Bucket-list chocolate – and where to find it

How was your chocolate experience this Easter? Once upon a time, there was only good chocolate. Then came the palm-oil loaded imports and, suddenly, that creamy, cacao-laden hit could no longer be guaranteed. If you’re looking for the very best in chocolate, check out our top 4 from around the world.

Modica

It’s grainy and gritty, and rich with the aroma of cocoa beans. This is chocolate at its raw best.

Produced in Sicily, this high-class candy arrived in Italy with the Spanish centuries ago and the method of making it hasn’t altered since. In essence, Modica chocolate never enters the melting phase. Sugar is simply worked into the unconched, unrefined cocoa paste resulting in a deliciously rough chocolate with a slight astringency. Although it’s traditionally flavoured with vanilla or cinnamon, today you can find Modica chocolate with a touch of chili, citrus or coffee. Best of all, this chocolate delight is at last available in New Zealand from Original Sicily.

Teuscher’s Champagne truffle

From humble beginnings in a small town in the Swiss Alps, this adored truffle has become one of the most famous chocolate treats in the world. In 1932, the Teuchers, a husband and wife team, opened a bakery and confectionary shop in the small town of Toesstal in Switzerland. Inspired by the sight of champagne buckets, Mr Dolf Teuscher concocted a pure chocolate truffle filled with a Dom Pérignon whipped cream centre, covered in a chocolate ganache, and coated in the finest chocolate. The success was astonishing, with customers demanding ever increasing supplies. Today, fresh supplies of Teuscher chocolate are flown to stores world wide, and while you may have trouble locating the treats in New Zealand, you can always order online.

Mexican chocolate champurrado

This thick, rich chocolate beverage with the consistency of a light pouring custard is traditionally consumed at breakfast time and has been called ‘The Drink of the Gods’. It is made by thickening sweetened milk with corn flour (or masa flour – a rougher version which gives a slightly grainy feel to the drink), then melting in Mexican chocolate to produce a beverage almost thick enough to stand a spoon in! Vanilla bean is sometimes added, as is a pinch of cinnamon. Mexican chocolate is available in New Zealand from time to time from Mexi-Foods so put your order in now.

Delafee gold chocolate

You’ll need to put your money where you mouth is if you want to savour Delafee chocolate. Just 450 grams of this luxury Swiss chocolate, encased in hand-applied, edible gold leaf, will set you back almost $700. But its luxury reputation comes not just from its gold exterior. The chocolate itself is fashioned from the highest quality cocoa beans, milk powder, coconut oil and vanilla, and aims to stimulate all the senses. If price isn’t a consideration, the company will happily customise creations to suit your every whim. Unless you’re heading to Switzerland sometime soon, you’ll need to order online from Delafee’s shop.