Chocolate tastings

I have been lucky enough to have tasted many different kinds of chocolates in the past few years, from locally made, US-based, to European-based types. And while I don't like to generalize, French chocolates typically get very high marks from me.

(As a side note, one of my least-liked questions is when someone asks me "What's your favorite food?" or "What is your favorite chocolate?". I have a different favorite depending on the situation and price point. Do I want a traditional ganache? Something with a modern flavor profile? Fruit? Nuts? It all depends on context.)

In any case though, if you were to twist my arm and I was allowed to choose one chocolate to have for the rest of my life, it would be the Rigoletto by La Maison du Chocolat. It has a complex caramel-y flavor but the chocolate remains the star: smooth and velvety. The chocolate is light on your tongue, but not so airy that it tastes insubstantial. And so it is the chocolates from La Masion du Chocolate (hereby known as 'MDC' to save myself the typing) that I use as the standard when I judge my chocolate tastings in Paris.

Ironically, many online chocolate fans consider MDC to be inferior. The chocolates are made in bulk, since there are quite a few stores worldwide, and are not deemed to be as fresh and tasty as some smaller Parisian chocolatiers. Well, that is absolutely something I had to investigate, and so I trekked myself to a chocolate shop today.

My online research pointed out well over a dozen different shops for me to try. My wallet and waistline unfortunately would not be able to take that strain, and so I have to content myself with picking out a few fan favorites. Jean-Paul Hévin is mentioned a lot on these lists, even though he also has a few branches out of the country (mostly in Asia). I bought a nice little sachet of 12 chocolates to try, for about $13 USD.

Looks tasty!

For my tasting, I used a knife to cut half of each chocolate to try (the other half will be for tomorrow. How's that for moderation and portion control?). Once again, I won't bore everyone to death by describing each chocolate in detail... here are the ones that I found most interesting. The poor chocolates got a little roughed up during the trip home, so they aren't as pristine as the ones in the store.

The Adamantin featured an almond praline covered with dark chocolate. I usually find hazelnut praline in desserts, so the almond provided a slight but welcome variation. The praline had a fantastic texture; any nut/crispy bits were tiny, and helped showcase the smoothness of the ganache.

Adamantin

The name of the chocolate below is "Woman". I wonder what the Jean-Paul Hévin is trying to insinuate? Anyway, this was an interesting flavor combination. Green tea ganache, with a bergamot marzipan layer. First note I tasted was the tea, then it becomes more floral as the bergamot takes over. I found the marzipan texture distracting. I can't say that I liked this, but this was a very strong flavor profile that I don't think I have tasted before.

Woman

I couldn't find this chocolate on the website, so I will dub it "Parfume d'Orange". A soft orange ganache is coated in milk chocolate. The orange note was very fragrant, it was almost more of an aroma in my nose than a flavor in my mouth. I liked this classic combination a lot.

Parfum d'Orange

And then there's Jean-Paul Hévin's version of Maison du Chocolat's Rigoletto. I need to get one from MDC for direct comparison! The Manon was good, but I actually thought the chocolate flavor got lost in the stronger caramel. I want to say that the MDC version is a little more balanced.

Manon

So what's the verdict? This is very good French chocolate. All of the ganaches were completely smooth and everything melted in my mouth. The flavors were mostly strong and straightforward, although I didn't love a few of the combinations. My one issue is that the chocolate had a very acidic aftertaste; I wonder if that is due to where he sources his chocolate from. The shop also offers other delights like caramels (which are supposed to be outstanding), chocolate-based pastries, and macarons. Parisians are most certainly very lucky to have so many options around.