Al supermercado italiano!

Contrary to popular belief, there isn’t a gelateria on every corner in Italy. And fine chocolates, unfortunately, do not rain from the sky. If you’ve had enough Nutella, or if you’re out late and browsing at il supermercado, or if you’re simply waiting for a train you’ll find Italy still has some exciting options in the standard candy offerings. From Italian chocolate makers Perugina to German import Ritter Sport, chocolate in Europe is different. For example, hazelnuts (“nocciole”) are very common, wafers are almost ever-present and dark chocolate (usually called “fondente,” but sometimes “neri”) is more bitter due to its higher cacao content. Another good reason to try the candy is that several are offered as gelato flavors: Nestle Baci, Perugina Nero, Kinder Bueno, Nestle Lion and Mars Bounty. Enjoy!

Must Try

• Perugina Baci (or Bacetti) – Dark chocolate exterior with a hazelnut pieces in the center. And it translates to “Kiss!” (Italian)
• Ferrero Duplo Cuore Fondente – Ferraro has some products commonly seen in the U.S. Their products all have the same formula: a truffle shape and a layer of wafer between the chocolate shell and core. This one is dark chocolate through and through. Molto bene! (Italian)
• Ritter Sport Fondente con Nocciole – The hazelnuts were dry, whole and crunchy like almonds usually are in American chocolate. The chocolate was dark, melty and glorious. (German)
• Kinder Bueno – Chocolate-covered wafer bubbles filled with hazelnut cream. The cream has a consistency like a less thick peanut butter. Eat it slow. (Italian)
• Perugina Nero – The chocolate is similar to Dove dark chocolate, soft and dark, only darker and softer. It’s like eating a sheet of brownies in one small square.
• Mars Delight – A familiar brand with an unfamiliar product. A little wafer, a lot of sweetened peanut butter, and a milk chocolate exterior. This is the only chocolate I saw with peanuts because it is a big no-no to mix salty and sweet in Italy.
• Majari Gianduja – This is a classic. I hope you have had it before your trip to Italy. Chocolate with a hazelnut flavor. (Italian)

The Rest

• Ferrero Tronky – Like other Ferraro products, except no chocolate covers the wafer shell that surrounds the tasty filling.
• Ferraro Fiesta Orange – A chocolate covered cake that tastes like zabaione. No clue why they chose the misleading word “orange,” but the Italians must love seeing the English language used on product packaging.
• Kinder Cereali – If you like Honey Smack cereal enough that you wish it was covered in milk chocolate, this is the bar for you. You’ll even get that cereal aftertaste!
• Loaker Napolitano – All of Loacker’s products are wafer-centric. I had a chocolate-covered variety, which was like a milkier, creamier Kit Kat with hazelnut cream. (Italian)
• Lindt Fondente Peperoncino – This Lindt product is not one you see in the U.S. Italians won’t mix salty and sweet, but putting paprika and peperoncino in chocolate they’ll do. It added spice, but did not enhance the flavor. (Swiss)
• Majari Fiat – Yes, Fiat. They make cars. They make chocolate…or at least allow their brand name to be used. Smooth layers of soft chocolate and hazelnut cream.
• Nestlé Galak – Why someone would spend good money on plain white chocolate baffles me…but this is coming from the guy who handed over 6 Euro for a fancy chocolate bar.
• Nestlé Lion – Wafers layered with marshmallow, covered in caramel, and then milk chocolate with rice puffs.
• Novi con Nocciole – Lower quality than Ritter Sport. The hazelnuts are not whole and have less of an effect on the taste and texture. (Italian)
• Ringo Gusto Cioccolato – Small sandwich cookies that look like they’ll taste like Oreos, but taste more like Keebler E.L Fudge.
• Mars Bounty and Malteasers – See my coverage of Canadian chocolate.

You may have noticed the brand name Mars on one of the Must Try candies. Yes, some brands that are regulars in America can be found in Italy. A typical Mars Bar tastes exactly the same—that waxy, sour American-manufactured-chocolate taste—but the Kit Kat I tasted had a milkier, creamier flavor.

