La vida cocoa
What is it about a chocolate bar that gets me smiling even before I take the wrapper off? I wonder no more as I pick up my favorite chocolate bar in my hands, peeling away the layers of paper and foil. Every step makes me giddy with anticipation, knowing well that the entire experience is a rewarding treat for the senses. The subtle scent, the sheen, the snap, the bite, the slow, melting, momentary escape from life’s drudgery as I slip into a world of bliss.
My earliest memory of cocoa was in my early childhood years, when I had a whiff of my first taza of native tsokolate lovingly prepared by my dear mom to warm and comfort me on a raging, stormy night. Since then, I’ve equated chocolate with love and hence, the start of a lifelong passionate and gooey relationship.
The appeal of chocolate is timeless and universal, crossing borders and cultures. In the course of my foodie jaunts here and there I have formed a propensity towards certain international brands. I consider Valrhona chocolate one of my guilty adult pleasures and somehow, I cannot outgrow my childhood favorite M&M’s.
So it was with much excitement that I accepted Juan Carlos de Terry’s invitation for me to sample and try out Spain’s pride, Valor chocolates. Juan Carlos, owner of the gourmet store Terry’s Selection, is constantly on the search for gourmet treasures worldwide. Gifted with a keen taste for fine wine and food, his store carries the most sought-after European brands. I do my shopping there for ingredients we use for our cooking and baking classes. And just recently he included Valor in his discriminating line of brands. He asked me and Buddy Trinidad of Park Avenue Desserts to create recipes using Valor’s chocolate and cocoa ingredients for baking. He wanted us to test them for their versatility and quality of taste and texture. I baked the Opera cake, a decadent chocolate cake with caramel sauce, Concord cake and chocolate cookies using Valor’s chocolate. Buddy created pralines and French chocolate macaroons using Valor’s cocoa and dark chocolate. I found Valor’s to be at par with the chocolate I am using as a baking ingredient.
On the occasion of its launch at Terry’s Selection last month, I was introduced to Luis Guijarro, export manager of Chocolate Valor and he espouses the goodness of Valor’s line of premium chocolates. According to him, master chocolatier Valeriano Lopez Lloret founded it in 1881. And what began as a small family business has continued to grow over the years. It now exports its chocolates worldwide. Valor Chocolates sources its cocoa from Ghana, Ecuador and Brazil. The traditional art of blending cocoa beans from different countries recognizes that the right combination yields a synergy — a total effect greater than the sum of its parts. They use only the very finest Spanish Marcona almonds and hazelnuts in their chocolate making, produced with the very purest raw materials specially selected from the world’s best harvests. And if a visit to Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory is every child’s fantasy, I found out that it may indeed come to life with Valor’s legendary chocolate museum located at Villajoyosa, Spain, a delightful attraction open to the public, for chocolate lovers of all ages to enjoy.
Rich, full-bodied and deeply satisfying — that’s how I describe an authentic cup of Spanish chocolate. I’d prefer it any day over coffee. One of the world’s greatest expressions of taste and rapture, hot chocolate is enjoyed by millions. And now from the country where it originates, Valor’s answer to my craving is “Taza To Go,” which is Spanish drinking chocolate in a convenient package. Valor Taza-to-Go is a concentrated chocolate base stirred into hot milk. It is made according to a traditional Valor family recipe and contains a small amount of finely ground rice powder. I sampled a cup and the taste just enveloped my senses. Intense!
Talk about pure pleasure. I still have to try the Gran Valor bar, one of Valor Chocolates’ most popular products, which comes with truffle and almonds. Like all of its chocolates, it is available in milk chocolate or con leche, coveted for its smooth taste and creamy texture that children will love, and puro or authentic cocoa flavor in a pure and slightly bitter chocolate. Lovers of strong flavors will delight in all its richness and aroma. Its intense flavor leaves a prolonged aftertaste and is combined with the best Marcona almonds, the same almonds that have made the Alicante turron (almond nougat) an internationally famous delicacy.
My verdict on Valor chocolates? It has a nice snap to it when you bite, a strong and distinct aroma that embraces you, a taste that will enamor you. And an aftertaste that will linger till the next exquisite encounter. I’d go loco without cocoa! Money may talk, but fine chocolate sings!
