profit).
The us chocolate industry isn't sugar driven, it's pure profit driven; like everything else in this country, quality and taste take a back seat to quantity and profit.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:06 am

I buy organic, fair-trade, dark (>70%) chocolate imported from Central or South America, preferably single-origin. I've said it before: milk chocolate ain't chocolate.

(I tried a small bar of 99% dark chocolate once. Talk about bitter! I stick with 70% to 90% now.)

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:12 am

Hershey's chocolate is fairly unique. Fatty acids in milk can go rancid via lipolysis, and Hershey's puts their chocolate through controlled lipolysis in order to give it the unique flavor it has.

It's really a lot like the "sourdough" of chocolates. While a lot of us in the US like it, I don't, and I thought i was going to hurl the one time I had molé sauce made with Hershey's syrup!

HDSarah · Post by **HDSarah** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:44 am

SteveShaw wrote: . . . Do any of you actually eat this stuff? . . . no wonder you like invading foreign countries. You're clearly after their bloody chocolate!

Apparently lots of people eat it; not being one of them, I don't really understand it. My tastes are not that of the typical American. We joke in my family that any product I really like (especially foods) will be discontinued by its maker, or at the very least, our local grocery stores will stop carrying it.

Sadly, it seems to be true.

I've tasted European milk chocolate and it's fine -- actually milky and not so overpoweringly sweet as US milk ''chocolate.'' However, even with good chocolate, I prefer dark. My sister once sent me a big box of various dark chocolate bars from France, much better than anything I've ever gotten here.

But then, I'm one of those American citizens who doesn't approve of our government invading foreign countries, either.

Of course, I play folk music, on instruments that most people don't even recognize, so I'm obviously a little weird. One thing I CAN say in favor of being American is that I have the freedom to reject large chunks of the popular culture as I see fit, and I appreciate that. The freedom to be our own weird selves is something we value in American culture, and especially in Alaska. (But traditional Alaskan sweets are horrid: what they call ''Eskimo ice cream'' is definitely something that you have to grow up eating to love; I find it horrifying.)

djm · Post by **djm** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:56 am

HDSarah wrote:any product I really like (especially foods) will be discontinued by its maker, or at the very least, our local grocery stores will stop carrying it

I can SO relate.

djm

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:21 am

Ghiradelli's isn't really very good and I don't think anybody who really likes chocolate would tell you otherwise. It's just that they have the "factory" there in San Fran so it's like a tourist thing. But you have to admit you at half the bar, so it did take you more than one bite...

They could have brought you a bar of Lindt, but then you can get that over there, can't you.

I like the single origin South American bars myself, and the Lindt, especially the one with pear in it. My god that is to die for.

Oh, and most food in the US is horrible. Don't come here for the food except to gawk at the portions. If you want good food, eat at an ethnic restaurant where the menu isn't in English.

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Even more evidence of a terrible American malaise

Re: Even more evidence of a terrible American malaise