This past weekend was recovery to regain our energy that we lost while being sick. We no longer felt bad, but we sure did need that one extra day of rest. Sunday, however, started off with a wonderful 3 inch snow. It was also a fun day in Stuttgart. We went to the Porsche Museum. It is a brand new museum that just opened on Jan. 31st. We met some friends of my husband's that he had worked with in Charleston for the tour. Fortunately for me, his girlfriend, who I had also met back in Charleston (yes, she's American), was willing to spare me the tour, so we found a Starbucks and planted it for a few hours. It was really nice having a fellow American to talk with that was also female! :-) One thing that we did talk about was the plan for the next time we get together. Something they mentioned doing was taking a tour of the big German chocolate factory that is in Waldenbuch - Ritter Sport. Now that is my kind of factory tour. We are planning it for some time around Easter. I can't wait.
And of course, this leads me back to my question on Friday: So just what is the difference between Belgian chocolate, Swiss chocolate, and German chocolate? Well, the people of each country would tell you they are vastly different and each of them would also claim their own country's chocolate products as better than the others. I have to admit, though, that I can't always tell a difference. I have had chocolate from all three countries. And I have had local chocolates, not just big names like Nestle or Toblerone (Swiss), but some made in towns that sell it only in chocolatiers locally.
I guess a little history of chocolate would be in order, though, to truly understand the distinctions that each country may have. Of course the plant from which chocolate is made is a tropical plant. The beans were originally harvested and used in Central and South America as far back as 1100 BC. Mayas and Aztecs alike both had chocolate drinks on a regular basis. Cacao beans were also often used as currency, giving a sense of the value of this item to the peoples of the region. When the Spanish came to take over the Central and South American fortunes, they required cocoa beans to be used as a way to pay taxes. At this time, the unsweetened chocolate drink was brought back to Europe and became a luxury drink for the wealthy. This of course had a devastating effect on the locals, who were now enslaved to the Spanish to produce cacao beans en masse. The first chocolate house was in England, where a milk chocolate drink was made for medicinal purposes. It wasn't until the industrial revolution, though, that the cocoa butter was able to be extracted from the bean. This butter was then used to make the chocolate in a hard form, as we think of it today. Eventually, the plant was taken to Africa, where again slave labor on cacao plantations was incorporated. Today, almost 3/4ths of the world's cocoa production happens in Western Africa, without slave labor, of course. The process of allowing the cacao beans to sit idle and ferment is how the beans develop the flavor we consider as "chocolate". After fermentation, they beans are dried and then roasted. Different flavors of chocolates are brought out by roasting times. Another part of the pods is called the nib. This is used to make chocolate liquor which they then process into chocolate solids (the dark part that gives chocolate its brown colors) and cocoa butter. These three ingredients, ground beans, cocoa butter and chocolate solids, plus sugar are then processed back together to make chocolate. The longer it is processed, the more wonderful the chocolate.
The Swiss are really synonymous with both chocolate and fondue, and even some chocolate fondues. Their chocolates are very creamy and sweet. They also have a wonderful selection of filled chocolates, some that are only for adults, are filled with some of their favorite drinks. News of chocolate first came to Switzerland after the mayor of Zurich went to Brussels in the late 1600s. But it was another 100 years before it was ready to be embraced by confectioners. The Swiss experimented a lot with chocolates before getting the flavor of the Swiss milk chocolate we think of today. Nestle, the name we commonly see in the US, was the original inventor of condensed milk, which was then added to chocolate to make it that creamy texture we associate with milk chocolate. It wasn't until 1879, that the famous Rodolphe Lindt made his exceptional chocolates that melt in your mouth in the company known today simply as Lindt. Switzerland definitely has had its contributions for the need to have Chocoholics Anonymous. I had the opportunity about 5 years ago to taste some Swiss chocolates made in a little town called Glarus. These particular chocolates were truly wonderful, and something you can't buy in the US.
Germany's chocolate is not as well known, but locally, the above mentioned company called Ritter Sport makes really good chocolate. It has become big enough of a company in recent years to start to be available in US markets more commonly. I can find it both in the grocery store and at the World Market store. One thing I have noticed about the different German companies is that they love to put marzipan, an almond paste, as a filling for chocolates. I don't like marzipan, so I have to be careful when buying that I read the labels. Germany also has another company that, although not available in common stores in the US, have managed to market to specialty stores like World Market. Their chocolates are really geared towards children in the form of toys inside chocolate. Their Kinder Egg is one of my children's favorites. The children never comment on how good the chocolate is (I've tasted it and am unimpressed), but they love eating it off the plastic egg that has a toy inside. Sometimes the toy is neat, and sometimes it is junk, but for them, I guess it is kinda like the olden days when we would gobble down a box of Cracker Jacks just for the surprise inside.
But the winner of the complete gourmet experience is Belgium. They are the famous chocolatiers of fame and luxury, such as Godiva and Nirvana. Belgium chocolate prides itself on being made with tradition, as it was in the days of chocolate's first appearance on the European map. Even today, most of the chocolate there is made by hand and sold in small shops. And they set the standards with the highest quality ingredients and a process they obviously still stand by. As a matter of fact, without Belgium and French recipes, the Swiss would not have nearly as much success with their own chocolates. Belgian chocolate is very rich, very creamy, and not quite as sweet. And they also have become superb makers of filled chocolate truffles. It first came on the scene in the 1700s in Belgium, but it wasn't until the early part of the 20th century that a process was developed by Jean Neuhaus to make a shell into which these other fillings could be added. He had discovered a new niche in the market that people craved. He called these chocolates pralines, which is totally unlike what we call pralines in the US. The school nurse there at BHES in Summerville introduced me to these terribly sinful little truffles that I can get here in Germany. I sent some as gifts to my relatives, and I am sure I have created a few addicts. We hope to take a chocolate tour in Brussels at the end of March. I would really enjoy that!!
So the word for today should, of course, be chocolate: although spelled a little differently, it sounds pretty much the same - die Schokolade (sho ko lah deh where the o's are long o's as in hope.) Hmmm - I think I am going to have to go get a chocolate fix after this article!!!
The question for today is "Where is the Brandenburg Gate and why is it important?"
Auf Wiedersehen,
Frau Spitzer
