2008
Chocolate News Flash!
Yes, I know. I was supposed to post about the great freezer cook up - and I will, really I will, but the notes I took were atrocious (though I thought at the time they were great) and I’ve been very distracted by work (of which more below).
But I had to get this in - the J.D. Gross range of speciality chocolates are back at Lidl. Oh happy, happy day for chocoholics everywhere! The range has been expanded too, with several new ones alongside old favorites, including some very interesting looking fruit flavoured ones, which I haven’t tried yet.
As a lover of really, really dark chocolate I went first for the three bars pictured here, each of which cost €1.59 for 100g and all of which were sampled by a small group of chocolate lovers after dinner this evening.
Let’s take them from left to right.
San Martin 77% with Cocoa Nibs
This bar is studded with tiny nibs of roast cocoa bean, which give it a slightly coffeeish flavour. The chocolate is rich and smooth with a flavour that is deep but not bitter. When you bite on one of the cocoa nibs it’s like a small intensely chocolaty explosion in your mouth - sounds odd, but it’s very good!
This one was got the thumbs up from everyone.
I had one little niggle about chocolate from San Martin, which is, according to the package, in the north of Peru, close to the source of the Amazon. I just wondered were they growing their cocoa on areas of cleared rain forest, but it seems not. Apparantly this was an area where for generations a very different crop was widely grown - coca - but that has been pretty much entirely stamped out. So that’s good then.
Ambanja 72% with Red Pepper
Certainly different, this chocolate from Madagascar was not to everyone’s taste. I’ve had plain chocolate from Madagascar before and liked it - it has a naturally slightly fruity taste that’s very distinctive and very pleasant.
For some reason this bar has more of a minty flavour that the spicy one you’d expect from red pepper. Not entirely unpleasant, but sort of strange. The pieces of red pepper are quite large and a nibble that includes one is very different from one that doesn’t. I preferred the bits without.
I wasn’t really sold on it, but for one person it was the big hit of the three, so it really is a very personal thing. It’s certainly worth trying, if only for the novelty value.
Arriba Superier 81%
This is one for those who like their chocolate really dark - and I loved it! Arriba Superier from Ecuador is a king among cocoa beans and the quality tells in this bar. It is very intense and rich in flavour, but still smooth, with a sort of earthy taste.
If you are not a real dark chocolate lover though, it may be too much, as some found it this evening. But it would definitely be a fantastic bar for cooking and that that price no more expensive than the disgusting stuff often sold for that purpose.
This was the winner for me. It’s also very low in carbs for those for whom such things matter - even if you scoffed a whole bar at one sitting (which is unlikely, with chocolate this intense a couple of squares would satisfy most people) it would only be 22g of carb.
So, work. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks working with the slave driver outrageously talented Sabrina Dent on the Curious Wines website which launched yesterday, in good time for you to go along and pick up a case or two of festive wines for Christmas.
I was, to be honest, too concerned with making the site work up to now to pay all that much attention to what was actually available there, but I took some time to have a good look at the wines themselves to-day. There really is some excellent value there and some very interesting looking wines - some made from grapes I’ve never even heard of but would love to try. Do have a look.
And I promise I’ll beat the freezer stuff into submission in the next few days!
November 19th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Hi there
any chance that there are sideboards from this monday’s specials left in anyone’s local lidl ?? i really want one .. have been waiting ages to get one and its sold out everywhere … disaster!
anyone buy one and now wants to sell it ?? i’ll take it off your hands .. especially if you are in the dublin area … i’m near desperate !
November 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Really dark chocolate is something I’ve come to appreciate more and more over the years. It’s great that Lidl and Aldi do such good value versions. I the 2 bars of Aldi Moser Roth chocolate in the press at the moment, 70% for when I want something a bit lighter and 85% when I want something with a bit of BITE. Though Cadbury’s milk chocolate will always have a special place in my heart. And my backside
November 19th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Hey Hockeysticks. Might be a bit far to travel, but I was in the Athlone branch yesterday (Tuesday) evening, and they seemed to have a good few left. Might be no harm to phone them to check before you make the journey though. The added petrol/diesel cost could make it a bit expensive.
November 20th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Delighted to see you blogging again.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I am delighted you are back! Have just finished my first week of induction & think I am being converted to the low carb way of eating!I finally found some atkins bars in Boots so they are nice treat, but so expensive! I will definitely be giving that dark chocolate a try once Im through induction. Cant wait to see some more low carb recipes. Any advice on eating low carb greatly appreciated-Im currently looking for a good low carb cookbook.
November 24th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Thank God you are back! have to admit I really did miss my regular dose of tips
Just a quick one as people that log on here seem to enjoy food/cooking, can anyone tell me where is the Farmers Market in Kilkenny? I have been diagnoised with Cancer and started juicing everything I see but would rather buy my veg straight from the Farmers Markets. I am new to Kilkenny so information definitely needed. Loads of thanks in advance!
November 24th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Glad to see a new post, I’ve been checking back frequently, usually when looking for dinner ideas
I’m a fan of the JD Gross range too - the bar I bought this week cost only 95 cent in Lidl in Germany. It’s already extremely good value at 1.59 in Ireland but the difference is still interesting. I am sure there are some valid reasons for the difference (operating costs would be different) but I thought people in Ireland might be interested, because there is much comment in the Irish media about lack of parity pricing between Ireland and the UK, but hardly any mention of other countries.
November 26th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Glad to see you back. I had stopped checking online for a while.
Would love low carb recipes also
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:08 am
Laura,
The Farmers market is at the end of Kieran St in Kilkenny, near Bollards Pub, sorry to hear you are sick, best of luck, I wish you lots of positive thoughts, and keep smiling
Jakey
December 12th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Hi Laura,
I am originally from KK & I think theres a market out in the new farmers mart (on the Dublin rd towards Gowran on the left hand side of the rd). I was there a few months ago and there was some fruit and veg stalls but on quite a small scale. Hopefully it has gotten bigger since then,
I hope everything goes well for you & that you get better soon.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Hi Guys,
thanks for coming back to me will definitely check it out and at least now I am pointed in the right direction
I feel great Thank God! Heading to Eurodisney for Xmas with my little girl so doing my best to stay that way!
Happy Xmas to all and this is probably the best site I have dedicated myself too in years. A huge congrats!
Happy Xmas everyone and Happy cooking
January 8th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Kept meaning to reply to this - wow thanks for the tip off on this chocolate, it lived up to all my expectations. I don’t go to lidl very often (i’m all for aldi though) so please, please post another post the next time they are stocking it (please?)
Thanks!
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Hi!
Just found this site and love it! I ran from Superquinn long before the “R” word was mentioned. I think when I started using their scanners and I was only half-way round the shop and it was at €80, that was a bit worrying! Looking forward to reading more comments.