Assalamualaikum and Hello J
Best chocolate maker in the world
You love chocolate but you haven’t satisfied yet? Well, maybe because
the taste of the world’s best chocolate haven’t touch your taste bud. Are u
interested to know which branded they are? Let’s go through it together.
1. Amedei
People were surprised when Anthony Bourdain's
Good & Evil chocolate bar debuted in 2012 at more than $100 a pound, but
Amedei's Venezuelan-sourced Porcelana bar already weighs in at more than $160
per pound. Cecilia Tessieri — one of the world's few female chocolatiers —
makes some of the most expensive chocolate in the world. Since opening its
doors in 1990, the Tuscany-based brand Amedei has contributed to a $27,000
cupcake in Dubai, as well as a $1,000 sundae at New York's Serendipity.
Tessieri also makes an eclectic line of pralines, the filled chocolate bonbons
that inspired her to go into business in the first place, and excellent bars
such as the Cru Madagascar Extra Dark Chocolate (70 per cent) or Chuao Bar (70
per cent). But her creations are not for the budget-conscious!
2. Leonidas
This line of chocolates began with an
international love affair. After debuting his winning pralines at the World
Fair in Brussels in 1910, Greek-American Leonidas Kestekides fell in love with
a local Belgian girl and opened a tea room in Ghent. After his pralines
again won gold at the Ghent World Fair in 1913, Leonidas began selling
chocolates from his storefront "guillotine window," then expanded his
operation to tea houses in Brussels and Blankenberge. Today Leonidas sells
chocolates at over 1,500 storefronts worldwide, but the prolific brand's humble
beginnings are never too far away — "democracy in chocolate" is their
motto, meaning that the good stuff isn't only reserved for the rich. Purists
will appreciate his Tablette Noir bar, which features 70 per cent cocoa.
3. Bovetti
Top-quality chocolate from Africa? Chocolate
with coriander and fennel? It all started when Italian chocolatier Valter
Bovetti moved to Aubazine, France, in 1994 to debut his trademark chocolate
candies shaped as nails and tools. In 2006, Bovetti and five fellow
chocolate-makers visited Sao Tome, an African island in the Gulf of Guinea off
the coast of Gabon called the "chocolate island," which inspired them
to found a fair trade association named Roca Cacao. The organization bought
harvesting equipment for twelve plantations and ensured a living wage for their
120 employees. Beans from this, the site of the first cacao plantation in
Africa, go into Bovetti's high-quality Single Origin bars. The company crafts
an impressive collection of more than 150 different kinds of chocolate bars,
boasting ingredients like ginger and lavender petal, or for the truly
adventurous, dried tomato and chili. Other savory-sweet products include Apéritif
Chocolates featuring chocolate-coated fennel, anise seed, rosemary, coriander
and mustard.
4. Valrhona
Valrhona, the Rolls Royce of chocolate, has
been crafting couvertures (chocolates with high cocoa content) since 1922.
Hailing from France's Rhône Valley, Valrhona's wine country influence is
unmistakable. The label on each Valrhona cru (single origin bar) bears the name
of that bean's terroir, the most exclusive of these being the Vintage Single
Origin bars, sold in limited quantities according to crop yield. Valrhona also
suggests wine pairings designed to bring out the "notes" in each
chocolate's complex flavor profile. From chocolate pearls to tasting squares,
the brand's nec-plus-ultra chocolate bar selection is available at specialty
grocery stores.
5. Michel Cluizel Chocolates
In 1948, Michel Cluizel took over his family's
pastry business in Normandy, France, where travelers still flock to learn the
secrets of chocolate-making at his "Chocolatrium." In 2012, Cluizel
opened a second Chocolatrium; in West Berlin, New Jersey. (The only other American
outlet is their Manhattan storefront.) Visitors to the European and American
Chocolatriums (or is that Chocolatria?) are walked through the chocolate
creation process and the history of the Cluizel brand, offered a sneak peek
into the Cluizel workshop, then feast on fanciful bonbons like caramel
mushrooms, "cappuccinos" filled with coffee ganache and macarolats —
macaroons with different flavored coatings and fillings.
