One Serving » Tips

Tasting Dark Chocolate

Debbie — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:36:50 +0000

I’m a big fan of dark chocolate; not so much for milk or white. London is a great place for gourmet chocolates. As well as the UK-based Artisan du Chocolat, we also have plenty of Hotel Chocolat shops, the Parisian La Maison du Chocolat and a whole host of Belgian outlets for the likes of Godiva, Leonidas and so on.

Artisan du Chocolat is by far my favourite and, best of all, they run a stall at Borough Market every weekend which sells the misshapen chocolates that don’t make it to the stall. They’re cheap and still taste gorgeous! :)

Today I ran across a fabulous guide to tasting dark chocolate from Chow. Chocolate is incredibly complex, but the tasting process itself should be focused around into 4 distinct areas: Visual, Aroma, Texture and Flavour.

Texture: Break a chunk off. A clean snap indicates that the chocolate’s been well tempered. Put it in your mouth. Close your eyes and think about what you’re experiencing. Chew a few times to break it up, and let it melt in your mouth.

See the full article; How to Taste Dark Chocolate over at CHOW.

Easy-Peel Tomatoes

Debbie — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:44:15 +0000

Cut a small cross into the skin of each tomato. Drop them into boiling water for about 10 seconds. Fish them out (mind the hot water!) and the skin should peel away easily.

Grating Zest

Debbie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:46:54 +0000

Zest is a great way to flavour things – put it in butter to add a zing to your vegetables, add it to fruit pie fillings, boil it up to give depth to your gravy… there’s no end to the tasty stuff you can make with a bit of citrus rind.

When grating citrus fruits for zest, make sure you only get the coloured part of the peel. Don’t go all the way through to the white pith; this will taste unpleasantly bitter. It’s possible but difficult to do this with even the sharpest of knives; I recommend getting a proper zester even if you only use it a few times a year. Traditional zesters
are good for doing a couple of fruit but can get tedious if you’re doing a large batch of zest. I’m a big fan of Microplane and their coarse grater should give you a good amount pretty quickly.

Tangerine + Chocolate = Heaven

Debbie — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:39:38 +0000

Tangerine segments are fabulous dipped in chocolate fondue. If you’re making fondue, try to get tangerines early in the season when they’re still tart but juicy. Heavenly!

Liven Up Your Couscous

Debbie — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:45:05 +0000

Abby used to think couscous was terribly dull. She’s since discovered some great ways to perk it up:

this week we had some gorgeous couscous that required a little more effort, but not much. i mixed the couscous grains with finely diced red chilli and shallots plus shredded mint, basil and parsley before adding the stock, into which i’d stirred the juice and zest of a lemon plus a pinch of saffron. when the couscous was done i stirred in some pomegranate seeds and it was ready to go.

See more of her couscous ideas at eat the right stuff.