Next time: Fancy Italian chocolate!

…don’t embarrass yourself.

Here’s a play-by-play of helpful things to know when ordering gelato in Italy:

• Some gelaterias require you to pay first. Observe the other customers: if they hand the man behind the counter a receipt, you need to find the cash register and pay first.
• It’s helpful to know that “gusti,” which is often on gelato menus, translates to “tastes.” Ordering “tre gusti” results in you having three scoops, and a choice of three flavors.
• Cono means cone. Copetta means cup.
• Often the first scoop you order is the largest, with each scoop that follows being a small top off. Order the flavor you want to most first.
• Gelato making is an art; treat flavor combinations as one, too. You should be able to taste the flavors individually, but with a logical progression, accounting for melting. For example, chocolate will overpower every flavor, so either put it on top and devour it before it melts over the others or put it on the bottom.
• In case there aren’t pictures here’s some vocab: fragole = strawberry, lampone = raspberry, frutti di bosco = mixed berry, mandorla = almond, nocciole = hazelnut.
• Some common flavors you’ll see that you might not recognize are zuppa inglese (based on a custard dessert flavored with a Florentine liqueur, it tastes similar to butterscotch), zabaione (based on a custard dessert flavored with Marsala wine) and stracciatella (chocolate chip). Some other flavors you’ll see, like Bacio, are named after popular candies that can be found in Italian grocery stores, newsstands and vending machines.
• When your cup or cone is full—Mine runneth over—you are likely to be asked, “Panna?” If so, you are being asked if you want whipped cream on top.

Next time: Italian chocolate!

When in Rome...

In Italy, I tried to eat gelato on average every day. (For nearly every day I missed, I had another day where I had a double helping!) That being said, here were my favorites from four weeks in nine cities:

• Along with blood oranges and mozzarella di bufala, what I will miss most about Italy is their chocolate gelato. In America, chocolate ice cream tastes like chocolate ice cream, not like chocolate. It is tasty, but very different from what the Italians do, nay, accomplish: An explosion of flavor, like a concentrated form of a fine artisan’s chocolate. And the sensation grows with each bite! It burrows itself in your very being!!! You feel like you are walking on chocolate, people!!!!! My favorite place for chocolate gelato was Rome's Il Gelato di Claudio Torcé(pictured), located at the south end of Metro line B. This gelateria has 100 flavors to choose from and at least 20 are different varities of chocolate gelato. I went with the darkest ones they had, which were practically black: Pura Madagascar, Pura Araguani and Pura Trinitario. On a non-chocolate note, I would also recommend Pera e Cannella (Pear and Cinnamon).

• My favorite combination of flavors was amarena (cherries in sweet cream) with mirtillo (blueberry) sorbet on top. I was witness to this holy union thanks to what might have been the least flashy place in Venice, a small place called Edy Bar near Campo San Zulian. This was the only instance in my trip when I finished my cup and immediately re-ordered the same thing.

• Arancia rossa (“Red orange”) or, as we call it in the states, blood orange, a name that may not be appetizing but is at least grammatically satisfying. For the ever-presence of this fruit in Italy, surprisingly few gelaterias offered the flavor. If you see it, like I did at Rome’s Giolitti, buy it. For those not in Italy, Ciao Bella makes pints of blood orange sorbet that will quickly remove your socks with the power of its flavor. 

Honorable mention: Primavera in Sorrento.
 
Next time: Tips for ordering gelato!

Ice Cream Talk with Oscar-winners

I was house managing a play when she walked in. She was not the only celebrity I'd met at Williamstown Theatre Festival, summer stock home of so many of Broadway's favorites and hopefuls. As she walked towards the theatre's entrance, I was faced with a moral dilemma I hoped I'd never face. But nonetheless I was forced to action—it cut me to say it, but I must do my job, and I must do it well:

"You know you can't bring that into the theatre, right?" speaking of the dish of ice cream in her hands. No food or drink was allowed in the theatre.

