Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! - Cheese Filled Chocolate Cookies

 If you love cheese and you love chocolate cookies with cream in them, then you might be a little disappointed.

Is It A Cookie?

Is there a certain ratio that makes a cookie a chocolate treat? One of the biggest challenges I come across on a regular basis is trying to figure out which category of treat to put many of the snacks I review. This latest review is just such a problem. It's a cookie, but it's also a big glob of chocolate. There's probably more chocolate than cookie, but the cookie really feels like the part that's holding this whole treat together. So is it a cookie, or is it a chocolate?

Check out this latest confusing review.

A Visit To Siamaya In Chiang Mai

I find more and more countries are making chocolate bars. It used to be that a great deal of the milk and dark chocolate of the world was made in Europe. The cocoa would be grown in a select places based on the fact that cocoa plants needs the perfect climate, but making bars is really possible almost anywhere in the world, however Europe really seemed to dominate this market. Today we’re seeing more and more chocolate from different parts of the world, and best of all these new chocolate companies are taking their chocolate and making it reflect the culture and flavours of the place their being made.

Siamaya (a blend of the words “Siam” and “Maya”) is a perfect example of just such a chocolate maker. Founded in Chiang Mai Thailand, the brand has expanded all over Thailand and can be found in just about every single grocery store in Thailand. Probably the highlight of this brand is the fact that they’re taking good quality chocolate and adding flavours that really make them feel Thai. Their durian chocolate is probably the most notorious, but I would argue one of the best ways to taste durian for the first time. They also have flavours based on Thai tea, spicy Thai food dishes as well as local fruit.

I recently found myself in Chaing Mai and I decided to pay a visit to their factory store. At the time their cafe was being renovated, but their chocolate store was totally open. The store not only serves as a place to buy every flavour of chocolate that they manufacture, but it also gives you the opportunity to watch them make the chocolate while you’re browsing.

One of my favourite details about this particular brand (beyond the tasty chocolate) is their package design. The good thing is if you feel as passionate about their package art as I do, you can pick up postcards, magnets and even t-shirts. I got myself a t-shirt and absolutely love it.

The store also offers some great learning experiences to teach you all about the chocolate process. They have a really great explanation about their chocolate making.

They also offer examples of cocoa at various stages in the process.

Since the chocolate is the highlight of this shop, they really have so many flavours to choose from at this shop. Best of all they offer samples of each and every flavour, so you can pick out your favourites. This is also a great opportunity to sample the durian chocolate to make sure you can handle a whole bar. This factory tour is a great hidden gem in Chaing Mai for any candy lover. The shop itself isn’t that big, but it has everything you might want if you’re into the chocolate process as well as munching on samples.

Laura Secord

One of Canada’s most popular chocolate companies has a really odd relationship with Canadian history.  Laura Secord the person is a Canadian war hero from the war of 1812. She learned of an impending invasion of then British occupied territory (later Canada) and informed the British soldiers of an American invasion. Her information helped the British soldiers win an important battle that kept Canada from becoming American.

Laura Secord the chocolate shop has no real relation to the person, other than being named after her. None of her family owns or has ever owned any part of the company, it wasn’t even founded in the city/town she lived in (although it’s kind of close). The Laura Secord website says the following:

“In 1913, Frank P. O’Connor opened a small candy store in Toronto where he sold hand-made chocolates. He named his store after Laura Secord, the Canadian heroine who was a symbol of courage, devotion, and loyalty.”

While I’m sure Frank P. O’Connor wanted his business to thrive, I’m sure he couldn’t have guessed that it would be one of the biggest candy companies in all of Canada. This is where things get a little weird, because there are likely several Canadians in the world now who know Laura Secord as only a chocolate shop and not a person. While Laura Secord the person did make some history in her time, it appears her legacy is more tied up with chocolate.

The extra odd thing is that the chocolate shop still pays tribute to her. Many of their packages and even the chocolates themselves have her image printed or engraved into them. Her face is still on their logo as well. If I was seeing this store for the first time, my assumption would be that this Laura Secord started this chocolate shop. The thing is, she’s never been to this chocolate shop and never tasted their chocolates.

I’m not sure how the chocolate shop could change that, or even if they would want to. This is a really odd situation where the shop named after a person has become so much more popular than the person themselves. 

Offensive Packages

Every once in a while I come across a candy package that's kind of offensive by today's standards. The two main causes for such packages are history or cultural difference. This package for example depicts the old fashioned cinema trope of cowboys vs Indians. This is a problematic concept because we now know that these early depictions were false, and created a very negative stereo type of what North and South American aboriginal people's were like. So how can a package like this still exist, it comes from a culture that doesn't have that history. It's from Asia, a place where indigenous cultural history is very different than what we know in North and South America. This package is likely looked at as a vintage look at North American culture, and that's all. Is it right, that's not really for me to decide.

Check out this latest treat in a possibly troublesome package.

The Smelliest Chocolate Ever?

 This has to be the 5th or 6th time I've eaten durian for an episode of Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! Am I starting to develop a taste for the world's smelliest fruit?

