Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Chocolate elitism

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  • Lyndon Hood,

    I think it is time there were some controls put on what can and can't be called Chocolate

    I recall that under the current rules, if Cadbury's put 1+ per cent less cocoa mass in their dairy milk, it would not be chocolate.

    It is important to the look and mouth-feel of the chocolate, not to the flavour.

    "Texture influences how flavour is perceived." says the lady quoted in the article about how the Press newsroom preferred the new Cadbury's.

    Tempering tantrum anyone?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Peter Darlington,

    Friday link for all those folks loving their big gay weekend house anthems:

    Calvin Harris - "Ready for the Weekend (High Contrast Remix)" available on Hype Machine

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report

  • Martin Roberts,

    If every bar has a glass and half of full cream milk, and the size of the bars has dropped from about 250 grams to 200 grams, does that mean there is proportionally more milk in the chocolate?

    That's why they couldn't fit so much chocolate in, and had to compensate with palm oil.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 93 posts Report

  • Peter Martin,

    If every bar has a glass and half of full cream milk, and the size of the bars has dropped from about 250 grams to 200 grams, does that mean there is proportionally more milk in the chocolate?

    Unless the buggers shrunk the glass size too...*g*

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 187 posts Report

  • richard,

    putting it well on the road to wtf-is-this Hershey Hell anyway.

    That road is more usually referred to as the Hershey Highway (just Google it).

    So much for the glass and a half of full cream milk.

    Not looking for New Engla… • Since Nov 2006 • 268 posts Report

  • Michael Stevens,

    Devonport Chocolates on POnsonby Rd - just delicious, lethally good and addictive.

    But otherwise, Whittakers over Cadburys any day.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 230 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    A shotglass and a half, perhaps.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Pictures do tell a story (ta, @thomasbeagle).

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Martin Roberts,

    Regarding the Palm Oil thing, the guy from Cadbury's was claiming their Palm Oil is "sustainably sourced". Is that possible ? Bit like the Kwila decking issue ? How would the consumer "really" know.

    That's an important question for me; about child slavery even more than rainforests.

    Wandered into Philippe's once and the service staff knew nothing about the origins of the chocolate. Schoc says simply "all our growers are treated fairly and respectfully", which is more than I've seen on many an expensive brand's website but hardly beyond question.

    Turns out that Callebaut has a useful page on Corporate Social Responsibility (thanks for that link, Rik) but it seems any certification they could apply for is still in the pipeline. That leaves me eating the limited range of Fair Trade certified products, but thinking many of these small and tasty-looking brands are probably safe. How can I know?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 93 posts Report

  • Joanna,

    Russell, didn't you learn your lesson not to talk about palm oil years ago with that crazy paid commentator?

    Also, if you want a mouth orgasm, get yourself some Clearview Sea Red dessert wine (it's a tiny bit salty from the grapes being grown so close to the sea) and eat it with Shoc Chili chocolate. Oh my stars, you'll eat it with your eyes closed and won't want to open them again, it's that good.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Friday link for all those folks loving their big gay weekend house anthems:
    Calvin Harris - "Ready for the Weekend (High Contrast Remix)" available on Hype Machine

    As one heterosexual man to another, thanks honey.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd,

    Regarding the Palm Oil thing, the guy from Cadbury's was claiming their Palm Oil is "sustainably sourced". Is that possible ? Bit like the Kwila decking issue ? How would the consumer "really" know.

    I did a bit of googling on this the other day.

    Cadbury get their oil via people who are certified through an industry group, the RSPO. Said group appears to be a voluntary, loosely regulated and badly inspected organisation with no teeth. cite.

    Money quote:
    "... the RSPO is failing to enforce even its own minimum, and from Greenpeace’s point of view, insufficient criteria.
    The certifiers have ignored several issues including land conflicts, operations in breach of Indonesian law, development without High Conservation Value assessments and continued clearance of forests and peatlands, even though some of this land clearing took place on peat more than 2 m deep and is therefore illegal under Indonesia law.

    The granting of the first sustainability certificate by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to United Plantations seems little else but a cover up of business-
    as-usual including land grabbing, deforestation, peatland conversion, and the violation of Indonesian law."

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    I've just returned from protesting about Cadbury's use of palm oil at the annual Jaffa Race.

    Hey good job Katie.

    Oh my stars, you'll eat it with your eyes closed and won't want to open them again, it's that good.

    So not to be eaten before appearing on TV then?

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Rik,

    That leaves me eating the limited range of Fair Trade certified products, but thinking many of these small and tasty-looking brands are probably safe. How can I know?

