It’s International Chocolate Day! According to the U.S. National Confectioners Association, which chose the birthday of Milton S. Hershey for the celebration of all things cocoa. Wikipedia lists three other dates as World Chocolate Day as well, including July 7, July 11, and February 14.
Let’s hear all your chocolate opinions, Deadsplinters. Dark or milk? Hershey’s or Cadbury? How do you feel about the abomination known as white chocolate? Are you a chocolate snob or value quantity over quality? Can there be too many World Chocolate Days?
Firstly, dark chocolate is shit. Secondly, the explosion in popularity of dark chocolate (and the corresponding explosion in stupid), is contributing to the decimation of the world supply of cacao. So, if you want to be able to keep eating chocolate for the rest of your life, then stop eating that dark shit and go for the sweet deliciousness of milk chocolate instead. Also, go for quality over quantity.
That said…
American chocolate is, generally, shit. Cadbury over Hershey’s any day.
White chocolate is an abomination with only one, very specific exception: Reese’s White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. I have no idea what form of witchcraft they employ when making these, but the combination of flavors is divine.
Except I believe that Hershey’s currently produces all the “Cadbury” in America and the British stuff isn’t allowed. But both things can be true at the same time: Hershey’s is perfectly capable of producing superior products, they just don’t normally.
The did indeed ban real British recipe confectionery. https://www.jacksonville.com/article/20150206/news/801238797
The shop quoted in the article, Tea & Sympathy (and Carry On Tea & Sympathy) is a West Village institution and center spoke for expats in New York. It smarts that Hershey’s ban effects them, too.
Everything this guy said! And i don’t really mind white chocolate, usually in addition to (some other chocolate conveyance). The white choc kitkats or reese’s variants are fine. It’s just sugar.
Here’s more on why Cadbury tastes better than Hershey’s.
When I first tasted Hershey’s chocolate in the States, my child mind said “this puts the chalk in chocolate”. It was (and still is) disgusting.
Because in my previous studies and career, I often went to many biochemical conferences, I’d often run into various chemical societies (ASC, RSC) trying to make their exhibit hall booths exciting by delving into the science of food. The difference between American Hershey’s v. British Cadbury chocolate bars was often a feature, with Cadbury coming out on top in every taste test. Now, Cadbury isn’t all that good (I belong to the camp of Brits who call it “chocolate foodstuff” because it’s the sort of crap you find next to chewing gum at the off licence), but you must be battling some fiercely powerful nostalgia to think Hershey’s is anything more than something you’ll settle for eating because you’re hungry and trapped in an office with bad vending machine choices or that’s what’s in your coworker’s candy dish.
Thanks for the info on dark chocolate, that will come in handy when the snobs pooh pooh my preference for milk chocolate.
I like the dark stuff, but I don’t turn my nose up at milk chocolate. White chocolate is definitely a deal breaker.
I have yet to meet anyone who likes white chocolate, yet I see it for sale everywhere. Who’s buying it?
I recently bought some white chocolate chips to put in creamsicle flavored ice cream I made, but in general I’m on team “white chocolate sucks”.
White chocolate isn’t even actually chocolate. It’s only cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids.
“White chocolate isn’t even actually chocolate. It’s only cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids.”
This is part of the problem. It’s like cauliflower rice. I might like it if it was called something else. But it never fails to disappoint.
Yeah I was about to say I wouldn’t mind it if it wasn’t called White Chocolate!
The same people who buy sweet pickle relish.
I thought it was funny (and somewhat true) when I’d see jokes about white chocolate existing because wypipo couldn’t abide only having brown chocolate…
But seriously, white chocolate can be perfectly OK when it’s used in moderation for decorative touches (like drizzling against a background of actual chocolate in desserts, pâtisserie, and viennoiserie). Why anyone to choose to eat a significant amount of it, IDK. Why not just eat a crayon and sugar?
Raised on Hershey’s. Went on actual factory tour in grade school, where you walked on glass-topped catwalks around the factory and vats of chocolate. (Nowadays the tour is an amusement park ride.)
I’m guessing it smelled great.
In spite of growing up in PA I’ve never been to Hershey park. I should probably go at least once.
