The first contender in my Valentine's chocolate countdown is the Dolfin Noir au Poivre Rose dark chocolate bar punctuated by pink peppercorns.
Pros: The flavor is warm, earthy, complex enough to make you skip dinner. Is calling it erotic too insufferable? As advertised, an exquisite taste came first, the melting later. Pair it with a peppery organic cabernet, says the inner snob. I couldn't put down the Dolfin, but I didn't want to eat it up all at once either because then there'd be no more left. Fans of milk chocolate, look elsewhere, because Dolfin's not playing around—unless you dare try the new milk with masala bar. Other flavors feature dark with green aniseed, cinnamon, orange peel, mint, nougatine, coffee, or ginger.
Cons: Sadly, Dolfin doesn't sell Valentine's ready boxes, though companies can custom-order chocolates with personalized labels. Fausto thought it tasted like dirt. Mostly found through specialty shops or online.
Flavor verdict: 9 out of 10
Eco-friendliness: Dolfin's chocolates are GMO- and gluten-free. The "Ami du Gout/Ami de la Nature" seal roughly translates to being friendly to your tastebuds and to nature--but there's no USDA organic or Fair Trade stamp on the resealable packaging. I asked the company about that. Chocolate master craftsman Michaël Poncelet, whose parents once owned Neuhaus, wrote back:
Some of the ingredients we use are organic but it is not the reason why we have picked them up...When we try a new combination, we ask several suppliers for the same ingredient and we pick up the best match whatever the price or the certification. Our cacao is mostly coming from Ivory coast and our main supplier is among the signatories of the so-called Industry Protocol laying out a date-specific action plan to ensure that cocoa is grown without abusive child labor or forced labor.
I think this chocolate brand is not actually interested in eco friendliness as much as they are about marketshare.
Posted by: mig | 2006.02.07 at 09:36 PM