Food n’ Drink

posted by admin on Jun 4

Do you love chocolate?

Why not make the most of some sample choc treats?

Whether it’s a Mars a day, a slab of dark chocolate or a Kit Kat that’s your ideal choccy bar, chocolate is one of the most common treats around the world. In this country alone, the yearly spend on chocolate bars is £3 billion, thats 3 thousand million pounds! The majority of this is purchase from the big three manufacturers, Cadbury, Roundtree and Nestle.

The most purchased chocolate treats are Dairy Milk (Plain), Snickers, Kit Kat, Dairy Milk (Fruit and Nut), Boost, Mars, Dairy Milk (Caramel), Toffee Crisp, Fuse, Lion Bar, Crunchie and Yorkie. Additionally, there are specific extras such as Wispa and Mini eggs which are available seasonally or made for promotional times.

In recent years, the success of mini bars has risen hugely, particularly approaching the christmas season. A great example, Cadbury Heroes can be purchased in huge tins around the festive period, and commonly sell out in the run up to Christmas as demand is that high. Many houses will have tins of chocolate in preparation for guests and family occasions at this time of year.

Reports about the nation’s health come to the forefront of the media from time to time, and as a result, chocolate companies have set up initiatives such as charts to raise customer understanding of the health content of their products.

Adverts on the TV might be quick to imply that chocolate is full of milk, which we all believe is good for bones and teeth, however a quick look at the packaging identifies the volume of sugar and fat to highlight a couple. Of course, things in proportion is widely regarded as sound guidance, and chocolate treats are no different. Information is the solution, and the chocolate companies cannot be accused of trying to mask the truth, even if their advertising departments are successful in their jobs of talking up product benefits almost to fault.

Get your sample choccy today, or if healthy snacking is more your bag, why not try out a free healthy lunchbox?

posted by admin on Jun 1

The history of chocolate starts with the cocoa tree which is native to the forests of South and Central America and grows to approximately 20 foot high.

This quite delicate tree starts to produce fruit in its 4th to 5th year. Large yellow or red pods encase a white pulp that hides its treasure of between 20 to 50 cocoa beans.

The cocoa bean was cultivated for centuries by the Maya Indians, the Mexican Aztecs and the Incas of Peru where they had ceremonial significance and were associated with the festivities of births and marriages. They were often used as money or a tribute at these events. In some areas only those of the highest ranking could enjoy the wonderful drink boiling these beans could produce.

When the Spanish conquered Mexico in 1519 they were so taken with this chocolaty drink (although they did add sugar to sweeten the taste) they introduced the trees to Trinidad where they closely guarded their secret s of cultivation and preparation. It wasn’t long however before the trees spread to the West India Islands and The Philippines’. The Dutch are believed to have introduced them into Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Gull fog Guinea, South America however remained the chief exporter and producer until 1891.

In the Seventeenth century the drink was introduced to the noblemen and women of the courts of Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England. Chocolate still remained an expensive, exclusive luxury even though the secret to its preparation was no longer secret. When the first chocolate house was opened in London in 1657, the cost of a pound of chocolate was more than 6 months wages putting it way out of the price bracket of your average 17th century Londoner and making it only available to the very wealthy. This was due to the heavy import duty imposed on cocoa beans.

Both drinking and eating chocolate are relatively new inventions that were developed during the 19th century. The chocolate of today was not produced until a Dutchman discovered how to press the cocoa butter out of the beans.

The pressed beans could then produce a much less fatty drinking chocolate that was much more palatable than the rich buttery drink the Aztecs had made centuries earlier. The cocoa butter could then be used to make eating chocolate. In 1847 these techniques were perfected by J.S. Fry and the delicious bit of bliss that we know today as chocolate went on sale for the first time.

Now while the chocolate games are all very interesting, does it really matter to those of us who just want to gorge ourselves on the sweet creamy taste, how it got here. Or just that it did. The weird thing about history is that it changes all the time and while most things get better and progress naturally forward, Why is there always someone that wants’ to screw with a good thing. Something weird is happening to chocolate, it’s progressing and getting politically correct, it’s getting better for us while losing its delicious taste.

Chocolate doesn’t have a hard job to do, it doesn’t have to fund the cure for cancer or date Britney Spears it just has to tantalize our taste buds and make us smile as we swallow.

Chocolate lovers all over the world it’s time to pick up your chocolate molds get out of your chocolate fountain and put down your chocolate cake (only for a minute you can pick it up again as soon as we’ve made our point,) and tell the chocolate makers NO! We don’t want inferior chocolate any more; we don’t want the no-name, no frills, low calorie, low fat, sugar-free, carob chocolate.