6. Scharffen Berger
John Scharffenberger, already a big name in the
wine world, decided in 1997 to try his hand at artisanal chocolate-making.
Using a vintage German melangeur — a machine that slowly grinds cacao beans
into a chocolate liquor — and personally sampling beans from more than 150
international cacao farms, he and partner Robert Steinberg sought to bring
traditional European chocolate craftsmanship to the States, proudly emphasizing
cacao content on the bars' labels — a first for American chocolatiers. The San
Francisco team also became the first American bean-to-bar manufacturer in 50
years. Now a member of the Hershey family, Scharffen Berger produces a modest
but exquisite selection of bars and tasting squares sold at stores like Whole
Foods including a crunchy Milk Chocolate Bar with Sea Salted Almonds
7. Republica del Cacao
Visiting the Republica del Cacao should be on
every chocoholic's bucket list! The youngest company among our selections, the
Republica del Cacao is an Ecuadorian chocolate firm founded in 2004. The brand
arose out of an effort to preserve the indigenous Arriba cacao plants grown
predominantly on family farms in the Manabí, Los Ríos and El Oro regions of
Ecuador. Republica del Cacao's claim to fame is their single-origin dark
chocolate bar, made with nothing but cacao, sugar and cocoa butter, allowing
the complex flavors of each region's chocolate to speak for themselves. The
company has also branched out into beverages like hot cocoa, coffee and
chocolate- and coffee-flavored liqueurs.
8. Lindt & Sprungli
The next time you're sharing chocolate, impress
your friends with your knowledge of "conching." Before Sprüngli &
Son came onto the scene in 1845, chocolate was mainly enjoyed as a drink. The
Swiss pioneers paved the way for future confectioners by crafting some of the
world's first chocolate candies. Soon after, the company partnered with Swiss
confectioner Rodolphe Lindt, the inventor of the conching method, which is
still the cornerstone of chocolate-making today. This hours-long churning
process incorporates cocoa butter into the cocoa mass, resulting in smooth
"melting chocolate" that's easy to mold. Today, Lindt & Sprüngli
offers an overwhelming chocolate bar menu. Our favorites include their
Excellence 85 per cent Cocoa Bar and Excellence Intense Orange Bar. We used to
have to import Lindt bars from Europe, but these days they are ubiquitous, sold
at supermarkets and chain stores.
9. Soma
Who would think we would be singing the praises
of Canadian chocolate? Soma, which began in 2003, describes itself as a place
to "eat, drink, and worship chocolate". Visitors can experience their
small-batch chocolate-making up close at the micro-factory on the Toronto
store's premises. Their menu boasts an impressive display of mind-blowing
creativity, like "Sparky" Gianduja pralines laced with Pop Rocks,
Gooderham Worts Whiskey truffles and the 8-Year Aged Balsamic Vinegar truffles.
Bars are available in rectangle or circle form — Soma's Chocolate Possible
Worlds bars come as 200-gram oversized disks, such as the "Ruby Red"
bar topped with wild cherries, cranberries, barberries and dusted with Sumac
powder. O Canada!
10. Vosges
Vosges Haut Chocolat
People love chocolate. People love bacon.
Vosges founder Katrina Markoff decided to marry the two, and Mo's Bacon Candy
Bars were born. Choco-bacon pancake mix, truffles and caramel toffees soon
followed, putting the Chicago-based company on the map. The pioneer in
experimental chocolate who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris combines our
favorite candy with curry for her Naga bar, and ginger, wasabi and black sesame
seeds for the Black Pearl Bar. You can find her whimsical recipes at boutiques
in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City and Chicago.
Satisfied? Does u feel like wanna eat all of them?
So do I J
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