Recchiuti Confections

I spent they day in San Francisco yesterday, and having lunch in the Ferry Building, I walked through the Market Place and salivated, as usual, upon the sight of fresh bread, cheeses, oils, caviar, wine bar, chocolates, cultivated mushrooms, and all the other incredible food, beverages, and merchandise that is offered there.

We had an incredible lunch at Boulettes Larder, where I also picked up honey and vanilla sea salt (amazing sprinkled on a chocolate souffle or on vanilla ice cream). After that I stopped by Recchiuti Confections to pick up a few truffles.

I have tried Michael Recchiuti's chocolates before and today I thought I would write a short review on it. I was a good girl (it took all of my will power) and did not touch them until later when I got home and had finished my dinner.

I started of with the Fleur de Sel, a pleasantly chewy burnt caramel with fleur de sel (French sea salt) coated with dark chocolate. This is a combination I always enjoy immensely and can never resist, and Recchiuti was not an exception.

Lemon Verbena was up next. A dark chocolate ganache with a bright and clear taste of Lemon Verbena, and it's lemon and herb aromas. Coated in dark chocolate with a white beautiful leaf pattern adorning the top surface. Rich and refreshing at the same time.

Ecuador Varietal, 65%, made from plain chocolate with vanilla/caramel and earth notes. Beautiful.

Burnt Caramel, a dark chocolate ganache with burnt caramel. Nicely balanced flavors as you foremost see this as a truffle, and secondarily discover the pleasant caramel.

Force Noir. This was my favorite truffle made with extra bitter chocolate ganache and vanilla bean. The extra bitter chocolate gives a pure, clean, intense chocolate experience and the vanilla bean give that sweetness you need to balance the bitterness. Beautiful and intense.

All truffles had perfectly smooth and dense textured ganache, with intense flavors of high quality chocolate. This is a chocolatier I can highly recommend. Do not miss out if you are in the Ferry Building Market Place, San Francisco. If you can't get here simply online order and enjoy at home. Their Easter boxes are beautiful and I might just treat some friends this year...

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Vosges Chocolate Truffles

I just got back after a weekend in Las Vegas with to much good food and wine. Trust me, you will hear all about it later, but today I thought I would start with telling you about the truffles I got from Vosges Chocolate.

Vosges Chocolate is located in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and has a very chic, modern decor, and beautiful display of their chocolates.

I picked out four of their truffles to enjoy later. They were put in a classy box that got a bow around it.

Balsamico is a dark chocolate truffle flavored with a 12 year old Modena balsamic vinegar. The notes of the vinegar is pleasantly intense and measures up really nice to the dark chocolate. It is topped with chopped hazelnuts for a nice crunch and contrast of texture.

Red Fire has a nice spicy kick from Ancho chili and subtle notes of cinnamon. The heat is perfectly balanced with the dark chocolate. Sprinkled with red chili powder it looks like it tastes.

Black Pearl is a dark chocolate truffle flavored with ginger, wasabi and topped with black sesame seeds. The ginger really dominated and my initial impresson was that it all reminded me a little bit to much about the pickled ginger in sushi restaurants. Very good, but not entirely my cup of tea.

Naga is a beautiful truffle with Indian curry and coconut in milk chocolate. Although I love spicy curry this sweeter, flavorful version is perfect for this truffle. The coconut lends a perfect tropical sweet touch to the palate. Very nice!

Vosges truffles really impressed me with its high quality chocolate, ingredients and great texture of the truffles. I wish I could have tried them all, but I guess I have all the more to enjoy at a later date. And I can't wait...

They make an array of additional products like caramels, chocolate bars, toffees, marshmallows, drinking chocolates, brownies, etc. Something for every taste as long as chocolate is your thing...

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The Candy House of Davis, Davis CA

My friend brought me some truffles from The Candy House of Davis, after a visit there, knowing I am a chocoholic.
After eating them (all of them in one evening...) I thought I would share my thoughts with you in case you ever run into them.
All the truffles are pyramid shaped and handmade. They also make supposedly amazing fudge, that I have yet to try.

I started with biting into the Amaretto Truffle that has a pleasant mellow almond/nutty flavor. As I am usually not overly thrilled with liquor added to my chocolates I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle flavors, and the lack of alcohol "flavor".
The Kahlua Truffle has a mild coffee flavor with a texture falling right in between a soft caramel and truffle. Covered in dark chocolate.
Black and White was my next victim. White chocolate filled with a dark chocolate sticky ganache, with a slight hint of mint. Very nice.
Praline was just that. A milk and white chocolate shell filled with semi firm, sugary, sweet caramel/praline. A touch to sweet, but surely satisfying.
Gourmet Dark was my favorite. A dark chocolate ganache covered in dark chocolate. Simple, clean and pure. They way I like it...