Remembering herself, she looked down at her Styrofoam bowl, complete with plastic spoon and overturned sugar cone—and gleefully sputtered, "I got here earlier, but I needed some ice cream so I left."

The following is what that made this moment in time such a pinnacle of my existence. Rather than asking where there might be a receptacle to dispose of her unfinished delight, she promptly inquired if there might be a freezer to store her sweet temptation. Dutifully, I escorted her.

There was much to discuss with my new compatriot in lactose. She had gone to the local place, Lickety Split, and was still reeling from how good it was. Enthusiastically, I told her she had to try their signature flavor, Purple Cow. "Ooh, what's that?" "Raspberry ice cream with chocolate and white chocolate pieces and a raspberry swirl."

For some reason, I did not ask her what flavor she had tried. I was feeling a bit shy, nervous to ask such a personal question, but felt confident enough to make a few sidelong glances. My leering soon left me deflated: she seemed to have a frou-frou coffee flavor.

Arriving at our rendezvous destination, I opened the freezer door for her with all the chivalry I could muster. Already inside the freezer sat a half gallon I had placed for storage earlier. "I am an ice cream fiend," I told her, feeling a little exposed. I felt safe, though, not at all ashamed or scared.

As her treat entered my secret place, I sneaked another peek at her dish's contents. At second glance it appeared to be deep, pure, and uniform as only chocolate can be. This put all my fears to rest. We walked the 15 second trek back to the theatre with smiles on our faces.

She entered the theatre and my friend who works in the box office called me over to ask where "Marisa Tomei and I" had walked off to together all "buddy-buddy." I told him I had taken her to a freezer to store her ice cream, and in saying this I realized I was probably the only person in the world who thought this to be more intimate than anything else we could have accomplished in such a short span of time. Mmm, ice cream talk. Foreplay for the loser.

• • •

As the play came to a close I took my post near the door as people exited. She came to me and asked me where the stage door was to meet the actors exit from. I directed her in the proper direction and told her with a knowing smile, "I can show you to your ice cream when you're ready." I looked forward to another rendezvous, once more sharing our passion, and again showing her the opulence of my frozen safehold. 

...But sadly, this is where our story ends. It seems our heroin, in all of her cravings, did not feel the need to come and claim her beloved.

Oh, how we all dream in this life! Dreams of theatres where ice cream can gain admittance, dreams of conversations with movie stars, dreams of Marisa Tomei inviting us over for sex and pie. How rare it is that we appreciate the dreams that we live daily more than the dreams we wish would come true. How rare it is to be so virtuous! To hold such virtue would be, well, the kingdom of heaven. Yes, and ice cream is the kingdom come to earth. Ice cream, one could conclude, IS life!

Indeed. And I hold the spoon.

Happy Today's-as-good-as-any-to-treat-me-to-dessert Day!

Chocolate-covered strawberries. They might be my absolute favorite food. And I'm not at all opinionated about them, whether they are fancy, messy, fresh, chilled, dark, milk, big, or small, I will enjoy them. I'm not sure I could elaborate. But please take note, friends, since there are many occasions throughout the year to surprise me.

That being said, we'll move on to ice cream, a much more diverse ground for discussion:

Forrest Gump once said, "Stupid is as stupid does," and you'd would be doing quite a bit of stupid if you missed Turkey Hill's Box of Chocolates, a Limited Edition flavor whose half gallon package is covered in red and pink hearts for--I'm guessing--Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. Each spoonful of the chocolate-based flavor has chocolate flakes and, if that weren't enough, most bites also contain one of the many items you might find in a box of chocolates: chocolate raspberry cups, chocolate almonds and white chocolate chunks, each from Gertrude Hawk Chocolates. (If you go to their website, you'll find that they ship chocolate-covered strawberries. I thought you might find that interesting.)

Turkey Hill is a regional ice cream company specializing making and distributing premium ice cream to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States. Their tasty product is among the higher-end options available in half gallon varieties. You may have noticed that they, like one Canadian chocolate company, have chosen a bizarre set of words for marketing a dessert product. No need to fear: their ice cream is 100% turkey-free.

