Aiello Ciocolady Menta

I've tried several of the Italian chocolatier Aiello's chocolate bars before, Liquirizia being my favourite. This one is fairly similar ingredient-wise to all the others, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin as emulsifier, vanilla and mint oil (0.1%). The cacao content is at 53%.

How does it taste? Aiello's chocolate is good, a good eating chocolate, the mint in this bar is not too strong; if you like mint and chocolate together, then this is a bar you might like. I far prefer the Liquirizia certainly, but this one is good now and again, despite the $5-6 price tag.

Aiello Ciocolady Latte Nocciole

Most of the Italian chocolatier Aiello's offerings are dark chocolate; this is the first I've tried that is milk chocolate. It also has hazelnuts, a favourite of mine. Being milk chocolate, the cacao content is low, 33%. The ingredient listing is okay, sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, hazelnuts (20%), soya lecithin as emulsifier and vanilla.

How does it taste? This is my least favourite of Aiello's chocolate bars, despite the whole hazelnuts. It is a good milk chocolate bar, the chocolate is flavourful, but it just does lend itself to repeat eating. It suffers from the whole hazelnuts being on top; when you break the bar, you often don't get an even amount of milk chocolate per hazelnut. I don't think I would buy this bar again.

Aiello Ciocolady Liquirizia

Liquorice is a favourite flavour of mine; I was definitely most interested in this offering from the Italian chocolatier Aiello. The liquorice flavour comes from liquorice root (from the picture on the packaging), as opposed to anise-flavoured versions. The cacao content of this bar is at 53%, and the ingredient listing looks good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla and liquorice.

How does it taste? This has easily become my favourite of Aiello's bars. I like the chocolate taste, the liquorice flavouring and the crunchiness as you chew it. It reminds me of eating good liquorice candy. I definitely would eat this bar again, and have now several times. The bar cost about $3 on sale.

Aiello Ciocolady Assenzio

Absinthe is a forbidden flavour, as it has been banned in several countries because of supposed psychoactive ingredients, and potential addictive qualities. Because of this, it's not a well known or readily available flavour. Long vilified, it is a flavoured alcohol available in many places, flavoured with wormwood and green anise and florence fennel (though other herbs can be used). This is the first chocolate bar I've seen with this flavour, too. The cacao content of this bar is at 53%, and the ingredient listing looks good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla and absinthe oil.

How does it taste? The chocolate itself is pleasant, like most of Aiello's bars, a good eating chocolate. I was interested in trying this, having read about absinthe, but, to be honest, I was a little disappointed. Not that I didn't like the bar, absinthe has an anise flavour, which I like, it's just that it wasn't fantastic (and maybe it needs a little boosting of flavour). I think that I would eat this bar again given the chance. The bar cost about $3 on sale.

Aiello Ciocolady Fondente

I've tried several of the Italian chocolatier Aiello's offerings, this is one which showcases their chocolate, it has no added flavour. The cacao content of this bar is at 72% (most of their other bars are at 53%), and the ingredient listing looks good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin and vanilla.

How does it taste? The chocolate itself is pleasant, like most of Aiello's bars, a good eating chocolate. This is not a fantastic bar, though, and I don't think I would choose to buy this again. The bar cost about $3 on sale.

Aiello Ciocolady Zenzero

I have had, and enjoyed, many bars with chocolate combined with ginger, but most of them do not have ginger oil (rather, they mostly have candied ginger). The cacao content of this bar from the Italian chocolatier Aiello is at 53%, and the ingredient listing looks good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla and ginger oil.

How does it taste? The chocolate itself is pleasant, a good eating chocolate. The ginger flavour is interesting, it's throughout the chocolate, rather than in small pockets surrounded by chocolate, and the ginger is not overpowering or hot (something I like with most ginger dishes, but I would say it's not something that I would think would appear in a chocolate bar, it may have limited appeal). This is a bar I would choose again to eat. The bar cost about $3 on sale.

Aiello Ciocolady Bergamotto

The Italian chocolatier Aiello makes several interesting flavoured chocolates, this one features a flavour I've never tried before combined with chocolate, bergamot. Bergamot, as I've discovered, comes from the Bergamot orange, and is used in perfumery, but also in flavouring Earl Grey and Lady Grey teas. The cacao content of this bar is at 53%, and the ingredient listing looks good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla and citrus bergamotto.

How does it taste? The chocolate itself is pleasant, a good eating chocolate, and I must say I've never drunk either of the Grey teas (not liking black tea), so I don't know what bergamot tastes like really, but I find the flavour not citrusy like some of the orange-chocolate combinations, too citrusy even, but not that interesting a flavour to me. It's not a bar I would choose again to eat. The bar cost about $3 on sale.