The truffles were all very tasty, and if flavored with liquor they just had a soft touch of it , which I really appreciate. The Praline was a tad to sugary, and the Kahlua had an odd texture, but they were all charming with a small scale, handmade, touch.
For the holidays the store adds an array of different shapes and flavors that goes with the season. A great place for a holiday gift for that friend with a sweet tooth...

The Candy house of Davis
901 3rd Street
Davis, CA
(530) 758-3652


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The Chocolate Society, London

Running into a chocolate shop when in London I could not resist but had to try their creations.

Hiding on 32-34 Shepherd Market in London The Chocolate Society offers bars, truffles, cooking chocolate and a full counter of a wide variety of handmade chocolates. It also had a small cafe with hot chocolate, ice cream, brownies and more. I picked up a few of the chocolates to give them a try.

Dark Chocolate Truffle: Velvety, creamy ganache covered in a shell of dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder. Pure, high quality chocolate. Great with the glass of Cabernet Sauvignon I had with it...
Tarte Tatin: The interior of this treat was a vanilla caramel mixed with an apple jam with flavor of cinnamon. The jam gave it a slight odd texture, but never the less it was really good and tasted like apple pie covered in milk chocolate.
Creme Caramel: This vanilla caramel had a more sugary texture then chewy. I prefer the chewy... It did however have a really nice buttery caramel flavor and was covered in dark chocolate and sprinkled with dark sugar. Very edible after all...
Champagne Truffle: This was the highlight of the pieces I tried. Looked like, and was made of the same velvety, dark chocolate ganache as the Dark Chocolate Truffle but with a subtle taste of Champagne. Just the way I like my champagne truffles! Again dipped in dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder. Wish I had more of this one...

What a great find just walking around London, offering a wide range of chocolate products and all of high quality. If you don't make it there you can order online at The Chocolate Society's website as they ship internationally.


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Jessica Foster Confections

I had the fortune of receiving a box of truffles for my b-day from Jessica Foster Confections out of Santa Barbara.

Jessica Foster launched her brand in 2003 after years of working in restaurant in Santa Barbara and along the central coast, as a prep cook, then pastry chef and finally specializing in chocolate. Using Belgian chocolate for her creations she finds her inspiration for the many flavors in as diverse places as the local Farmers' Market, to her travels abroad.

I received a box of the Hot Chili Truffle Selection. Four different chili flavored truffles were included.

Dark Chocolate Cayenne was the first one to disappear without a trace... This truffle was coated with cocoa power and made from luscious, smooth, dark chocolate with no initial taste of the cayenne. But right as you let it all melt in your mouth a medium strong heat sets in that lingers in your mouth long after you swallow. You know that great kind of heat that sneaks up on you.

The Dark Chocolate Habanero was up next. Again the dark ,velvety, chocolate, this time rolled in granulated sugar. Just like the Cayenne truffle it had not initial heat but you are barely done swallowing when a stronger heat sets in that stays with you in your mouth and upper throat for a long time. This one had a really nice kick to it. Just in case you are not aware: the habanero is one of the strongest chilies in the world, along with the Scotch Bonnet, so you wouldn't expect anything less from this truffle.

Dark Chocolate Chipotle was next in line, coated with cocoa powder, and this one displayed the traditional smoked chili beautifully. You can smell the smoke, earth, and chili right upfront and taste all the same components. This truffle has the most pronounced flavor of them all, but just enough to give the chocolate a nice flavor, but not over powering it. Again you have an increasing heat after you finish your bite.

Last but not least the most interesting of them, the Dark Chocolate Ancho and Cumin. This truffle was again coated with cocoa power and had a nice initial taste of chili and also a subtle taste of cumin that made this piece really intriguing and different from the others in that aspect. The chili and cumin is a traditional pairing in Mexican food (among others) and worked really well together in chocolate as well. Another difference was that this truffle had no lingering heat to talk about compared to the others. For good and bad...