The Story of How the Brubakers Came to America

It is one of my family's classic stories. When the Brubakers first came over to America, they were on the same vessel as the Hershey family. Since a charismatic nature runs in the family, it's no surprise that the Hersheys were quite taken by my forefathers. In fact, the friendship blossomed so much that the Hershey family asked the Brubakers if we would be interested in joining them in the chocolate business they intended to start in the new world.

"No," we said. "We intend to open our own grocery store."

Both families would later settle in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. There is still a large population of Brubakers there and, well, you know about the Hersheys. The Brubakers actually would go on to experience prosperity as grocers, but, suffice to say, there isn't an amusement park erected in our image.

Don't be swindled by low prices!

It would make sense for chocolate to contain cocoa butter, right? Well, some companies have been exploring other options.

In America, there has been a pattern of using less and less cocoa butter because, rather than using it in the chocolate, many chocolate companies are selling their cocoa butter to cosmetics companies. Instead cheaper, lower quality fats (such as sunflower oil, palm oil, and coconut oil, among others) are added to the “chocolate” we tend to see in the supermarket. But wait…can you call a product “chocolate” if it doesn’t contain cocoa butter, or at least some percentage of the fats come from cocoa butter? Some companies are trying to see to it that the definition of chocolate is changed!

How is this even possible? During the process of making chocolate, they press the cocoa beans to extract the cocoa butter, leaving behind cocoa powder or cocoa mass. (For those that are curious after my detailed report on how chocolate is made, this scandalous extraction is done by the companies in question after the beans are roasted but before they are put through the stone mill.)

American chocolate is known for its waxy, sour taste. Now you know why. By certain definitions it isn’t chocolate. So when you see an expensive chocolate bar, it probably is expensive for a reason: namely, that it contains more chocolate. Makes sense why it tastes better, huh? When you see a percentage written on a chocolate bar it accounts for the percentage of actual cocoa solids, cacao or cocoa mass.

In short: If it’s chocolate you want, don’t accept anything that doesn’t have some form of cocoa, cacao or chocolate as the first ingredient. Stay safe. Stay informed.

Obama ice cream? Yes, Pecan!

We interrupt chocolate month to announce some breaking news:

Thanks to Ben & Jerry's, eating ice cream is now patriotic, my friends.

Step 1 to Becoming a Chocolate Connoisseur

Theo Chocolate bars (and their 3400 Phinney bars) are available nationwide at all Whole Foods locations. They are the only chocolate company in the U.S. whose ingredients are certified Fair Trade; they also are the only chocolate company in the U.S. whose ingredients are certified organic. And did I mention that they are one of only 12 US chocolate companies that, bean-to-bar, does the entire chocolate-making process themselves. Where better place to learn how chocolate is made? They give daily tours, 7 days a week in their factory, located in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.

Cacao (or the Americanized term cocoa) is the seed of a fruit—not technically a bean, though it is referred to as one—that grows from the trunk and lowest branches of the tree known as Theobroma Cacao. This tree can be seen in countries within 20º of the Equator. To get to the seeds, the fruit innards—seeds and all—are pulled out to ferment for 7 days. (This is the stage that most affects the flavor of the bean.) The seeds are then dried on slats. The dried seeds are then bagged up and sent to a plant. At the plant, the beans are cleaned, roasted, and split with a “bean guillotine,” removing the shell and leaving only the brittle innards (pictured), or what is called the “nib.” (It takes about 70-80 beans to make one 3 oz. dark chocolate bar.) Then the magic happens.

The nibs are roasted, developing their flavor, before they are crushed into a paste with a consistency not unlike freshly ground peanut butter. It is then reduced into a more liquefied form, technically called “chocolate liquor.” Next the sugar is added, as well as the milk for milk chocolate. Next, more complicated things: the sugar particle size is reduced, the acid is reduced, until finally the cocoa solids that have been created are reunited with the cocoa butter (which was previously extracted from the bean). Next all that needs to happen is molding the chocolate, getting the temperature down and packaging it…or if you happen to own a chocolate factory for strictly personal use, forgo the packaging and eat right off the assembly line.

