Each chocolatier decides which brand of couverture to use, depending on his or her personal tastes. Some use more than one brand and/or different blends of beans, origin cacao or percentages of cacao within a brand, based on their feeling that specific couvertures pair better with particular items. For example, even within semisweet chocolate, one couverture might taste better with nuts; another with fruits, fruit cremes and peel; another with caramels and toffee; and yet another with plain bars and ganaches.
Most fine couverture producers offer a variety of origin chocolate, as well as house blends in different percentages of cacao from milk to semisweet to bittersweet.
Some chocolatiers use the manufacturer’s straight product, which is available in pure origin or house blends. Other chocolatiers blend different blocks of the manufacturer’s couverture to get their desired flavor result. Still others might have the chocolate manufacturer blend a special “recipe” according to the chocolatier’s own specifications. Like more cocoa butter for a smoother mouth feel, more Venezuelan beans in the mix for a fruitier chocolate.
Some chocolatiers use multiple brands, brands popular among U.S. chocolatiers include Callebaut, El Rey, Guittard and Valrhona. Callebaut and Guittard chocolate are certified kosher (as is Scharffen Berger, which is popular with pastry chefs), so chocolatiers who want to make the finest kosher chocolate generally choose one of these brands.
Technorati Tags: brand, cacao, Chocolates, couvertures, fruit, kosher, origin
Tags: brand, cacao, Chocolates, couvertures, fruit, kosher, origin
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