Over all impression of this chocolatier is very good. The truffles are very smooth and velvety in texture with a really good quality dark chocolate flavor. The spices (or herb, fruits, berries etc. in other cases) are very much present but in no way overwhelming. Jessica Foster manages to find the perfect marriage between flavoring components and chocolate in every piece.
I can't wait to try some more of her creations and I suggest you do to...


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The Truffle Shop in Nevada City

On our little day trip to Nevada City last week we found The Truffle Shop. Being a chocoholic there was no way I could possible resist it, so into the store we went. Rows of huge truffles awaited us...
The shop was opened in 1986 with Chef Willem DeGroot, as Master Chocolatier. DeGroot came to the States with his parents when young. After high school he decided to become a Capuchin monk in Franciscan monasteries. This is where the recipe for the truffles was developed. After 13 years he left and eventually opened today's Truffle Shop. The recipe is still the same and still remains a secret.

I got a box of six truffles:
Raspberry Cream: This truffle has a red colored raspberry filling. And although it was very god and intense in raspberry flavor I prefer when the raspberry is blended with a dark chocolate truffle, with a less intense flvor from the raspberries as a result.
Highlander: The majority of the truffles has some kind of hard liquor in them. This one is a semisweet truffle flavored with Glenfiddich Scotch. Intensely flavored and real hit if you are a Scotch lover.
151 Rum: 151 Rum is blended into dark chocolate, and covered in dark chocolate. This truffle has a mild rum taste that fits me perfectly as I do not normally like alcohol in my chocolate. This was still mild enough for me to enjoy. Very good!
Black Forest: Black cherry mixed into semisweet chocolate, topped with a cherry and then covered in dark chocolate. Very nice balance between chocolate and cherry. Not over powering, but complementing each other.
Double Dutch: This was my favorite. Three bittersweet chocolate mixed together to an incredibly light and airy truffle. Still very concentrated in flavor.
Cafe Diablo: This is a great little fun truffle. The bittersweet chocolate is flavored by strong coffee and alcohol, and the two small pieces of orange zest is put on top, resembling horns, and then dipped in dark chocolate. Diablo...horns...a fun little visual twist! And great tasting...

One thing that all of these truffles have in common is the lightness and airiness of the truffle. A lot of truffles have a tendency to be really dense and almost to much. These have a light, velvety, mouth feel. Definitely worth trying.
They also make several delicious looking tortes, but I did not have a chance to try these.

You can find and order these chocolate treats at The Truffle Shop's website.

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Woodhouse Chocolate

Woodhouse Chocolate is located on Main Street in Saint Helena, Napa Valley, California. They have some truly delicious handmade chocolates and caramels and I bought a few of them when wine tasting in Napa a while back.

Woodhouse Chocolate is owned by the Anderson Family with Tracy Wood Anderson heading the business as the Chocolatier. She creates all the different chocolates and caramels, using only the freshest and highest quality ingredients. Supporting her is her husband, mother and two daughters.

I brought home a small bag of six chocolate pieces and a box of their caramels.
I started of by tasting the Quatre Epices (Four Spices) with black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove in a milk chocolate ganache. Subtle but still distinct flavors in a smooth ganache, covered in dark chocolate with a white chocolate topper. Very tasty!
The Thai Ginger consists of candied ginger, coconut and lemon grass chocolate covered in a dark chocolate ganache. There is a ton of ginger flavor and a hint of lemon grass. I am however having a hard time to detect the coconut. Never the less, another great little treat.
Sur de Lago is a delectable piece with light airy dark chocolate ganache covered in dark chocolate. It is made entirely out of Western Venezuelan chocolate. A great one to have with a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Heart of Darkness tickled my taste buds even more with it's dark chocolate ganache with cocoa nibs. Usually cocoa nibs will give a crunch, but in this case they were soft and spongy and just added a bitter burst of flavor. Different, but really delicious! Made from Colombian chocolate and covered in dark chocolate.

Fiori di Sicilia was next. A complex chocolate piece consisting of a dark chocolate cup filled with milk chocolate ganache, a layer of Fiori di Sicilia-infused cream, and a layer of orange flavored marzipan. All topped with a lid of milk chocolate. I love orange with chocolate and also marzipan, so this was the perfect little marriage of flavors for me. Very good!
Finally I had the Fresh Mint. A beautiful dark chocolate ganache with fresh, but not to overwhelming, mint addition. A really refreshing piece covered in dark chocolate.