Another option is to add cream to the chocolate. The chocolate is completely processed and formed into a block. Next, remelt the block and mix in hot cream (possibly already fused with other flavors, such as mint. Then, use a marble countertop to temper the ganache—the name for chocolate with cream in it—so the cocoa butter doesn’t separate. Then you can use it for making truffles or other confections.

As I've said before, Theo’s products are incredible. Visit the factory and sample nearly all of it in their factory store, or take the tour and try a little more!

In lieu of moose jerky…

In a recent jaunt to Canada, I decided to take in the local color, by which I mean the snacks. Nestlé ice cream was readily available, featuring some flavors I’d never seen. The most exciting of these was Rolo ice cream. Imagine Rolos in all their caramel-y goodness sitting deliciously in chocolate ice cream—the way God intended ice cream flavors inspired by chocolate-covered candy. Mmmm. While the nature of my trip did not allow me to try Canadian ice cream, I did walk away with a LOT of foreign candy.

A couple simple observations can be made: (a) Nestlé and Cadbury take over most of the candy section and many American Hershey products are nowhere to be seen. (b) They have many, MANY varieties of Kit Kat bars, including cinnamon. (c) Canadians have a strange fascination with air bubbles in their candy. (d) Coffee chocolate is quite popular, which I had no interest in trying. (e) Their candy bars are significantly larger in size. (f) Everything was in both English and French, so they had Original Skittles and Skittles Originaux!

Worth Trying

• Mars Malteasers – Wonderful malted milk, covered in chocolate. I cannot stomach
  Whoppers, but these are great!


• Cool Dark Zero – Also available in milk and white, the wrapper says this treat is “Cool filled dark chocolate.” It is my policy to purchase any product that is “cool filled.” Taste-wise it was like a Moritz Ice Square, only with dark chocolate. Another comparison would be a dark Lindt truffle.


• Cadbury Wunderbar – The name and Viking-themed packaging made this product stick out as the most awesome. (Yes, even more awesome than the semi-holographic Cool Dark Zero.) It also was my favorite: caramel, peanut butter and a few crispy rice puffs enrobed in chocolate.


• Cadbury Crunchie – Sponge toffee, which is not unlike honeycomb candy. It had a nice aftertaste similar to a golden brown marshmallow.

The Rest

• Bounty – Chocolate covered coconut bar, not unlike Mounds, but with a delightful tropical-themed package!


• Cadbury Sweet Marie – More or less a Baby Ruth.


• Cadbury Mr. Big – Imagine a Baby Ruth—or a Sweet Marie—but with a wafer in the place of nougat, and less peanuts.


• Nestlé Aero Peppermint – In addition to being a good source of bubbles, the package also advertises in bright red that it is a source of calcium! “Have you felt the bubbles melt? Laissez fonder les bulles…” Basically, it’s less chocolate in the same volume candy bar.


• Nestlé Big Turk – To me, this was the funniest of the bunch. The front of the package is covered with words, but has no explanation of the contents except it has “60% less fat that the average chocolate bar,” which doesn’t exactly promise that the consumer will find chocolate within. Really this tagline should be used by more products (i.e. zucchini, kumquats, bottled water). It ended up being gummy candy with a thin chocolate coating, a treat known as Turkish Delight. A weird combo to me, not one I could delight in.


• Nielsen’s Jersey Milk – Being an American, I associate the word "Jersey" with the city of Newark, not with cows. Thus, the humor of a company settling on the word “Jersey” for selling a candy is endless. This plain milk chocolate bar tastes like what I used to get from advent calendars leading up to Christmas.


• Eat-More – This product of Hershey’s Canada wins the prize for most generic-looking wrapper design. It is a “Dark Toffee Peanut Chew,” which means it is bendable—perhaps even pose-able!—with the consistency of a Power Bar.