Aiello Ciocolady Peperoncino

This chocolate comes from an Italian chocolatier, though I can't find much information about it; I found this bar and others of theirs on sale at Whole Foods. The ingredient listing is good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin and chili pepper oil (2%). The cacao content is at 53%.

How does it taste? I've had other peperoncino bars, essentially chili pepper and chocolate, a good combination normally; this one is deceptive, in that when you first eat it, you don't get the heat, you get it in the aftertaste. Even so, it's not too hot. The chocolate itself is good but not great, overall a pleasant eating bar. This bar cost me $4; normally $5.

Perugina Baci Bar

I've not cared for the Baci chocolates from Perugina, these are similar, just flattened out. The ingredient listing actually looks worse than the individual chocolates; sugar, unsweetened chocolate, hazelnuts, vegetable fats (palmist, palm, babacu, saffron, cotton), cocoa butter, modified milk ingredients, soya lecithin and artificial flavour. There is also no love note; I guess this is for those who love Baci.

How does it taste? Sweet, but not too bad. The hazelnuts and filling are there in flavour, but should be paired with a better chocolate. The bar cost $2. I liked this better than the individual chocolates, though not enough to eat again.

Mistero Zuccarello Tarocco Blood Oranges

These blood oranges are from Sicily. They are far bigger, and heavier, than others that I have bought, with a thicker skin, and they have only a slightly red flesh. They are tasty, though. I noticed too, at Highland Farms where I bought them, that this company also has mandarins (though, I wasn't interested in those at the time). These are the Tarocco variety of blood oranges, I've learned now, which you can't see, but is marked on the label. Taroccos are available from December to April, and are less red, larger and loose-skinned. Zucarello also sells Moro and Sanguinello varieties, both which are darker in colour.

Pastore Orrechiette Pasta

Orrechiette is the Italian word for "little ears", and it certainly resembles them. I remember seeing these being handmade on an episode of Jamie Oliver's Great Italian Escape, it takes a fair amount of work and skill, I would say, as Jamie found out. These are particularly good for vegetable sauces. I found this one at Highland Farms, though I have seen these in other supermarkets.

IPAC Easy Glide Frying Pans

I had long read about the effects of teflon coated non-stick cookware, and how it exuded a toxic gas once scratched (really, just throw them away if the become scratched), but there wasn't really a non-stick alternative. Until I recently came across this alternative, which is a ceramic based, PTFE and PFOA Free (what makes the teflon kind potentially bad). It is tougher than teflon, so it should as well last longer and be more resistant to scratches (always bad in terms of making the food burn in that spot). The pans, and I say pans, as I bought a large one and later a smaller one of the same manufacturer, are definitely non-stick, cook fairly well, are high heat resistant (up to 160C/320F, including the silicon handle), and are a breeze to clean. Both these pans were under $30, more expensive than the teflon ones, certainly, but worth the money. Now, if we can only get Jamie Oliver to switch over to ceramic non-stick cookware.

Sicilian Ice Cream - Hazelnut

Since 1959 they've been making ice cream from a Sicilian recipe in "Little Italy" in Toronto, on College Street, you might have seen Sicilian Ice Cream's Tartufo (a inner flavoured ball coated by ice cream and covered with nuts or cookies); they're available for sale in most supermarkets, usually at one end of the ice cream section.

This is their Hazelnut or Nociola ice cream, which also has coffee and cocoa powder. There are a few hazelnut pieces here and there, not in every bite, but enough to have the impression of hazelnut. Overall, not the best hazelnut ice cream or, as they call it in Sicily, gelato, I've eaten, but pretty good.

Amedei Toscano Black 70%

Having spent an afternoon with a representative of the Italian chocolatier Amedei, and sampled some of their offerings, and later had the opportunity to revel in the experience that is the Venezuelan chocolate bar Chuao, I must say that I found this particular bar to be more sublime, making me raise my head to the ceiling as it melted on my mouth; I had to excuse myself for a few moments as I sampled this wonderful chocolate. Cecelia Tessieri has outdone herself. I am sure that Margot Silver-Dumas, said Amedei representative, has seen that before. Many times, perhaps. And, certainly, with the purchase of the large version of that sample, I could enjoy it even more. The cacao content is 70%. Its ingredient listing is short, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin as an emulsifier and vanilla. Certainly very similar listing to a lot of bars, whole different experience of chocolate.

How does it taste? Wonderful, sublime, deep and dark, intense, smooth chocolate (not for lovers of milk chocolate, certainly, so be warned). Despite its $9 price tag, I would definitely buy this bar again given the chance. And hope too for another chance to sample some of their offerings.

