Top 10 Most Delicious Chocolate for Valentine’s Day 2011
Yesterday, I posted article “Top 10 Expensive Chocolate Gifts for Valentine’s Day 2011“, but if you have to lock up your wallet in this downturn year. Why not consider buying that special person in your life one of the following most delicious chocolates in the world.
NO.1 DOMORI
The Domori chocolate brand is named after the founder and president Domori Mack, whose actual name is Gianluca Franzoni.
Did you know that Domori actually means “Two Moors” in Venice and was used not only for Gianluca’s name but also that of his chocolate range as he lived in the cocoa plantations in Venezuela and wanted a name that reminded him of home. Today the company is located just outside of Turin, Italy. Although the company was founded in 1994, today it is part of the illy Group.
NO.2 Pierre Marcolini
Made from only the finest cacao beans harvested from chocolate plantations in Venezuela, Ecuador, Madagascar and Mexico, Pierre Marcolini chocolates are simple and elegant, many displaying nothing more than the signature name on them. Pierre stands by the phrase, “less is more,” and lets the outstanding quality and exquisite taste of his chocolate speak for itself.
NO.3 Leonidas
In the early part of the 1900s, Leonidas Kestekides moved from Constantinople to Greece and then to Italy, where he was employed as a wine merchant. As times became hard, he moved to the United States and became a confectioner in New York. In 1910, Leonidas travelled to Belgium to introduce his confections there.
His delightful creations met with extraordinary success at the World Fair in Brussels that year and in 1913 at the World Fair in Ghent. He was awarded the bronze medal in Brussels and the gold medal in Ghent for his exquisite chocolate creations. With the success he achieved in Belgium, combined with the fact that he had met and fallen in love with a beautiful woman who eventually became his wife, Leonidas made the decision to relocate permanently to Belgium.He then opened tea rooms in Ghent, Blankenberge and Brussels.
In the early part of the 1900s, Leonidas moved from Constantinople to Greece and then to Italy, where he was employed as a wine merchant. As times became hard, he moved to they United States and became a confectioner in New York. Nearly 100 years later, Leonidas is now an established and world recognized chocolate company with more than 100 various kinds of exquisite Belgian chocolate available through over 1,400 outlets worldwide.
NO.4 Neuhaus
In 1857, Jean Neuhaus opened a small apothecary in Brussels. Jean and his son, Frederic, ran the small apothecary, continually adding new and delicious confectionary inventions. In fact, they introduced so many new delicacies that the pharmaceuticals in the apothecary soon made way for the delightful and sweet confections created by the father-son pair.
Frederic’s son, Jean II joined the team and in 1912, introduced the first bonbons filled with chocolate. Louise Agostini, wife of Jean II, desired to find a more appropriate way of wrapping these precious pralines. Soon, she and her husband replaced the cornet bags that had previously been used to wrap the pralines with a beautiful gift-wrapped box that was later patented as “the ballotin.”
The business continued to be a family affair as Jean’s daughter and son-in-law, Suzanne and Adelson de Gavre, stepped in and contributed a number of their own confectionary inventions and creative packaging ideas. As this family business steadily grew, expansion soon became necessary. Today, Neuhaus boasts approximately 1600 outlets internationally, 80 of these in Brussels.
NO.5 zChocolat
For people who search for pure decadence in everything that chocolate has to offer, discovering zChocolat will be like finding a little piece of heaven. Apparently the French take chocolate making as seriously as they do their wine.
zChocolat have been rated Forbes’s favorite online chocolatier by Forbes Inc since March 2005 and it’s no wonder as their chocolates are hand-made by 4 award-winning French chocolatiers in Pascal Caffet, Fabrice Gillotte, Franck Fresson and Philippe Urraca.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner why not show that special someone in your life just how much you adore them by sending the perfect chocolate gift using their user friendly gift services.
BEST: Zchocolate wins style points for its refillable mahogany boxes that can be custom engraved with a diamond brass plate.
WORST: Only the ballotin assortments can be hand picked.
NO.6 GODIVA
Joseph Draps of Brussels, Belgium founded a chocolate company in 1926. He sought a name for his company that would embody the richness and pure elegance of his fine line of chocolates, while creating images of timeless passion and style with a sense of boldness. Thus, Godiva was born, named after the illustrious legend, Lady Godiva.
NO.7 Michel Chaudun
Michel Cluizel chocolates have been renowned since the mid-20th century, when Michel Cluizel first opened a family-run shop in Normandy. One of the rare chocolatiers to process their own carefully-selected cocoa beans, Michel Cluizel’s chocolates are known for their distinct, balanced flavors. At the famous store near the Tuileries Gardens and the St. Honoré fashion district, visitors can indulge in delicious dark or milk bars, each produced from a distinct blend of cocoa beans in Cluizel’s chocolaterie. Whole cocoa beans can also be purchased.
NO.8 Lindt
Lindt is the largest manufacturer of prestige chocolate in the world, accounting for 4% of sales. The line is very diverse, from boxed chocolates to Lindor Truffles to seasonal novelties to infused-flavor bars. The crown of the kingdom, though, is the Excellence line. Not only is it excellent: For the price, it’s one of the best values in Chocolatedom.
NO.9 GuyLian
Guylian, a Belgian chocolate company founded in 1960 by Guy Foubert, is perhaps most well known for their chocolate seashells with various praline fillings. The chocolates are hand made, making each one truly unique.
NO.10 Valrhona
Valrhona focuses mainly on high-grade luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption. Though considered one of the foremost chocolate makers in the world, Valrhona is in roughly the same price range as Godiva and Neuhaus. The product line includes chocolate confectionery, plain and flavored chocolate bars and bulk chocolate in bars or pellets. Valrhona produces vintage chocolate made from beans of a single year’s harvest from a specific plantation, primarily the Grand Crus which is grown in South America, the Oceania and the Caribbean. Currently three brands of vintage chocolates – Ampamakia, Gran Couva and Palmira – are in production with plantations on Madagascar, Trinidad and in Venezuela respectively.
NO.11 Debauve et Gallais
Debauve & Gallais has a tradition of making chocolates that are low in sugar and high in fine-quality cocoa. They do not use soy lecithin or any type of emulsifier in their chocolate. Other ingredients include Piedmont hazelnuts, Perigord nuts, Turkish raisins, Spanish almonds, Turin chestnuts and Antilles rum. There are no dyes, preservatives or other additives permitted in Debauve & Gallais chocolate.
NO.12 Truffles
French chocolate truffles have the best reputation of all truffles in the world since the truffle was invented in France. Named for the small mushroom it resembles in shape, the chocolate truffle is taken so seriously that regions in France have contests on the best chocolate truffles produced.
These luxurious chocolate truffles are usually covered in milk chocolate, dark chocolate or white chocolate. The chocolate truffle recipe consists of a filling called a ganache and is composed of cream and chocolate and sometimes other ingredients and flavorings are added such as fruits, nuts and liquors like port wine. A dusting of cocoa powder on the outside of the truffle makes for a taste contrast that is delightful. A package for French chocolate truffles are usually as beautiful as the candies with gold foil used within the box or clear lidded box used to make a fine gift presentation. A tin box also makes a fine quality container. A hand made product makes a natural gift regardless of the box count. Even a single truffle is a treat to be savored.
French food is known for other special tasty chocolate treats, such as the chocolate eclair and the chocolate mousse. Of all gourmet foods, the French chocolate truffles are a very convenient way for these special French chocolates to be shipped to the world.
