Going back home means many great things, not least of which is returning to The Fresh Market. This boutiquey grocery store is a haven for adventuruous cooks and foodies in the South, as it carries many items one would not commonly find. The tone is set with jaunty classical music and a free mini coffee on your way in. It's a little over-the-top, perhaps even a bit silly, but I love it. I love the old-world atmosphere, the fancy tea and salt collections, (who knew there were so many different types of salt?!?), the abundance of glorious fresh flowers, the endless rows of candies you can buy by the pound and, of course, the chocolate section.
Vosges Haut Chocolat bars are housed in sleek, photograph-clad cardboard boxes, and on the back of each is a set of detailed instructions for how to best enjoy the chocolate. The steps are deliberate, thoughtful and methodic in the way a conneisuer might taste wine. Katrina, the founder of Vosges Haut Chocolat, encourages you to take in the chocolate with all of your senses, inhaling the aroma, snapping the bar into pieces, rubbing them between your fingers and checking out the lustrious shine before consumption. She even suggests that you do a bit of ujjayi breathinging before you begin. Ujjayi breathing, (AKA pranayama breathing), is a technique often used at the start of vinyasa yoga classes to quiet the mind and better fuel the body for the practice to come. It's a bit much, even for me, but I'm happy to forgive "a bit much" for chocolate this outstanding.
The Smoke + Stout Caramel Bar is a 70% cacao content bar made with Rogue Ale's Chocolate Stout beer, Alderwood smoked salt and burnt sugar caramel. It is built much like a Ghiradelli chocolate square; the dark chocolate contains a center of caramel that is flavored with the salt and beer. Stouts are dark, dense beers that tend to have notes of cream, coffee and chocolate. Alderwood smoked salt is a sea salt that is actually smoked over Alderwood. This might sound self-evident, but in fact, many so-called "smoked" salts are actually flavored with liquid agents to create a smokey taste without any actual smoking. Therefore, Alderwood smoked salt represents a more pure form of smoked salt. Caramel is essentially burnt sugar, so "burnt sugar caramel" is just a fancy way of stating it.
The interesting thing about this bar is how the flavors unfold. Much like Indian cuisine, this bar has layers of flavors that build as you taste. I followed Katrina's advice of pressing a square to the roof of my mouth to let the chocolate melt gradually rather than biting into it. At first, there was a full-bodied, rich and creamy chocolate taste bursting with a warm aroma not unlike the perptual smell of a great coffee shop. The chocolate was buttery and incredibly smooth like a truffle with the satisfying, full-fat taste of a glass of chocolate milk. As the chocolate began to melt, the predominant cocoa taste gave way to a sudden saltiness, fading into a bright, sweet, almost grassy taste. This was the beginning of the caramel. As the caramel began to dissolve, I could taste the muddy, slightly bitter quality of the stout. Gradually the remaining chocolate began to take over, except this time it was earthier, more understated. Ironically, for all of its many flavor components, this bar does not leave a strong aftertaste. This was so striking compared to other chocolates that I had to wonder if there was some kind of palate-cleansing ingredient built in. Packed with such powerful flavor, it's no wonder that only one square was needed to satisfy my chocolate craving.
Each bar is 3 oz., or two serving sizes with 3g of fiber and 2g of protein each. At $7 each, this is a pricier bar, but it is well worth the occasional splurge.
Vosges Haut Chocolat bars are housed in sleek, photograph-clad cardboard boxes, and on the back of each is a set of detailed instructions for how to best enjoy the chocolate. The steps are deliberate, thoughtful and methodic in the way a conneisuer might taste wine. Katrina, the founder of Vosges Haut Chocolat, encourages you to take in the chocolate with all of your senses, inhaling the aroma, snapping the bar into pieces, rubbing them between your fingers and checking out the lustrious shine before consumption. She even suggests that you do a bit of ujjayi breathinging before you begin. Ujjayi breathing, (AKA pranayama breathing), is a technique often used at the start of vinyasa yoga classes to quiet the mind and better fuel the body for the practice to come. It's a bit much, even for me, but I'm happy to forgive "a bit much" for chocolate this outstanding.
The Smoke + Stout Caramel Bar is a 70% cacao content bar made with Rogue Ale's Chocolate Stout beer, Alderwood smoked salt and burnt sugar caramel. It is built much like a Ghiradelli chocolate square; the dark chocolate contains a center of caramel that is flavored with the salt and beer. Stouts are dark, dense beers that tend to have notes of cream, coffee and chocolate. Alderwood smoked salt is a sea salt that is actually smoked over Alderwood. This might sound self-evident, but in fact, many so-called "smoked" salts are actually flavored with liquid agents to create a smokey taste without any actual smoking. Therefore, Alderwood smoked salt represents a more pure form of smoked salt. Caramel is essentially burnt sugar, so "burnt sugar caramel" is just a fancy way of stating it.
The interesting thing about this bar is how the flavors unfold. Much like Indian cuisine, this bar has layers of flavors that build as you taste. I followed Katrina's advice of pressing a square to the roof of my mouth to let the chocolate melt gradually rather than biting into it. At first, there was a full-bodied, rich and creamy chocolate taste bursting with a warm aroma not unlike the perptual smell of a great coffee shop. The chocolate was buttery and incredibly smooth like a truffle with the satisfying, full-fat taste of a glass of chocolate milk. As the chocolate began to melt, the predominant cocoa taste gave way to a sudden saltiness, fading into a bright, sweet, almost grassy taste. This was the beginning of the caramel. As the caramel began to dissolve, I could taste the muddy, slightly bitter quality of the stout. Gradually the remaining chocolate began to take over, except this time it was earthier, more understated. Ironically, for all of its many flavor components, this bar does not leave a strong aftertaste. This was so striking compared to other chocolates that I had to wonder if there was some kind of palate-cleansing ingredient built in. Packed with such powerful flavor, it's no wonder that only one square was needed to satisfy my chocolate craving.
Each bar is 3 oz., or two serving sizes with 3g of fiber and 2g of protein each. At $7 each, this is a pricier bar, but it is well worth the occasional splurge.