Chocolate Safari - 1st Quarter 2006 Edition
 Yesterday I found myself in need of a mental health break and that usually calls for a drive. Instead of just driving until I felt like turning back I decided to head for Jungle Jim's for a bit of a reprise of my November chocolate safari. I think that I am going to have to make the chocolate safari a quarterly event. The variety of products I find at Jungle Jim's is beyond amazing. Items from all about the world and an array of chocolate that makes my head spin. It could take me years to eat my way through all the chocolate they have and I look forward to giving it my best shot.
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 One of the items I was specifically looking for this time around was organic Mayan style hot chocolate - something I was having a hard time finding at home - and, as usual, I was not disappointed. They had both the Dagoba and Green & Black varieties and the Dagoba is even in a limited edition cannister. I'm particularly interested in the Green & Black because it carries the Mayan Gold name, and I love their Mayan Gold chocolate bar. I plan on doing a three way showdown between these two and the Lake Champlain Aztec hot chocolate. I have a feeling that Lake Champlain is at a major disadvantage being the only one of the three to contain only cocoa and no actual chocolate. |
 These next two bars from Vosges I picked up on impulse. They both sounded very interesting to me so I grabbed them. The salted macadamia nuts in the Woolloomooloo Bar guaranteed that it would go home with me and I found the Creole Bar with it's New Orleans style coffee (complete with chicory) simply piqued my curiosity. I hope that the taste justifies it's painfully high price. |
 This next batch is one I have mixed feelings about. I had really hoped to get a Dolfin Pink Peppercorn or Masala bar but had to settle for my third choice in the Green Aniseed bar. I am quite pleased, though, to finally get my hands on the Chocolove Toffee & Almonds in Milk Chocolate. I figured that if anyplace would have it, this would be it. The Endangered Species Bat Bar is one I don't remember seeing before and I love strong dark chocolate, especially with nibs in it. And, on the subject of nibs, I couldn't pass up the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Covered Nibs. They just sound so dangerously good, like chocolate covered espresso beans. I hope, in the future, to find their Chocolate Covered Crystallized Ginger as I love the combination. |
 One of the things I like to do on these little expeditions is to grab a few of the more interesting 'candy bars' that I find there and these are the items that make up that portion of the haul. After Cybele reviewed some aerated chocolate last week - the first I recall ever having heard of it - I decided that I needed to try some for myself and the Aero bar came home with me to fulfill that need. The Kit Kat is along for the ride because I love Kit Kat and the Hershey bar because I love nuts. The Nestle Crunch bar is here because I really am curious as to how well they can make chocolate with Sucralose instead of sugar. My hopes are not high. |
 Finally we have a peculiarity that plays to my eternal love of York Peppermint Patties in York Dark Chocolate Dipped Cookies with Peppermint Creme. I wish I could have gotten less than a box of them, but they were cheap and sounded interesting so I put up little fight before loading them into the cart. |
| Please pardon the quality of the pictures. My kitchen/studio is a bit of a wreck right now. And rest assured that most of the items here are being added to the massive and utterly unorganized review pile. Each will be addressed if and when the whim takes me. |
Comments
Robyn Said:
Wow, that's a lot of chocolate. But what really caught eye was...your bookcase. Holy crap! That's good reading. ;)
My mum and I used to have a bunch of chocolate related recipe books, but we never used them so I think she sold them on ebay. Sad.
Posted by: Robyn | January 16, 2006 7:35 PM
cybele Said:
Wow, it's hard to imagine someone buying more candy in one weekend than I do!
I also picked up the Bat Bar from Endangered Species yesterday.
I'm also on the prowl for the Dolfin peppercorn bar but I'd certainly settle for the anise as you did too.
I'm eager to hear more about cocoas. I keep eyeing the Dagoba at Whole Foods.
Have you done book reviews too?
Posted by: cybele | January 16, 2006 9:04 PM
William Said:
I love cookbooks and when I find a good deal on a chocolate one I can't pass it up. Eventually I have plans for a little chocolatier/cafe so I love having the cookbooks to compare and mix recipes from. Just reading some of the recipes is an education in itself. Eventually I plan on having a bookshelf here on the site and I also hope to do a book review or three. I really need to review Chocolate Obsession since we share a name.
The nice thing about buying this much chocolate is how long it will last me and how much fun it will be sharing it with my friends. I'm still working on the fruits of my November expedition. I'm thinking that I may need to build some sort of chocolate humidor to start storing my stash. I also tend to buy a lot because there is a good 3+ hours driving involved in each of these expeditions.
And darn it, we have the second largest Whole Foods store but I can't get that Dagoba cocoa there. They seem to have problems consistently stocking Dagoba all around. The only bar they usually have is the Chai one.
Posted by: William | January 16, 2006 9:55 PM