THE GREAT CHOCOLATE DEBATE

Thanks to the BBC, we can now all get our knickers in a twist, or panties in a bunch. The difference being British (twisted knickers) versus American (panties). Personally I've always been of the opinion that 'knickers' sounds naughty and somewhat sleazy, as befits underwear in England, whereas the word 'panties' evokes innocence, freshness and youth, and a distinctly perverse Japanese aesthetic.
But that is not the point.


BRITISH CADBURY OR AMERICAN CADBURY

Which tastes better? Expats living in the United States are outraged that Hershey's has moved against small-scale import of Cadbury chocolate from overseas as an infringement against their sole right to represent the brand in the civilized world.

The BBC, always enthusiastic about pandering to Limeys sneering at the Yanks, enabled further discussion by reporting on a taste comparison.

Article here:
Does Cadbury chocolate taste different in different countries?.

[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31924912]


Unsurprisingly, the Brits won.

Quite unlike their performance in the current Cricket World Cup.


In actual fact, both sides are quite utterly loony. They're discussing basic garbage sweeties, for Christssake!

Real chocolate comes from Belgium, Switserland, Norway, or San Francisco. Among other locations populated by neurotic taste-fiends.
It is made by upping the percentage of cacao-derived substances and quality ingredients, milling to finer grit, and mixing for a long period.

It most distinctly is NOT mass-produced, packed in cheap tin-foil and glitter, and shipped several hundred miles like toilet paper.


This is real chocolate:

Callebaut

Charbonnel & Walker

Leonidas

Neuhaus

Planete Chocolat

Recchuti

Richart

Teuscher

There are a number of others, and here in San Francisco we claim several fine companies that will indulge your every tongue craving.
There is no need to touch Hershey's or Cadbury's ever again.
Unless you are an unalterable pervert.
We've got those too.


DIE WIRKLICHE UND UNVERFÄLSCHTE DEKADENZ: SCHOKINAG

For drinking and cooking chocolate, almost nothing can beat Schokinag Schokolade Industrie Herrmann GmbH & Co. KG. Quite unfortunately I cannot find their home on the web, as German artisanal goody makers almost universally abjure, repudiate, and reject modern technology, instead preferring an army of dedicated trolls labouring in underground workshops deep in the Black Forest, and use carrier pigeons and flaming arrows for their business communication, damn them.

Their address, as near as I can make out from the runic scripts, is
Neckarvorlandstraße 21, 68159 Mannheim, Deutschland.
Fernsprecher: +49 621 107820


Far, far better than arguing over cheap mass-produced sludge-bars, you should share your opinions about knickers (twisted, or not) or panties (bunched, if that's your thing), along with lace edging options, tensile strength of the material, texture and touch, silk versus cotton.
The world anxiously awaits your findings.
Es ist ein wichtiges thema.
Go at it.



[Edit as of May 31st, 2016: Alas, Chocolatier Manon is no more. The link now leads nowhere and has been removed. But a new link has been added, for Planete Chocolate, which reader Yvonne kindly brought to my attention. Planete Chocolate also has an informative blog.]




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