To help everyone in their search for the best of the best of chocolate we decided to dig out some old articles, alter a thing here and there and bring you a much shortened list of what you should look out for and what’s worth trying. We include a magical recipe for chocolate dacquoises to add  more chocolate to the theme. There are endless things to do with chocolate on Valentines Day so enjoy. The biggest producers of cocoa beans are from Brazil and Africa (more particularly the Ivory Coast.) The best come from Central and Southern America and the best of the best from Hawaii.  Chocolate is one of the most important

things in all our lives – imagine a world without it!

Criollos (as per our earlier article) come from rather fussy trees that need loads of care, but they are special and they produce almost perfumed and slightly bitter chocolate.

Forasteros are divided into many categories and they are found all over the world. What’s really great about them is that produce a bean that reflects the flavour of the area in which it grows because the cocoa bean itself has a more neutral taste.

Trinitarios are hybrids, natural hybrids of the Criollos and the Forasteros and that means that they have characteristics of both beans – they produce gorgeously bitter and complex chocolates that are a must for any chocoholic.

Nacionals are dying out and are becoming more and more rare. They produce exquisite, fine chocolate named ‘arriba‘.

Chocolate manufacturers have encouraged good quality for years which has led to grand cru production (see the Amedei range) and managed to give the consumer a chocolate that is infused with the flavours of the areas in which it grows, thus providing us with a variety to choose from.

MADAGASCAR

This country is still relatively underdeveloped but they produce rather aromatic chocolates that are becoming more readily available to those that are prepared to pay.

ASIA I have only had a cru from Sri Lanka once and it wasn’t bad,  a little sharp for me but the Javanese produce an aromatic, full, round cru most certainly worth trying.

IVORY COAST These chocolates are delicious with smoky, nutty tones but a single origin is very rare – often the chocolates are mixed with beans from São Tomé, Nigeria, Cameroon and even the Congo – the latter producing a

reasonably good bean lately, but rare.

• GHANA To my mind Ghana produces really good chocolate – thick, rich and classy – certainly worth trying and good in a blend.
• MEXICO This is where chocolate originated and they still produce delicate, fine and smooth chocolate as does Costa Rica.
• VENEZUELA Brings very dark, strong but aromatic grand crus to the table as does Colombia and Ecuador.
• BRAZIL Produces huge amounts of usually bitter but fruity chocolate.
• THE CARRIBEAN ISLANDS

Includes (for the purpose of my purpose here) Jamaica (with her outstanding grand crus), Grenada, Haiti and Martinique who all deserve mention in this article. There are other, smaller producers as well – all of them deserve all the help they can get, so please – everyone, let’s give our planet a Valentines day gift as well and treat it and it’s inhabitants with love.  Surely that’s not too much to ask.

CHOCOLATE  DACQUOISES

Ingredients

• 4 large egg whites
• 50 g chopped hazelnuts
• 130 g ground hazelnuts
• 30 g bitter cacao
• 50 caster sugar
• 150 g icing sugar – plus some for dusting

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 160 C
• Line the baking sheet with parchment paper
• Put the ground hazelnuts, icing sugar and the cacao in a mixing bowl and whisk at high speed for about 10 seconds.
• Whisk the egg whites to soft peak stage, add the caster sugar and whisk for about 1 minute.
• Fold this into the hazelnut mixture where the egg white mixture will collapse a little and the meringue will become ribbony.
• Put the whole mixture into a piping bag (you can easily make on yourself at home) and simply pipe 20 dacquoises.
• Make sure you space them evenly on the parchment paper.
• Sprinkle them with the chopped hazelnuts and then bake for about 12 minutes – but check the oven as a hot oven may require a little less time.
• Take out of the oven and allow to cool.
• Peel of the baking sheet and sprinkle with icing sugar.

For Valentines evening you can make a little ganache and serve them filled with ganache for a super, sexy finish.