[Rosbird1]

Chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[THROTTLEMAN]

Can I vote for all?

 

[Rosbird1]

dont sit on the fence!!

 

[John Burns]

Nothing better then sitting there with a big tin of celebrations watching a movie. Just watch that gut grow, YEAH BABY.

 

[THROTTLEMAN]

I wouldn't anyway. :lol:

 

[THROTTLEMAN]

Just watch that gut grow, YEAH BABY.

And the next minute you would be on the ground. :lol:

 

[Green Cloverleaf]

Isn't there a "I don't like chocolate -it's the food of the devil" option?

 

[THROTTLEMAN]

Is it really? Well, I love it. Anyway, who's that guy?

 

[Toronto Spider]

Geeze, British biscuits, British chocolate -- you people really need to expand the geographic reach of your tastebuds. You're so close to Europe where you can get wonderful German, Belgian, Austrian and Swiss chocolates, and those don't even make the list. :tut:

It's been ages since I had Quality Street chocolates, but they always had that cheap chocolate taste that I try to avoid. We get the orange slices here under the Terry's label (they're sold under a bigger brand name label in the States). They edible, but the chocolate is too gritty and the orange is really artificial tasting. I think we got Roses and Celebration here at one time, but to be honest, they weren't memorable brands, and if I ever saw them in the stores today, I'd walk right by them.

As for good chocolate I found a tiny, wonderful little chocolatier in Vienna on my last visit there. Pure heaven. I made sure I packed plenty as souvenir gifts for relatives. The chocolates were a big hit, even if I wasn't entirely sure what I was ordering. My German skills are severely lacking when it comes to ordering different flavours of boxed chocolates, and the woman who owned the store had no English whatsoever.

If I had to pick a reliable, internationally known chocolate maker, there's only one obvious and easy choice: Lindt & Sprüngli. www.lindt.com Lindt also bought out Ghiradelli, which was a pretty good U.S. chocolate maker. If you're in the States and looking for a chocolate bar, avoid Hershey's (horrible) and look for Dove (heavenly).

Here, there is only one decent brand of nationally available boxed chocolates: Laura Secord. Sadly however the brand has been sold and resold and is up for sale again, and the quality has slipped with every new owner. Still it's a better product than Black Magic, Pot of Gold, or whatever else is generally available.

I'm not saying I never enjoyed British chocolates -- Yorkie bars were a wonderful discovery when I was a kid and there was another brand of small, flavoured wafer British chocolate bars that I used to love as a kid (I don't remember the name -- Walker maybe? -- and it's been eons since I've seen them for sale) -- but if I'm going to splurge on chocolate, I really do like the good stuff, and that doesn't include Dairy Milk.
--Toronto

 

[Rosbird1]

i guess i should get out more...........

 

[Toronto Spider]

You probably should.

Here's a good starting place: http://www.chocosphere.com/

I haven't tried most of the brands listed there because of the usual issues of availability, price, general (lack of) awareness, etc. but from the reviews I've read, they offer some of the better larger, premier brands in the world. Of course, it's a U.S.-based site, so there are probably much better European ones that I just haven't heard about yet.
--Toronto

 

[Steve20]

Good old Toronto another chapter and verse on the cocoa bean
My fav's aren't on the list "Weekend" and After Eight Mints I can make myself truly sick with that one

 

[Toronto Spider]

:cheese:

Nah, my lecture on chocolate is much, much longer.

It includes a discussion on the different qualities of cacao beans based on their geographical orgin -- Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, etc. -- the history of the use of chocolate (starting with the Mayans and the Aztecs, and moving forward through the age of discovery and into modern times), the economic impact of chocolate and chocoate trading on world fiancial markets, the processing and manufacture of chocolate and chocolated-based products, including the development of the conch and of "Dutch" cocoa processing, a primer on the various varieties and gradings of chocolate (including a lesson on couverture) and a quick overview on how to use chocolate in cooking and baking, including a brief rundown on how to temper chocolate. :cheese:

My previous post was just an observation on the insular nature of the British and their food choices, as has been demonstrated over and over again here on AO surveys and discussions.
--Toronto (really, and truly not an expert on anything, including chocolate)

 

[Hoygaard]

Since its favourite Christmas time choccy's were talking about I'm with Steve here: After Eight mints. Well past Christmas I sure like some dark 70+ percent German chocolate, a very tasty aphrodisiac.

-- Hoygs

 

[Toronto Spider]

I'll gladly confess to enjoying After Eights as well, as a nice, boxed mint. I like them better than Ovation mints, for instance. Turtles (carmel, pecan, chocolates) also find their way onto the table at Christmas celebrations (even though they seem to be declining in quality and decreasing in size as the years progress), but since the original survey was mainly about assorted chocolates (with the exception of the orange slices) I figured I'd try to stick (mostly ) to the boxed/assorted chocolates category.

The brands I mentioned (Laura Secord, Black Magic, Pot of Gold) are boxed chocolates available here. We're also getting some of the American boxed brands like Russel Stover and (sometimes) Fanny Farmer, but they aren't usually worth mentioning (although Fanny Farmer is the better of the two).

I'm was just really surprised that there was no mention of European boxed chocolates. I just figured if we could buy European boxed chocolates here in most of the department stores and pharmacies, they would be also be available (and popular) in the U.K. I mean if I can go to corner Shopper's Drug Mart and buy a box of Lindor truffles (which have become a very popular Christmas and gift chocolate), I figued Rosbird would be able to do so as well.

I also would have expected to see names like Charbonnel et Walker in the survey since I'm guessing Christmas is the time for giving good quality British boxed chocolates. (Sorry but I can't think of any others off the top of my head.)

Around here Toblerone is also very popular as a Christmas treat. Personally it's not something I'd ever buy for myself, but it ends up in a lot of Christmas stockings. As a kid I was always more excited to go to the German deli at Christmas time to look at all the wonderful foil-wrapped German and Austrian and Swiss chocolate Santas and chocolate-filled Advent calendars. Now those were Christmas chocolates. English, Canadian, or American chocolates were never that exciting or enticing.
--Toronto

 

[Ant]

Rosbird1, please meet our very own Toronto Spider, our resident essay writer.