Who has ever thought that there is a way you should eat chocolate? Personally, I didn’t. There is a way to know if the chocolate is perfect or just regular, but it needs skill.
This skill is a must for ‘chocolate professionals’ I mean – a master chocolatier – as they need to ensure that our chocolate treats are as good as they claim to be.
Chocolate is like wine, the taste is affected by where the beans grow, how long they are fermented and how long the cocoa beans have been used. Also, there is no good or bad way of tasting chocolate, it depends with your taste buds.
Antonino Allegra of Afrikoa Chocolate has shared the tricks he has used to taste chocolate in all his years of experience as a master Chocolatier.
He said: “As a chocolate-maker, my goal is simply to make something that you enjoy eating! But if you are as much of a chocolate nerd as I am, then going through a professional tasting process can be quite fun – especially if you do it with a group of friends as an after-dinner conversation-holder. Although it is good to know that tasting chocolate before breakfast is technically the right way to go – and a good excuse, if you ask me,” he said.
- Get a few bars of chocolate and try and buy different cocoa percentages, you will feel the difference in their tastes even if they are made by the same company.
- Arrange them from the most mellow to the strongest (just like you would taste white wine before red wine). So start with the lowest cocoa percentage and work your way to the highest. If you want to be really serious, you can remove the wrappers so you’re not swayed by the labels. You’ll also need some room temperature water in between each tasting too to refresh your palate.
- Resist the urge to eat it straight away! Smell it first. Then take one or two small bites and spread the chocolate around on your tongue. Don’t chew it immediately, but notice how it melts on your tongue and the flavours it reveals. Do you taste fresh or dried fruit? Nutty flavours, caramel, floral or earthy, a hint of spice, maybe some smoke? No matter what you taste, there is no wrong answer.
- Once you’ve tasted them all, go back and taste the chocolates again in a random order. This can help reveal flavours or sweetness you didn’t notice before.