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One Type Of Chocolate

You might think after years of eating thousands of different kinds of treat, that I might consider myself a chocolate expert. While I do know some fun facts about chocolate, there are many simple concepts I do not understand. Today's featured review brought up one such example. I don't understand why having cocoa beans from one place (country or even part of a country) makes chocolate better. I guess if purity is something you look for in chocolate, but honestly taste and texture rank higher for me.

Check out my latest chocolate review where I grapple with this particular problem.

The Weirdest Reason To Buy A Candy?

I mention this in the review, but I think it's worth saying again. The reason I bought this candy is because of the package, one particular detail in fact. The small dinosaur on the package is wearing a t-shirt, and on this t-shirt is the word "Kris". My name is Chris, and even though it's spelt differently I don't think I've ever seen a character on a package of candy with the same name as me (sort of). I got so excited that I didn't care what this candy was about, I had to include it in my reviews. For all those wondering how to get me to review a treat, just give your mascot the same name as me.

Check out the candy that stroked my ego perfectly.

Vegan Chocolate

I don't have anything against vegan chocolate, I've just had really bad luck with it. I do however have a great deal of optimism about it, particularly after tasting this latest treat that I've reviewed. There was a time when nut and other vegetable based milks where limited and frankly pretty gross, however I feel like they've improved a lot over the last few years. While I do have some dairy sensitivities (they're nothing that bad), I still often use regular milk for a great deal of my food, for cereal I've started to really enjoy the combination of nut milks and cereal. I think plant based milks are really improving, and I get the sense that vegan chocolate is improving too.

Check out my latest vegan chocolate review.

Milk Chocolate Is So Hard To Review

 

The more candies I review, the more challenging it is to review milk chocolate bars. In particular it's getting difficult to review the really good milk chocolate bars. I can generally talk a little bit about where a particular milk chocolate bar might work, for example it might be creamier or more cocoa filled than other bars, but honestly the differences between the best milk chocolate bars out there is so minimal. There are a few brands out there doing great things with this and when they do I'm overjoyed. That is until I have to write 3 or 4 paragraphs explaining why I am once again happy to be eating this bar, but honestly it's very similar to many other milk chocolate bars.

Check out my latest milk chocolate bar review.

Two Lindt Chocolates

I recently came across two small chocolate squares that really confused me. Both of these chocolate squares were made by Lindt, and both of them were milk chocolate. Before I even get into this, I should mention that both of these squares tasted great, and if this was a review they would both get really high scores. The confusion came from the fact that I wasn’t really sure what might be the difference between these two squares, seeing as they’re both marked as milk chocolate.

I’ll be honest, the Lindor brand from Lindt kind of confuses me (the red package is Lindor, the blue is just Lindt). My initial thought was the Lindor was the name of those yummy chocolate balls that Lindt makes. Kind of like the fact that M&Ms are made by Mars, who also makes Mars Bars. So my assumption before this day was that Lindor was just the name of a treat made by Lindt. Then I got these two squares of chocolate and I realized that my assumption was wrong.

Here I have a small square of chocolate, not a round ball, with the words Lindor on it and one with just Lindt. Had I been wrong, is Lindor its own thing too? It’s made by Lindt, but maybe it’s a company that Lindt bought later on and incorporated it into their Lindt line. Maybe the Lindor balls are just one small part of the Lindor line. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know the back story and eating these chocolate squares didn’t help that much.

I can however tell you that these squares are not just squares of milk chocolate, well at least one of them isn’t. The chocolate in the blue package was just milk chocolate... actually it was very good milk chocolate. The small red square was a smooth creamy milk chocolate cream covered in chocolate that was very similar to the blue square. On taste and texture alone I would say they both rank high. I liked the texture of the red square a little more, but it also made the square very delicate and mine was not in good shape.

What I get from this experiment, beyond a mouthful of tasty chocolate, is that Lindt is a chocolate company that makes nice milk (and other) chocolates. Lindor is also made by Lindt and is made with nice quality milk chocolate as well. Lindor also has cream in the middle. In this case it’s a milk chocolate cream, but in the case of the Lindor balls there are a few other flavours of cream available as well. I’m not sure if they make a square for each flavour of Lindor ball or if this is the only square they make.

Honestly I’m not even sure why they make Lindor squares at all. If given the choice between a Lindor square or a Lindor ball, I would go for the ball. The ball is much stronger than the squares and I think they have a bit more filling as well. It really seems odd to make Lindor in a square shape, considering the whole fun gimmick of Lindor is the fact that they’re balls.

It Looks Cool I Guess

One of the problems I have with candy is also one of the things I love about candy. In many cases how a candy or snack looks is as (or more) important than how it tastes. We can all agree that the visual esthetics of candy is important, but should it really be as or more important than taste. I feel like there's always a chance to make a candy taste great, but I also feel like tasting great isn't as important to many candy makers. I would even argue that some candy fans might choose a candy that looks great over tasting great. Just look at Instagram famous foods, so many are just not that tasty to eat.