Now to the Caramels. They have an intense, beautiful buttery, caramel flavor with a creamy, but still chewy, texture. Not to runny and not to solid. Just perfect. They are covered in milk or dark chocolate and topped with a sprinkle of Fleur de Sel. The crunchy, salt texture of the salt is a perfect match for the buttery, sweet caramel, and you see more and more chocolate makers using this combination. As for me, I just can't get enough of it.

These are just a hand full of the chocolates they offer and I am convinced the rest are all equally delicious. Stop by the shop in Saint Helena if you have a chance. It has a truly beautiful exterior and interior reminding me of the Chocolatier shops in Europe. If not, you can always order their chocolates online here. A 12 piece chocolate box is $20, and a box of 10 caramels is $10. These are quite pricey chocolates, but so worth it once you taste them. A real treat for any chocolate lover!

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Teuscher Chocolates

Valentine is a day I look forward to every year with great anticipation. Why? Its not the flowers, the food, or the champagne (although those are all great to), its the chocolate! For a couple of years now, my hubby has been giving me a box of Assorted Truffles from Teuscher Chocolates for Valentine's, and this is possibly THE BEST chocolate in the world.
Let me start with the story behind these divine chocolates.
It all started in the small town of Turbenthal in the Swiss alps a little bit over 70 years ago. Master chocolatier Dolf Teuscher started a small chocolate company that slowly grew over the years and finally moved to Zurich. He uses his very own recipe utilizing on the best quality ingredients, all of them 100% natural. The chocolates are still all made in Zurich to guaranty the quality, and are then shipped to Teuscher stores all over the world.


Their most famous chocolate creation is the Champagne Truffel (my favorite a well). Dolf Teuscher is the original inventor of this truffle and for over 20 years the only maker of it. As it got very popular and spread over the world a lot of other chocolate makers copied it and you can now see it everywhere. But non of them tastes as good as the Teuscher. Trust me, I have tried a lot of Champagne truffles and nothing can touch the original...
The Champagne Truffle is made of dark ganache filled with a French Champagne Cream and then covered in Milk or Dark Chocolate and finished off with a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar. This piece of truffle in velvety, rich, melt-in-your-mouth piece of heaven...
All of his other truffles are outrageously delicious as well. All with beautiful, intense chocolate flavor and incredibly smooth. A few of my other favorites I want to mention is the Milk and Dark Truffle. Simple, pure chocolate, mouth watering truffles. The Milk and Dark Buttercrunch has a crunchy shell filled with ganache and then dipped in chocolate. Delicious!
The best thing is that they come with a note recommending consumption within 10 days as they are all made of natural ingredients without any preservatives. That means that I have a perfect excuse to eat them all fast, fast without to much guilt...
Since Teuscher is only available in a few cities around the States like New York, San Francisco, Beverly Hills and Chicago, you most likely will have to have them shipped to you if you live outside these metropolitan areas (like I do). A box of 16 Champagne Truffles costs $34 before shipping, so this is not an inexpensive treats, but so worth it! If you are a chocolate lover like me, this is a must! So go out and get them and let me know what you think.

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Amedei

The Amedei plant in Italy

Brother and sister, Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri, founded Amedei chocolate brand in 1990, naming it in honor of their grandmother. With no prior experince making chocolate, they followed their passion and traveled the world in search of the perfect cocoa beans. The goal being to produce organic and exclusive chocolate like no one before.
Cecilia now runs the factory on an every day basis, while Alessio travels the world visiting the plantations from where their beans come and always searching for the best beans and ingredients. They have developed unique relationships with the growers caring for both quality in the beans but paying equal attention to the conditions for the workers on the plantations.
I have tasted two of their chocolate bars, Porcelana and Chuao.

Porcelana is a 70% bittersweet dark chocolate made exclusively from the very rare and expensive, genetically pure cocoa bean Criollo, also known as Porcelana (porcelain) for it's white, translucent color. This chocolate has a slight nutty and floral aroma. Dense and dark on the palate with a hint of nuts and a lingering finish.
It is made in very limited quantities, only 20,000 bars per year. They are all hand marked and mine is no. 10,705/20,000. Really makes you enjoy this beautiful chocolate a little bit extra.

Chuao is a 70% bittersweet dark chocolate. Amedei has bought the exclusive right to these beans and were the first chocolate maker to make a bar of pure Chuao beans. Chuao is the name of both the plantation and the Venezuelan peninsula where the cocoa beans grow, and they have been naturally selected over the centuries, creating a "natural blend". Before Amedei came along they were only added to chocolate products to enhance flavor. Now we can enjoy it in it's pure form.
Raspberry and dark fruit aroma with a floral, fruity round flavor in the mouth. Delicious!

