Hauser of Belgium

There is a big chassidic contingent to my family, most of which live in Belgium.  Recently, one of them came over and brought some chocolates with her.  I was somewhat hopeful because the chocolates were Belgian, but not too hopeful because they were specifically kosher.  There is no reason that kosher chocolates should not be good -- it's not like any of the ingredients involved are restricted.  Probably a fair amount of good quality chocolate winds up getting a kosher certification.  But Hauser chocolates completely fit the stereotype of awful kosher chocolate that they are worth a write-up.  (As an aside, there seems to be an unrelated Hauser Chocolates based in the US.  As far as I can tell, there is no connection between the two.)

Receiving something like this is always incredibly stressful.

First of all, these are ostensibly flavored bon bons.  There was a little booklet that explained which shapes were which flavor.  But let me assure you -- they all tasted exactly the same.  And not good.

This also suffered from the sugar bloom (or is it fat bloom?  I can never tell) one often sees on kosher chocolates.  I don't know why this is.  There are many potential causes for this, and I don't know what happened in this case, but it noticeably messes with the texture.  It becomes waxy, grainy, and unpleasant.

That white, dusty-looking stuff on the chocolate is a problem.

It's hard to describe exactly what goes on in certain kosher dessert manufacturers.  But many of us who have some experience in the matter have had the experience of taking a bite out of a dessert and exclaiming that it was egregiously kosher.  For any of you who want to know what that means... try Hauser chocolates.

Bottom Line: Egregiously kosher.