Is Creme a Tatiner Gout Framboise better than Nutella?

The thing I’ve learned about spreads lately is that more chances need to be taken. I’m talking about not just me, but also the companies out there making spreads. While we all know that chocolate and hazelnut will make a fine spread, we should start looking at some creative options as well. That brings me to this jar of Baristella raspberry spread (or creme a tatiner gout framboise in French). A fruit flavoured, yet still chocolate based spread makes so much sense that I’m surprised no one has thought of it before. Keep in mind I’m assuming my cultural bias since I’ve never seen it before. It could be that there are parts of the world where this kind of thing happens all the time.

All I’m saying is that not only should the idea of fruit and chocolate blended into a nice spread work on paper, but the folks at Baristella have made it work in reality as well. The white chocolate makes this spread super creamy. The raspberries add a wonderful contrast to the deep chocolate flavour and texture. Best of all is that they’ve even added a slight sour flavour to make the raspberry flavour work so well. I would not only suggest you try this spread, as long as I’m in a country where this stuff is made, I plan on putting it into my rotation.

It could be that in a few months or years I’ll get tired of this spread, but at this very moment I would say that this is easily comparable to Nutella. A better way to describe it is that it compliments Nutella, in that if offers you a very different flavour (and even slightly different texture) while still being a creamy spread. In other words, if you like to have a few different spreads open in your cupboard, I would suggest finding a jar of this stuff to add to the mix. It will give you all the satisfaction you might get from Nutella, but it’ll also offer you a slight change of pace.

Is Said Pate A Tartiner Better Than Nutella?

 It's been a while since I've written a Better Than Nutella blog post and the main reason is geography. I've been living in South East Asia for the last few years in a place where chocolate spreads were actually fairly uncommon. They had a few, but I went through them fairly quickly. I have however moved, and it appears I've moved to a place that loves chocolate spreads. In fact my local grocery store has an entire section of an aisle dedicated to them. They have Nutella as well, but the range of other brands is staggering. 

I decided to start with the brand that seemed to be the most common. I won't say popular because I'm pretty sure Nutella is the most popular brand, but Said is all over my local grocery store. It's a fine spread, it's not better than Nutella by any stretch of the imagination, but it's fine. Many spreads seems to go a little too creamy and miss out on the chocolate and hazelnut, this is the problem here. It's not a huge problem, but it's not a perfect balance either. The good news is that unlike many other chocolate/hazelnut spreads I've had in the past, the chocolate and hazelnut are still present. Most of the time the creamy flavour or chocolate overpower the hazelnuts.

I also want to mention that "pate a tartiner" might be the classiest way ever to describe this kind of treat. I call them chocolate hazelnut "spreads" and the more I think about it the less I like that description. I'm not sure if I'll switch to pate a tartiner in my daily use, but I will say that it's much better a name.

Nocilla Spread From Spain - Is It Better Than Nutella Part 2

 

This particular chocolate spread has lead me to a conclusion about chocolate spreads. Some people argue that Nutella is full of sugar, fillers, and generally non-healthy things. The argument is that it's basically icing being sold as a breakfast spread. While I don't disagree that one should probably limit the amount of any chocolate spread one eats particularly in the mornings, I'm starting to think that certain ingredients are key to make a great chocolate spread. I say this arguing that Nocilla is a fine spread, but it's not as good as Nutella. 

Here's what I think is better about Nutella, or at the very least the problems I have with Nocilla using Nutella as the example. First of all, Nocilla as many of the other spreads I've discovered, does not advertise as a hazelnut, or any other kind of nut spread. I'm starting to think that Hazelnuts are a key ingredient in chocolate spread, as if the cocoa powder needs something else to balance out. I don't totally feel that nuts are totally necessary, as my favourite spread in the world contains no nuts, I just think that you really have to have amazing quality chocolate to be able to pull of no nuts.

The second problem is the oil. I believe that choosing the right oil is key, and I feel like many of the secondary brands of chocolate spread that I taste do not pick the right oil or oil combination. I believe this come about because you want a certain texture when room temperature, and palm oil is great for creating that texture. Unfortunately palm oil is a faux pas today, so companies move instead towards coconut oil. Coconut oil has the perfect texture, but the flavour is overpowering. In particular it overpowers anything that doesn't have a strong flavour, even more so if you don't blend it with a nice nutty flavour.

What I'm saying is this spread is good, but I think it pushes the limitations of what can be done when excluding certain ingredients. While I feel many companies, including the fine people who make this spread, want to be different than Nutella, I just don't think it's as good. Maybe it's because I like icing, and I'm generally not fond of coconut oil except in very particular circumstances. Needless to say I do not believe this is better than Nutella, it's fine, but it's just not better.

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Chocolate Spread From Myanmar - Is It Better Than Nutella Part 1

 

I'm a big fan of chocolate spreads. While I was brought up on Nutella, I don't know if it's truly the best on out there. It's probably the most famous of them all, and I've written about it many times on this blog. Nutella has become so popular that many people refer to all chocolate spreads as "Nutella". A few times on this blog I've also pointed out some alternatives to Nutella, some better and some not so great. The thing that most people don't realize is that there are many chocolate spreads that are different than Nutella. In particular some great chocolate spreads that don't use the same ingredients, like some with no hazelnuts at all.

Today for example I tried a really interesting chocolate spread from Myanmar. As you can see by the giant sticker on the jar, they're very proud of the fact that it's made locally. I learned recently that Myanmar actually grows their own cocoa beans, and there's a budding chocolate business here. Interestingly, because it's such a small crop in Myanmar, most of the chocolate products made with Myanamar chocolate are made by local companies. The great thing about these local companies is that they really think about the ingredients they use. This chocolate spread for example contains few ingredients, and doesn't use palm oil at all. I'm also pretty certain there's no nuts added to it either, so unlike Nutella it's just a chocolate spread and not a chocolate hazelnut spread.

The best way I can describe this spread is that it's a coconut oil spread with a chocolate flavour. It took me a little while to get used to the coconut oil flavour, as it's a lot more powerful than a palm oil, but after a little while I really started to enjoy it. It's not as sweet tasting as Nutella, but it is very unique. While I don't know if I like it more than Nutella, I love that it's around and that they offer something so different. I would recommend that anyone with the means to give it a try, even if just to have something different.

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My Candy/Junk Food Chrsitmas Wishlist - Noir De Noir by Cote D'or

I'm going to shatter your brain a little, and maybe push the limits of what you know about the world when I say "This stuff is better than Nutella". Let that sink in and know that if I knew that this was potentially waiting under the tree this year, I would be on my best behavior all year long.

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