These chocolates were a real treat to me. They are certainly not for a quick sugar fix, but to enjoy, slowly melting in your mouth, to truly appreciate their complexity.
They can both be found at http://www.chocosphere.com/, along with other Amedei products, for about $12/1.75 oz.

Melipal Mendoza Malbec 2004

Thirsty for new experiences I picked up a bottle of the 2004 Melipal Mendoza Malbec from Argentina the other day.
This wine has a dark, blueberry-red color in the glass that promises me a ripe fruit bomb. Showing buttery oak, big dark fruit and a hint of coffee on the nose, this is a very promising wine. Tons of black currant and black cherry on the palate with persistent tannins gives this wine a long, round finish. It was not quite as big from sweet fruit on the palate as I expected and this is a good thing. The very ripe, but a hint tarter, currant and cherry works perfect.
This is a very enjoyable wine! Nothing to complicated, big, bold and fruity and really easy to drink, especially with a piece of Marabou Dark Chocolate.
Rated 88 by Wine Enthusiast and 89 by Wine Spectator. Find it at http://www.wine-seacher.com/ from $11.99. A great price for a real crowd-pleaser.

Video: Couture Chocolates by Ginger Elizabeth

Ginger Elizabeth Power is a chocolatier and pastry chef from Sacramento, California, that has her own company, Couture Chocolates by Ginger Elizabeth.
I had the privilege this weekend to taste her Caramel Collection. Fantastic, rich, creamy caramel covered in high quality chocolate. Check out my video below to see just how good they were and where you can find them.

Episode 4: Couture Chocolates by Ginger Elizabeth

French chocolate at its best

I have tried quite a few chocolates through the years, and I just discovered my new star. Michel Cluizel is called "The Gold Smith of Chocolate". He started making chocolate in 1947 in southern Normandy, at that point being on of the few to process his own cocoa beans, and now runs the company with his four children. He has a wide range of chocolates and bonbons, but I always prefer to "judge" a chocolate maker by his pure chocolate bars.
I got their "1er Cru Collection" containing five single origin chocolates from around the world. This was a great way to discover and compare the different single origins tastes and characteristics.
The five origins are:
-Concepcion: 66% cocoa from Venezuela. Melting smooth with a hint of vanilla caramel.
-Los Ancones: 67% cocoa from Saint Domingue. Dark and luscious with a hint of dried currant.
-Tumarina: 70% from Sao Tome. Has a lingering finish of green olives.
-Mangaro: 65% from Madagascar. Hard to put a finger on but I would say tropical fruit.
-Maralumi: 64% from Papua, New Guinea. This is their chocolate with the most character. Spicy chipotle with a hint of tobacco leaves at the finish.
This box is the perfect pick for a chocolate tasting with good friends (4.9 oz for $19.50)
I highly recommend this chocolate and I am myself looking forward to receiving my order of the Caramel Mushrooms (their best seller). They also have various designs of chocolate lollipops for different occasions. Plus so much more... http://www.michelcluizel.com/

Gourmet chocolate for the thin wallet

It started in a cocoa field in Indonesia. Timothy Moley was doing volunteer work there for USAID, and chewing on cocoa beans in the fields he pick up a fascination for chocolate. Home again he decided to make his own chocolate. He wanted high quality and affordability for the consumer, and put himself to work. For the past ten year he has been producing chocolate out of Boulder, Colorado. He named his two lines of chocolates Chocolove and Chocolatour. In the spirit of Chocolove the wrapper is designed to look like a love letter, and inside the wrapper hides a classic love poem. The Chocolatour is single origin chocolates.
I pick up 3 bars out of the Chocolove series at the local Wholefoods to see if he managed to meet his goals.
The 55% Raspberries in Dark Chocolate is delicious. Instead of infusing the chocolate with raspberry flavor he has mixed in crisp bits of raspberry in the chocolate. It results in a great smooth chocolate with bursts of raspberry flavor. Love it!
The 55% Dark Chocolate is a semisweet bar made with 100% African cocoa. It is melting smooth and has a the right amount of sweetness.
The 70% Dark Chocolate if African cocoa with a touch of Caribbean cocoa. A more bittersweet chocolate with great balance and toasty flavor.
At the price of $2.99/bar and great tasting chocolate that definitely fits under the category "gourmet chocolate", it's evident he met his goals.
Find it at Ralphs, Target or Wholefoods.