There was also something called Bridge Mixture which, like Big Turk, was less than clear on the package’s contents. It picture looked like chunky chocolate-covered peanuts, which is fine and good, until I saw no peanuts listed in the ingredients. I put the package down and walked away.

Ep.6: Häagen-Dazs is better than Santa Clause.

Though my dad and I could have continued driving and exploring America for much longer, we wanted to be home for Christmas. After visiting family near New Orleans, we drove long stretches with no stopping to get to southeast Virginia on time for holiday celebrations.
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From what I remember, the last ground-breaking new holiday-themed ice cream to hit grocery stores was Ben & Jerry's Seinfeld-inspired Festivus ice cream, which was essentially gingerbread ice cream. Other grocery store brands jumped on the band wagon in years to come, offering their own gingerbread ice creams. But since then, there's been a dry spell of new holiday-themed flavor ideas. I mean, we've already got eggnog, pumpkin, candy cane and gingerbread. So what's left? Chestnuts roasting on an open fire ice cream? Pine-scented Christmas tree ice cream? Venison ice cream? Häagen-Dazs has outdone themselves again with their latest Limited Edition flavor: Peppermint Bark. Wait, but with mint chocolate chip and candy cane ice cream already on the market, is this a new idea for ice cream? Yes, and here's why.

In its native form, peppermint bark is a holiday treat that is part chocolate, part white chocolate (sometimes mint-infused) and part crunchy candy cane. It sticks out as something different in the mint candy genre. Equal parts creamy, minty and chocolatey. Ghirardelli's Peppermint Bark has been the favorite treat in my Christmas stocking for years.

Mint ice cream exists in many forms. My mom prefers the especially crunchy candy cane variety. I prefer the creamier mint chip variety. Some have a mint ice cream base, other vanilla. Some have cookies mixed in, others Andes mints or York peppermint patties. Some have a mint flavor only at first taste, others are extra-minty and linger like a breath-freshening mint. There are others still: an entirely separate category of chocolate-based mint flavors such as Girl Scout Thin Mint. But until now, no grocery store brand has sought to marry the flavors (and textures) of peppermint bark in an ice cream. Until now.

Häagen-Dazs Peppermint Bark is a white chocolate ice cream with bits of peppermint bark broken up throughout and some extra pieces of candy cane mixed in. This combination makes it a mint ice cream my mom and I can agree on. Maybe that's why she knew it would be a perfect gift for me this Christmas. Thanks, Mom!

UPDATE: After extensive "research," I've decided the best way to eat this concoction is to double-fist Ghirardelli's Peppermint Bark with the Häagen-Dazs. This increases the chocolate content, but also provides the added bonus of prolonging how long each product will last.

Ep.5: Denton, The Home of Happiness

Continuing east, we drove across Texas, from Amarillo to Dallas and on to New Orleans.
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An hour northwest of downtown Dallas is the small town of Denton, TX. Remembering that my friend Ben had spent some years in this burg, I let him know we were passing through. He knew just the place I had to stop, too.

Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream shines even brighter than the elegant holiday lights across the street, shining on the old courthouse in Denton’s Town Square. Within the shop, newspaper articles on the walls featured their ice cream expert boasting of knowing 65 recipes at present—the store had at least 40 available—but went on to say she could make up a new one every day if she wanted. Suffice to say, if I were the President elect, I would create a cabinet position for her.

And what were the flavors? So glad you asked, italicized lettering. Anytime, friend. Among them were the five my dad and I tried: Butter Brittle, Turtle Torture, Apple Pie, French Toast and their brilliantly-named gingerbread concoction Hansel & Gretel. Each of the flavors was magnificently textured. I regret not trying the Chocolate-Covered Cherry, a flavor that I later learned received a third place award from the National Ice Cream Retailers Association, as did their Hansel & Gretel.

Another unique feature is that the ice cream is priced by the ounce. Why this is a good thing: after ice cream was scooped for my dish, I could politely ask for a bigger scoop and receive a warm smile instead of an irritated look.

Thanks for the great recommendation, Ben!