Falcone Almond Cookies

These are very much like little biscotti, quite crispy with large almond pieces. Certainly, they are crunchy too, though the almond-lover in my family doesn't like them much, they are too 'eggy'. I see they have a little bit of honey in them. They come from Abruzzo, Italy (which I don't know is a good thing or not, just a fact). We found them at Highland Farms in Mississauga.

Feletti Cioccolatto Fondente Ghana

This is the third of the three chocolate bars that I got by the Italian chocolatier Feletti. This one features cacao beans from the African nation of Ghana. The cacao content is at 65%, and the ingredient listing, like the other two, is good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin and natural vanilla.

How did it taste? Like the Tanzanian bar, the bar doesn't seem to be entirely well tempered, it was a little chalky, and didn't snap well, but it tasted good enough that I enjoyed it. I think I enjoyed this even more than the Tanzanian bar. I would, if I could find a source for it, buy this bar again.

Amedei Chuao

I first read about the Tuscan chocolatier Amedei in Chloe Doutre-Roussel's book The Chocolate Connoisseur. The idea of an Italian chocolatier providing world-class chocolate was almost unthinkable, certainly by several countries with long histories of chocolate-making, until the late eighties, when the brother and sister team of Alessio and Cecelia Tessieri used their passion and enthusiasm for chocolate to begin to create such a chocolate. In 2004, they released one of the jewels in their line, a bar made from beans from the legendary Venezuelan cacao plantation called Chuao, which they had won the exclusive rights to after years of effort. The effort involved going to the plantation, talking to the owners and growers; now even other chocolatiers are doing so with other cacao plantations.

What can one say about chocolate that has been rated the best in the world? Chocolate, like wine, is defined by your palate, so I kept that in mind when I first tried Amedei's chocolate. One random Saturday, I was in Kitchener with my friend, and we decided to go to Vincenzo's, a purveyor of fine foods, and there I had the pleasure to discover that Amedei was doing a demonstration there (discover because it really was a small stand in a corner of the store); I talked to one Margot Silver-Dumas for about an hour, and sampled many of their offerings (being simultaneously in heaven with the taste of most of the samples). All I can say is Wow, and Amedei's reputation as one of the finest chocolatiers in the world is well deserved. Though, I didn't get to sample Chuao at that time, but it did convince me to spend the $10 for the 50 g bar.

This bar is at 70% cacao content, and its ingredient listing is short, allowing you to taste the flavour of the cacao bean; cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla.

How does it taste? According to Amedei, it's supposed to taste like plums and red fruits, to me it tasted like molasses at first with it becoming more like raisins later. It smelled wonderful, snapped great, and tasted sublime. Certainly a tiny piece of heaven, and well worth the high price.

Perugina Baci

You know I like almost anything with hazelnuts, so the traditional little Italian kisses called Baci would be right up my alley. Given too, the romance behind the sweet, two lovers creating a confection worthy of their love, their love secret at one time, and each wrapper contains within a love note. Each of the confections is filled with whipped chocolate filling with finely chopped hazelnuts, topped with a whole hazelnut, then enrobed in dark chocolate (which I believe just fills the requirements of being able to be called dark). The ingredient listing is sugar, hazelnuts, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, milk ingredients, soya lecithin and artificial flavour.

Well, I find them a little too sweet for my tastes. Lots of hazelnut flavour, I'm sure others have and will enjoy these Italian kisses.

Feletti Cioccolato Fondente Ecuador

I have again and again talked about chocolate made from cacao beans from Ecuador, most have been good, some not so good. This offering from the Italian chocolatier Feletti is in the not so good category (better was their Tanzania bar). The cacao content is very good, at 73%. The ingredient listing is also good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin as an emulsifier and natural vanilla.

How does it taste? It's an okay dark chocolate, though I think that they didn't do the cacao beans justice, my bar was chalky in taste, didn't melt that well in my mouth, and didn't snap very well (so, likely not tempered very well). I don't think that I would purchase this bar again.

Feletti Dark Chocolate Tanzania

I have a tie to Tanzania, my father was born there, so I'm always intrigued by products from there. This, hopefully, single-source dark chocolate bar, at 75% cacao content, features cacao beans from Tanzania (and I say hopefully, because there is no indication on the packaging that this is true), and is made by the Italian chocolatier Feletti. The ingredient listing is pretty good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin as an emulsifier and natural vanilla.

How does it taste? Pretty good, a good dark chocolate, smells quite good, but it doesn't snap very well (not well-tempered?). I think that I would buy this bar again.