David's Belated Chocolate Show Haul:

Hello, friends!  Sorry this post is so long delayed, but I am working through quite a backlog of chocolate that I have consumed, and I have much to share.  This post is long, and expect more such posts to come.  Here, I cover everything I bought at and consumed after the Chocolate Show back in November.  This included, basically, everything.  In fact, I purchased so much chocolate at the Chocolate Show that the original list of labels for this post exceeded Blogger's character-limit.

Jean-Luc Pele:


Jean-Luc Pele was one of the highlights of the Show for me.  They are based in Cannes.  Why, I couldn't tell you.  The list of cities in which they sell their chocolate is as follows: (1) Cannes.

Of course, they do deliver... to other parts of France.  This is all quite distressing.  I was just in Paris, and I almost made a friend order some in anticipation of my visit but thought (correctly, as you shall see) that Paris would have enough exquisite chocolate to entertain me.

In any case, I bought the dark chocolate bonbon tasting box, which included a fabulous, thin dark chocolate bottom layer.  Each of the bonbons was exceptional.  Some of the best I've had.  My only complaint was that the different origins were different to distinguish.  There was some sort of answer key included in the package, but even with its aid, it was incredibly difficult to tell one bonbon from another.  In summary: unbelievably delicious, but not ideal to the type of chocolate science experiments we like to conduct.

Brigadeiro Palace:

I also purchased a few traditional brigadeiros from Brigadeiro Palace.  We discussed them in our First Recap, now months ago.

Unlike Leila, I completely loved these.  I loved the traditional more than the dark chocolate or the brownie, surprisingly.  Leila's description that it tasted like brownie batter is pretty accurate.  Fortunately, I love brownie batter.  One thing that separates Leila and me is fudge -- I love fudge, and she doesn't.  The brigadeiros are fudgy.  If you are into that sort of thing, get on this.

 Maison Boissier:

At my most experimental, I purchased some floral milk chocolates from Maison Boissier.  This was definitely a mixed bag.  First of all, there were a couple pieces of dark chocolate that were truly spectacular.  As for the floral options, though, some were better than others.  That said, once opened, these went fast.

Overall, I was pretty happy with this purchase, even if it was flavored and sweet and a bit weird.  Sometimes it can be refreshing, and the dark chocolate petals are a firm reassurance that Maison Boissier understands how to do simple chocolate correctly.

Eclat:

We already covered the Eclat selection pretty thoroughly.  Basically, it was exceptional.  I don't know what it was about this toasted corn bar, but I completely fell for it.  If the idea of a toasted corn bar sounds intriguing to you, you'll love it.

I also got a pack of the more traditional chocolate mendiants, of Tanzanian origin, at something like 80% chocolate.  After going out of character with the toasted corn, buying this was the least I could do.  And let me say -- more good decisions.  Top-quality, super-chocolatey dark chocolate, plus nibs!

Buzz Fudge:

We talked a little about Buzz Fudge before.  I am not really sure about the distinction between Buzz Fudge and Magnolia's Fudge -- they are clearly related somehow, and they are both Oneonta-based.  Possibly it's just a name change from one to the other or something?  In any case, the fudge is delicious.  I got the dark chocolate fudge.  I loved it.  It's totally different from Murdick's, which is firm and not-too-melty -- Buzz Fudge is spooned, almost like an exceptionally thick pudding.  A totally different delicious take.



H.S. Chocolate Co.:

H.S. Chocolate Co. we covered only briefly.  I purchased the pumpkin spice bar blind, without tasting it, as it was the season for it, and I was overcome.  A moment of weakness.  Definitely the biggest disappointment of my haul.  Still totally edible -- just didn't hold up to the proven hits.

LAC:

On the first swing around, I saw there weren't many of these left, and I scooped one up.  By the time we went around the second time on our purchasing mission, these were gone.  And by the time it was in my stomach, I was exceptionally glad I had jumped the gun.