Chocolate Truffles

Harry and David has a great little box of truffles.
I just discovered that the other day when my dear neighbor and friend brought me a box, knowing I am a chocoholic. Digging into the box it showed an extremely creamy and smooth truffle, rich in taste with the right amount of sweetness. Coffee, Milk and Dark chocolate were all very good. The Raspberry Truffle however had an artificial raspberry taste.
Still make a great little gift for someone you want to spoil. Find it at Harry and David stores for $25.95 for 1 lb, or order it online at www.harryanddavid.com.

Hershey's new premium line

After discovering Ghirardelli's new "gourmet" line of chocolates I just stumbled onto a similar project by Hershey in the store today, Cacao Reserve by Hershey's. It is a new premium line of all-natural chocolates and drinking cocoa. They have two 35% Milk Chocolate bars, one plain and one with hazelnut, and two 65% Extra Dark Chocolate bars, one of them with Cacao Nibs. With a nice creamy texture and a rich chocolate taste, this is a nice attempt by Hershey to keep up with the huge trend of premium chocolates. Checking out their website I learned that they are also introducing four Single Origin Chocolate bars and Premium Truffels in December. Looking forward to reviewing those. Stay tuned...

One of the great chocolates to bake with

...has always been Ghirardelli. But breaking of a piece from the bar to enjoy with some wine? Well... There are better chocolates for that. However, that has changed lately. After introducing their new line Intense Dark earlier this year I've been found many times breaking a piece right off of the bar when the chocolate craving sets in. The line comes in four different flavors, Twilight Delight, Citrus Sunset, Toffe Interlude and Espresso Escape. All great for your after dinner sweet fix. And they are really easy to find. Most local grocery stores carry them.

French Milk vs. Dark

Bernard Castelain is a chocolatier from Chateauneufe Du Pape in southern France. He makes a wide array of chocolates and I picked up two of them at Sur La Table during my Santa Barbara visit last weekend. The Chocolat Lait is the milk chocolate with 37% cocoa. It's creamy and has a nice balance between cocoa and sweetness. Recommended!
The second was Intense 77% that was a little bit to bitter with the Pinot Noir I had, but will pair better with a Cabernet Sauvignon or Port. Not recommended by itself. To bitter...
Find a store near you at www.surlatable.com or buy it online at www.worldwidechocolate.com

Russian Chocolate?

We love their vodka and caviar, but have you ever had Russian chocolate?
A. Korkunov started to make his own chocolate in Moscow 1999. It became a big hit and the demand spread abroad. Not having enough capacity to keep up with the demand they have slowly increased the production over the last couple of years and later this year they are tripling it with help of new equipment. After mostly exporting to Canada we will soon have it here in the States thanks to that. If you don't want to wait you can get a hold of it in World market stores, www.worldmarket.com.
I had the pleasure of tasting their 72% Dark chocolate Bar last week and found it delicious. It is a little bit chalky to bite in to but as the chocolate melts in your mouth a great, rich chocolate flavor, with a hint of coffee notes, emerges.
A. Korkunov also offers praline filled chocolates and other chocolate treats. See their full sortiment at www.korkunov.com

My chocolate addiction

As long as I can remember I have been addicted to chocolate. I guess I am what you call a chocoholic.

Growing up my dad always had a piece of chocolate after dinner and of course he shared a piece or two with us kids. But any chocolate was not good enough. It had to be the famous Swedish brand Marabou. It's creamy, rich and yes, addictive. I always ate the milk chocolate kind, not being particular fond of either hazel nut, fruit and nuts or really dark chocolate at that point (which were the other three options I remember from that time). Over the years they have added several new flavors like mint crunch, orange, coconut, cream nougat, etc. Milk chocolate still remains my all time favorite and every time I am home in Sweden I load up half a suitcase of it so it will last me until my next trip back. If I for any reason run out of it before that point I go to IKEA (a Swedish furniture store with several location here in the States) to store up on some more. It has to be tried in person to understand the difference between Marabou and American brands such as Hershey. Although I have to ration it (I can only have a couple of squares per day) I am happy to share it with family and friends to spread the goodness. I think I can honestly say that all of them are just in love with it and every time I go back home I have to bring more and more back to give them each a little stash to last them until my next trip... If you want a bar of you own just check out www.ikea.com. Trust me you will love it too!