    Fear not Martin - in the not too distant future you will be able to purchase a locally (Grey Lynn) produced bar of chocolate made from fresh high quality trinitario cacao beans sourced through a fair trade agreement directly with the pacific-based plantation. The only serious food miles associated with it will be in shipping the beans down from the islands to NZ. And it will be very good for you. And it will taste like no chocolate you have tried before (in a good way!).

    Yes, your conscience will be clear...but your wallet will have a dent in it!

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Rik, that looks like something we could get behind. Don't be a stranger now.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Don Christie,

    I was wondering whether Cadbury's decision was more to do with the shift in manufacturing from NZ. I suspect the plants in Aussie were not set up in the same was as those here.

    Pure conjecture on my part.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd,

    Rik: I'm one of those who likes Whittaker's Dark Ghana, and one of the things I particularly like about it is the coffee note! So I suspect that if you were to produce something with actual coffee in I might find it irresistible.

    I've come to terms with the fact that I am probably a "low taster". I enjoy the potentially philistine dark choc/scotch combo too.

    I feel we ought to cross-pollinate Mr Slack's latest thread. After all, Whittakers are locally owned, aren't they?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • B Jones,

    Whittaker's Mocha has ground up coffee beans in it. I bought some by accident once - extra coffee beans aren't so useful when you're making ganache. It's quite nice eating though.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Peter Darlington,

    As one heterosexual man to another, thanks honey.

    :)

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report

  • Hilary Stace,

    This thread should have a warning: Do not read on a Friday afternoon if you have low blood sugar!

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    I would certainly buy real Grey Lynn chocolate (and as mentioned am available for product testing purposes). Seems that a caffeinated variety would be locally appropriate, but I must say the Rapunzel one was a bit too gritty for my liking.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    You wouldn't be going to sell it through the new Grey Lynn Farmers Markets that are happening in Sept, would you, Rik? Cos that would be awesome.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • webweaver,

    I'm completely traumatised that my beloved Cadbury's is one of the bad guys.

    I was born and brought up in the UK in Bournville, Birmingham - the original home of Cadbury's. The factory is still there, and still makes chocolate.

    I went to George Cadbury Infant and Junior Schools; every Christmas the whole school would be invited to the factory cinema to watch a hand-picked movie; all us girls in the village would spend months practising maypole dances and we'd perform at the Maypole festival which was held once a year on the Cadbury's recreation ground; if the wind was blowing in the right direction you could smell the chocolate from my house; and the the whole of Bournville was (and still is) a conservation area (of which we were very proud) because George Cadbury did such a bang-up job of creating a model village for his workers at the turn of the century.

    George Cadbury himself (as we all learned at school) was a Good Guy. A Quaker who built a factory on the outskirts of the big city and determined that the houses he would build for his workers would be a hundred times better than the dwellings most working-class people lived in at the time. Indoor loo, plumbing, hot water, semi-detached (not terraced), and each house had a garden with 5 fruit trees planted in it. Parks throughout the village, a village green, recreation grounds adjoining the factory so that the men and women who worked for him could keep fit, no pubs allowed within the village boundaries (to this day!)... quite amazing really.

    George Cadbury must be turning in his grave at the thought of how far from his original enlightened ideals his products have strayed...

    *sniff*

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 332 posts Report

  • Peter Ashby,

    Russ speaking of chocolate and single malt, if you encounter a bottle of Bowmore Darkest buy it, the stuff tastes of chocolate. It's chocolate from the direction that malt on the tongue can become sort of burnt and caramelly, os on the dark high % scale, but choc nevertheless. My wife loves is and only knows it as 'the chocolate malt'.

    It is also sad that Cadbury's is doing this, their product here in the UK is waxy not particularly pleasant because it has more hydrogenated vegetable protein than milk solids in it. The NZ version was always much better and comparing the ingredients list was always sobering.

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report

  • JP Hansen,

    I'm a huge fan of Makana Chocolate(s) in Blenheim (they also have a shop in Northland I believe). Expensive, but oh so delicious.

    Last night I watched that Macca concert that was linked to earlier. So good, but it also made me sad at the same time for the loss of Harrison and Lennon.

    And in a tangentally related bit, my favourite YouTube star - comedian / Impersonanator Steve Riks has had his Youtube account suspended for reasons unknown.

    He started a secondary account, but it only has a few of his impersonations up. Here Paul McCartney makes a cup of tea;

    He seems to have kept his covers off the new account, but they can be seen elsewhere:



    And here's a link to more. Top stuff, only his Freddie Mercury misses the mark, imo.

    http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=riksy372&view=videos

    Waitakere • Since Nov 2006 • 206 posts Report

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