Prestat:

Leila and I were both incredibly impressed by Prestat, as we mentioned.  Twice.  Well, make it thrice.  Yes, they are the Queen's chosen supplier.  They had a high percentage, single-origin bar as well as a 71% West African blend.  The latter was more chocolatey, but the Prestat chocolatier had a clear preference for the fruitier former.  I bought the 71% bar and ate it happily.

I also bought their hazelnut truffles, which were excellent.  Just the right balance of chocolate and hazelnut ganache, without any inconsistent or otherwise problematic texture situations.

Pro tip: Prestat products of all sorts are available at Chelsea Market Baskets.

Bottom Line:  I am good at buying chocolate at the Chocolate Show, and these things are all delicious.

The Chocolate Show: Recap #4

This is it, guys. The final part of the annual NYC Chocolate Show four-part recap. Are you amazed that we have made it this far? Me, too. Are you amazed by the amount of chocolate we managed to eat in one day? Maybe don't be so amazed by that. It is our greatest skill.

JEAN LUC PELE

The booth staff was French and very lovely. When we first walked over they gave us spoons full of chocolate ganache to try. I think the ganache ultimately wound up in their hot chocolate, but we just sucked it down straight, and it was marvelous.

ECLAT

This bar cost $18. I guess because it has Anthony Bourdain's name on it. We tried a sample and it was definitely delicious, but I don't know that any chocolate can possibly be $18 worth of delicious.  I just wish they would take Anthony Bourdain's name off of it, so I could buy a few bars without mortgaging Marvin Gardens.

Eclat bars included some odd flavors that I was not down with, like one that included toasted corn and one with pink peppercorn.  David, ordinarily a purist, had the exact opposite reaction, in fact buying a bar of the toasted corn.  In fact, he was overheard loudly complaining about his life's troubles, because he was unable to decide which of the many delicious options to purchase.  Overall, despite my anxiety over the stranger flavors, the quality of the Eclat chocolates was so high that I was really impressed. I'll eat it again; I'm just going to steer clear of the wasabi pea bars. Personal preference.

TACHE

Tache is new! And they're in the Lower East Side, which means we can both walk there. And their booth staff was super-nice. And they offer chocolate classes. All this means that we are basically going to live there.

COOPERBAHIA

I didn't eat anything here. David just shoved a few of those roasted cocoa beans into his mouth without asking permission.  He assures me that he has no regrets.

That's all for this year's Chocolate Show. Stay tuned as we give individual reviews to all the goods we purchased there. It's more than a handful.

The Chocolate Show: Recap #3

More Chocolate Show recapping! We are only halfway through telling you about all the chocolate we ate last weekend! Seriously!

MAISON BOISSIER

This place had a lot of candies that weren't chocolates, so I kind of spaced out. David bought a box of these flower petals, though. They're definitely pretty. Just not all chocolate.

SALT OF THE EARTH BAKERY

Here at Chocolate NYC, we love things called "OMG"

I love baked goods, so I was really into this place. The Chocolate Show could use more cookies and brownies, as far as I'm concerned. Salt of the Earth's cookies involved chocolate discs, instead of chips, which, as I've mentioned before, is crucial. They also had a Mayan brownie that tasted like a Mexican hot chocolate in brownie form. Sold.

PRESTAT

We here at Chocolate NYC also love the color pink

Prestat was great! They're a British company, so all the booth staff had charming accents. I bought one of their mint chocolate bars-- full review of that to come. David bought a box of hazelnut truffles and a 70% bar. We were quite taken with this place.

BUZZ FUDGE

I am not a fudge person. It's too sweet for me. They had a lot of interesting flavors (including a lot that were liquor-flavored, thus the name "Buzz Fudge")-- but I'm not a good judge. Especially after three hours of eating all the chocolate I could find.  David, though, is a fudge person, and he was almost aggressively excited to buy a box, so it's probably good fudge.

VALRHONA

I mean, it's Valrhona. Simple, top-notch chocolate. What more is there to say?