Check out this latest candy review that really tasted okay, but it looks fantastic.

Why Do We Call It Dark Chocolate

This week's featured review got me thinking about the words "dark chocolate". While it is a fine enough description, it doesn't really tell the whole story. The koala cookies from this latest review describe it as both "black" and "bitter" chocolate. I have a bit of a problem with the word "black" used to describe chocolate, only because I've never actually had black coloured chocolate. Even the most cocoa filled chocolate I've ever eaten still had a brown tinge to it. Bitter chocolate on the other hand is a really good decryption. It not only describes the flavour well, but it also focuses on the feature that most dark chocolate lovers appreciate most. I've also seen dark chocolates that are only dark in colour, but actually really sweet in flavour. So dark chocolate might not be the thing everyone wants, but bitter chocolate is often the popular flavour note.

Check out the full review of this bitter chocolate treat.

Dairy Milk Is Just Good Chocolate

I've reviewed a lot of Dairy Milk bars on candycritic.org, almost 30 of them, but I'm probably going to continue to review more. The main reason I keep reviewing them is that there's one very important consistent, quality of chocolate. I know that if I eat a Dairy Milk bar, not matter what the extra ingredients might be, I know that the chocolate is likely not going to ruin it. It makes tasting these bars a little more fun, because I know that whatever they put into the bar, the chocolate is only going to make it better.

Check out my latest Dairy Milk bar review.

The Benefit of Trendy Treats

Today's featured review is a trendy treat. It's a chocolate bar from Dubai that's made all of the rounds on various social medias. I got my hands on one of these bars, and honestly thought I might just give it a pass. I've been burned a few times on candy and snacking trends. However, I just couldn't resist, and honestly I'm glad I couldn't. Every so often a trendy treat comes along that actually pays off.

Check out my review of this very popular chocolate bar.

Simple Can Be Fantastic

The number of times I've been told that it's "just milk chocolate" and nothing spectacular is enormous. I feel like people truly believe that to have a "good" candy bar, you have to have a lot of ingredients. After years of taste testing candy, I can tell you that a simple treat done well can rival any fancy treat out there. If you've ever tasted a high quality vanilla ice cream, a hand made marshmallow, or a milk chocolate bar like the one I just reviewed, you too would understand how simple can be really great.

Check out my latest review featuring a bar that's simply milk chocolate.

The Best Milk Chocolate Bars

 This is a list of the best milk chocolate bars I've ever reviewed on candycritic.org, so this doesn't include fine milk chocolates or milk chocolate that might be in other forms. It also only includes bars that have nothing but milk chocolate.

What Are The Most Common Ice Cream Toppings

I think the debate about what ice cream toppings are the best would run forever, with no winner ever announced. This is mostly because the best ice cream toppings are very subjective. The real question is what are the most common ice cream toppings, particularly when we're talking about store bought ice cream treats. While I haven't done any real research on this subject, my guess is chocolate and peanuts. Peanuts might be losing favour these days with so many people having allergies, but I still think chocolate and peanut with a vanilla ice cream is probably still very popular. The next question is why are these ingredients so popular. Is it because people really love them, or is it because it's simple and less expensive?

Check out my latest ice cream review featuring peanuts, chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

Is Delicious Chocolate Share Happy Moment Better Than Nutella?

The theme behind this series of blog posts is to sample various spreads and compare them to Nutella. The title of this series suggests that I’m looking for a spread that’s better than Nutella. They do exist in the world, however this Delicious Chocolate Share Happy Moment is under no circumstances better than Nutella. In fact, I feel like you could take the worst spread I’ve eaten up to this point, and this would still be worse.

This spread is not only made from lacklustre ingredients, and almost impossible to spread, but it’s also really confusing. For some reason there’s a single small cookie embedded in my package of Delicious Chocolate Share Happy Moment. When I first bought this treat, I thought that it might be a candy. Then after a bit of investigation it seemed like it was more likely some kind of spread. So I took it off my list of candies to review, and added to my list of spreads to compare to Nutella. The problem is, after seeing the cookie embedded in the spread I’m once again not too sure what kind of treat this is supposed to be.

I use the word “embed” instead of “floating” because this spread is rock hard. Even if it’s a candy, I feel like you’d want it to be soft and gooey. This is just some semi hard chocolate with a cookie stuck in it.

To be fair, I decided to place the random pieces of this treat onto a piece of toast. The chocolate did melt a little bit, but it just became a softer solid rather than any kind of spread. The texture was nothing like Nutella, and because of the solid state I wasn’t able to cover my entire slice of bread. As a spread goes this totally fails (to be frank if it is a candy it’s a pretty big failure too).

The flavour is about as disappointing as the texture. It had a slight chocolate taste, but that flavour was mostly overpowered by staleness. The name of this spread/candy suggests that I Share Happy Moment, but instead I’m sitting here writing this blog about my misery.

CC

Is White Chocolate, Chocolate?

 Probably the most heated debate in the whole of the candy world, but I believe there are some answers.

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