We want our Cadbury’s, Mars, Hershey’s, Lindts and all those other delectable quality chocolates tasting as rich, creamy and delicious as they should. After all History teaches us to learn by our mistakes and you can’t improve on perfection!

posted by admin on May 29

New York City has several boutiques that offer exceptional, hand-made chocolate, many of them can only be found here in the city.

They also have fabolus cafes, cool chocolate events and inspiring factories where you can watch how these gourmet treats are being made. A box of luxury, fine chocolate is the perfect gift for a special occasion like Mothers Day or Valentines.

Jacques Torres Chocolate

A visit to Jacques Torres Chocolate feels like stepping into a small European specialty store. The store is filled with hand-made yummy treats. Enjoy a hot chocolate and a freshly baked pain au chocolat in the cafe while you watch the delicious chocolates being made in the factory. Visit Jacques Torres DUMBO in Brooklyn or the new cafe on Hudson Street.

Martine’s Chocolates

Here you find hand-made gourmet chocolates. The chocolates are made from fresh and natural ingredients such as Belgian chocolate, French butter and fresh American cream. You can find Martines Chocolates at Bloomingdales and the new store Martines Chocolates too.

Vosges Haut-Chocolat

Vosges lets you travel the world of luxury haut-chocolates. Their bestseller says it all. It is an exotic truffle collection of gourmet dark, milk and white chocolate truffles, infused with exotic and traditional spices, herbs and flowers from all around the world. Go to their chocolate boutique in SoHo or Vosges Haut-Chocolate Madison Avenue and join their FREE chocolate events.

MarieBelle

With chocolate so beautiful its hard to take a bite. Here you can listen to jazz at the Cacao Bar every Wednesday,7:30 – 10 pm. Visit them at MarieBelle On Madison or at MarieBelle Soho.

Li-Lac

In this shop in Greenwich Village you can find chocolates in memorable shapes such as Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building. Their chocolate dogs, dinosaurs, trains and baseballs make great gifts. You find Li-Lac Chocolates in Greenwich Village and in Market Hall in Grand Central Terminal.

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

At Max Brenner you’re in for a different type of chocolate experience. How about chocolate pizza or a chocolate soup. Look inside and check out the chocolate pipe system.

There are 2 of these chocolate restaurant in New York City. Max Brenner on 2nd Ave and Max Brenner on Broadway.

La Maison du Chocolat

The chocolate artists at La Maison du Chocolat invites you to discover their collections: ganache, truffles, pralines, glazed chestnuts, hot chocolate Enjoy their chocolates at La Masion du Chocolat Madison Avenue, La Maison du Chocolat Rockefeller center and La Maison du Chocolat on Wall Street

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posted by admin on May 10

Get rid of the old chocolate rabbit, and use one of those amazing chocolate molds.

It’s important to choose the best chocolate molds to suit your party, failure to do this means your guests may give a negative feedback on it. Locating a chocolate mold that is fun and interesting will make your chocolate candy look great. You have the choice to work with a theme or an assortment, both will bring fun and enjoyment to a party table.

Chocolates can come in different shapes and sizes.

Maybe you have a person in your life who is a music lover, been making a platter of molded chocolates shaped like musical instruments and notes will be a fantastic idea, you could also use this theme for a school play or concert too.

If you are the fan of a particular film star, then you can fill a basket with their pictures and maybe heart-shaped chocolates, plus other shapes like roses and diamonds. You can easily find a heart shaped mold as any popular kitchen supply store, this will help you to make professional looking chocolates. You can also find a great assortment of chocolate molds online at http://www.bakedeco.com/chocolate_molds.html. The rates are very reasonable, and there are pages of choices, included a clever chess set (which of course, one would make with dark and white chocolate).

The best times to use a chocolate mold is in the holidays:

It seems that the holidays is one of the only times you are expected to eat lots of sweets, because for most people the rest of the year they are watching their weight. Halloween is one time of the year for sweets, so using a chocolate mold, you can create Halloween theme chocolates for the party. Its probably a good idea not to make the usual ghosts and witches themes, this is because Halloween in the fall, so why not get some molds that are shaped like cats and leaves, and try using different types of chocolate like white, milk and dark.

Another time when you are almost forced to have to eat chocolate is Christmas time. You could purchase some traditional chocolate molds of Santa Claus, reindeer, and snowflakes (these would look gorgeous made from white chocolate), you could begin by making some chocolate candy canes complete with red stripes made from food coloring, also try using ring-shaped molds and diamond shaped molds, you’re only limited by what type of chocolate molds you can obtain and your creativity.

Chocolate molds can allow you to be exceptionally creative and to make your mark as a party planner, so just go crazy and let your creativity have its head.

For lots more interesting tips and information on chocolate molds and chocolate covered strawberries, go check out our website.