Chocoflyer's Comments

Best chocolate shop in Chicago is Vosges, third floor of the Nordstrom mall on Michigan Avenue. They originated here and they like wacky ingredients: cheese, wasabi, etc. Enjoy your visit!

Thank you for asking about the book. It is about chocolate and friendship. I am in the middle of editing the manuscript right now, it has to be finished by Monday. Yikes! :)

More later...

Yes. I saw all the popular brands in that country. Almost all the chocoates were imported.

We have a number of local brands called Amul, Sathe in addition to the foreign brands who have set up their shop in India like Cadbury's and Nestle. All these brands have to creat chocolates which have to survive the tropical heat of India. So, people do like chocolates but they are not as popular as in the West.
Among the chocolates, as we Indians have a liking for sweets, the milk chocolates are quite popular.

Well that is so great to hear for Boston! I lived there 4 years and was always sad and surprised by the very low number of really good artisan choc shops in such a world class city- really LA Burdick was about it. Im thrilled to hear you are open there- whats the shop name? website? You should add yourself to Chocomap.com. I look forward to trying your beautiful chocs on my next visit!

Hi! Yes, thanks! I have a small chocolate business here in Boston. My focus is on thinly enrobed dark ganaches.

Hi Chocoflyer. You were close! Patchi is actually made in Lebanon. We are licensed to distribute and market the brand online for North America. As such, we are actively participating in industry events such as the one you mentioned in NY. On our calendar, we are going to be at COPIA (Napa, CA) and at the SF Chocolate Salon in April. We heard great things about the NY Chocolate Show. Is this the holly-grail of exhibits? Any others of interest, especially on the east coast?

Hey Chocoflyer, nice meeting you! Patchi is over 34 year-old company. Mostly spread in Europe and Asia. The type of chocolate is rather unique. It is closer to Swiss/Belgian, yet it is not quite the same. The recipes typically contain some variation of roasted nuts (pistachio, almonds, hazelnuts), gianduja (cream of hazlenut), orange peel, raisins, and other delicacies. Patchi also produces Dragees. The menu has over 50 varieties. Each menu item has a name. The dark with pistachio is called Emotion. I'd say you should take a look at the menu online at www.patchi.us. Look for "Build Your Box" in the Collections menu. I am checking if I can extend the readers of the Chocolate Life an offer for those interested to try the chocolates. Stay tuned!

well I can't so no! So I'll have to get out the camera and start snapping soon, great idea. I can't wait to see yours!

Sure, we have many more months to go for that!

Hi Chocoflyer, I have not come across the use of a Molinillo, but I will ask Gloria Coc, a Belizean Mayan woman who works for me. Gloria will know...

Anjali neglected to mention that I am the one who organizes the NY Metro Discover Chocolate Meetup where we met in 2006 in the offices of Sweet Riot, who is a regular attendee at The Chocolate Show in NYC.

I sure have :) The first chocolate meetup I attended in NY was actually at their office location...I'm not sure if they've moved from there. They have a really interesting product - but I haven't seen it easily available outside of specialty stores

Are you in FL? Whereabouts? I'm heading to Miami for a couple of days next month to go diving - any recommendations on where to look for chocolate? :)

Wow chocoflyer! That is an extreme inspiration! What an amazing concept :) I wouldn't have thought you could find THOUSANDS! I guess my collection is safely growing more gradually since I only get the darkest vegan kinds..still, I'm up to about 100 :) It's such a thrill to go to a new area in New York and find an ethnic community with their own imported chocolate favorites. It makes my day :) Seriously do let me know when you next fly into new york!

You guessed absolutely right :) I agree...it's an awesome show. I'm glad to be based around NY so it's easy to visit each year. What was your best find there?

Yes! I have been eyeing that Bonnat bar for a bit now. Let's trade tasting notes when we've tried it! :)

Ah, I should have waiting to comment until I saw your questions! :)

Yes, all the photos are of my stash, but not ALL of it though. Not should if I should be proud of that or not. Ha ha. ;)

I LOVED the Porcelana bar. I even thought it was better than the Amedei Chuao. It was very rich, had a fantastic buttery mouthfeel, and the flavors were that of vanilla and cream. Chuao was much fruitier (like cherries, currants and raisins) and had a tart edge to it. Both are quite unique, terribly delicious and worth trying. If I buy either again though, it'll be the Porcelana.

Hmm, maybe I should post my tasting notes along with the photos.

Thanks so much for the add! I look forward to hearing about your love of chocolate. Your photo with the pod is so cute! :D

Hiya Chocoflyer. Thanks for the costume comments. We had a lot of fun that year. My sister was an oompa loompa too so Wonka had an actual cohort. Regarding cinnamon and chocolate, this Christmas we added a hint of clove to our cinnamon truffles and they were superb!