I thought school trips were state-mandated or something…
(grew up in PA, went to Hershey’s repeatedly through grade school…)
When I was a kid, I hated solid chocolate. The only chocolate I would eat was white chocolate. It’s more like a waxy sugar bar than chocolate and I loved it! As an adult I prefer regular chocolate dark or milk. I will still try white chocolate but can’t handle more than one square.
I just commented that I never knew anyone who liked white chocolate.You’re the first who even used to.
I like white chocolate, especially in cookies with macnuts
I won’t turn it down. If there’s a white chocolate bunny in my easter basket, I’m eating it. But i won’t buy the bunny…
My extremely hot take: Chocolate is good.
Milk chocolate for the win. I’ve tried all different dark chocolates and for me if it isn’t sweet – why bother.
I used to like the dark, I liked bitter flavors more when I was younger. But my tastes have changed and now I’m team milk chocolate.
Given my druthers, I think I’d take milk more often than dark, but honestly, both are good. I even like white chocolate in small doses. Like I said, chocolate is good!
I think the biggest problem with white chocolate is that it’s called chocolate. Then you bite into it and it’s not. They need a different name for it.
We are all Homer.
I knew I should check in on you for a reason. Now I know what I am doing today!
https://www.bigislandcandies.com
It may not be chocolate but the Pineapple Manju sounds delicious. When I was in Georgia I went to a great little confectionery. Everything was good but the Sea Salt and Vinegar Toffee was outstanding!
https://sugarmarshcottage.com/
I love manju but can’t come home w/out the chocolate dipped shortbread cookies. Unashamed to admit I will also be buying dark chocolate covered coffee beans & macnuts
I approve!
It would raise an eyebrow if you returned without macadamias!
I extremely dislike dark chocolate. Unless it is in tiny amounts, drizzled over a dessert, I’ll pass. My bitter detectors are turned up to eleven.
As stated above, I don’t understand why people find Hershey’s to be anything more than “technically edible”. Cadbury’s is better, but still not great.
As a person in my teens/20s, I loved loved loved dark, robust chocolate (and strong, acidic coffee) to an almost extreme point. I still prefer dark chocolate, but I’ve mellowed off on the % cacao goals (60% cacao is fine for me, but I would have considered that wimpy in the past). Too often, dark chocolate is done poorly (for the record, Mast Brothers chocolate is shite and now that they don’t even use pretty paper, why?) and leaves dabblers with the impression that all dark chocolate is bitter and unpleasant. When done well, it has a complex bean palate and shouldn’t be strongly bitter, but flavourful. Additionally, most chocolate (but especially dark) isn’t best showcased in a bar, but in small bits either in isolation or incorporated into a dessert, so eating a bar of dark chocolate and calling it gross sort of misses the point. It’s meant to go into desserts or truffles where the darkness balances some other component.
I do like milk chocolate more than I used to, but the key is that it’s optimal only in certain contexts (for instance, milk chocolate is the best companion for hazelnuts–so much better than pairing them with dark chocolate).
And white chocolate’s greatest sin is being a misnomer. It’s bland and waxy, but it can in small stripes play well against raspberries or even matcha in layered cakes or verrines.
Maybe the poorly done dark chocolate is why I like it less now. There’s so much more of it around. Probably most of it is shite.
…all due respect to those who don’t agree…but I definitely prefer dark chocolate
…& milk chocolate covered ginger biscuits just wouldn’t be the same…so I’m sticking to my guns on that
…not sure if it’s true but someone once told me that when rationing ended hershey’s changed their recipe for hershey bars to one that used real chocolate & got so many complaints that they went back to making those (& the kisses, I think?) using the chocolate-ish recipe that was invented during the rationing era…because that’s what people thought they wanted
…not sure if it’s actually true but it tastes like it could be?
Different chocolate works with different flavors. I’d agree that ginger, being an intense flavor, requires a deeper, dark chocolate. A more delicate flavor may go better with milk chocolate. Maybe there’s even something that works best with white chocolate. *gasp*
“Cookies ‘n creme” attempts work best with white chocolate.
Pretzels. I will actually eat white-chocolate-covered pretzels during the winter holidays.
I’m team chocolate, enjoying basically any of it.
However, it needs to be decent chocolate because nobody likes the fake chocolate poopies.
Definitely, chocolate should never just be okay.