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.)
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| 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.
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| 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.