The Chocolate Show: Recap #2

Picking up where we left off: here is part 2 (of 4) of our recap of the sights, sounds, and tastes of the 2012 NYC Chocolate Show!

ECUADOR TRADE OFFICE

They sold Pacari chocolates here, which we quite like.

FLEUR DE XOCOATL

These are from their special "art" truffle collection. They also have an "NYC" collection, where the truffles are painted with, like, taxis and the Statue of Liberty. They did not offer samples, so I can't speak to the chocolates' taste, but trust me when I say that their appearance was pure art.

Each mold is hand-painted, with chocolate then poured in.  Once the chocolate making magic is complete, and the bon bons are removed from the mold, the paint, through chocolate art science, is transferred (beautifully) onto the chocolate.  Does this make the chocolate taste better?  I don't know.  As I said, they didn't have samples.  But this definitely indicates a level of seriousness and attention to detail that we here at the hastily cobbled-together blog known as Chocolate NYC can barely even fathom.

We should also note that this Chocolate Artist expressed to us an interest in moving to New York permanently, if she could find proper investors.  So, to all you extraordinarily rich readers out there... give us money.  And then, if you have any left over, help bring Fleur de Xocoatl to NYC!  Even if you never get a free sample out of it, simply having such a serious chocolate devotee around can only bring joy to us all.

H.S. CHOCOLATE CO.

In H.S. Chocolate Co's personal description, they said, "We put a modern twist on old-fashioned classics like candy bars, filled chocolates, and caramels by using fresh, high-quality ingredients and utilizing local purveyors whenever possible." So obviously I'm very into this place-- if there's one thing better than a Reese's peanut butter cup, it's an artisanal peanut butter cup.

JER'S CHOCOLATES

Delicious peanut butter chocolates!  David would never approve, but David is also a Mets fan, so he clearly prefers disappointment to fun.

The Chocolate Show: Recap #1

Every November, this amazing, amazing thing happens in New York City. It's called the New York Chocolate Show. What happens at the Chocolate Show is that roughly 50 incredibly nice chocolatiers set up booths, and for a door price of $35, you-- yes, you, average chocolate lover-- can go inside and eat all the chocolate you can stuff inside your mouth.

Last weekend was our fifth annual Chocolate Show. This may sound impressive, but considering we met some guy on the floor who said he'd been coming since 1999, we are really johnny-come-latelies.

We love the Chocolate Show. We love it. We are very good at it, too. We take notes. We make maps. We pack Pepto Bismol. We unhesitatingly knock out of the way small children who are standing between us and the free samples. You have got to keep your priorities straight.

In addition to eating everything that was free, we also bought a lot of chocolates. The idea of the Chocolate Show is that it happens five or six weeks before Christmas so you can buy Christmas presents there. David and I mostly bought presents for ourselves. Like I said: priorities.

We will devote an entry to each of the products that we purchased. But first we will spend four entries just recapping the experience itself. Here we go...

VINCENT GUERLAIS

If you live in France, Vincent Guerlais has some game where you can guess what your truffle's flavoring is on their website and win something (more chocolate, presumably). We love games, because we love to win, but we could not play because we're not in France.

OVERSEAS FOOD TRADING

Last year I bought a box of dark chocolate-covered marshmallows from these folks. They were quite nice, if you like marshmallows. This year I bought four boxes of these All Natural Truffles Dusted with Cocoa Powder by Le Chef Patissier, for only $10! They are delicious, and that is a downright bargain.

BRIGADEIRO PALACE

From their website: "A brigadeiro is a smooth, creamy chocolate originating from Brazil. It is created by mixing condensed milk, butter, and cocoa powder, which is then melted and rolled into a round shape." It tasted kind of like brownie batter, though, for my tastes, a little too sweet. They had a bunch of different flavors. I tried the brownie flavor and the dark chocolate flavor. David bought a box.

More Chocolate Show updates to come, just as soon as we upload the photos!