Indian chocolates

[gingerly]

You've been around quite a lot, havent you.

whatever can you mean Episure? i guess so- not nearly as much as i'd like to have-benefited greatly from the generosity of friends too.kashmir to kanyakumari,india is one big grazing ground.(sounds of relentless chomping..)

my google eyes turn up this

She armed herself with several certificates from training institutes like The Wolf in Switzerland, Richemont Professional School (for specialisation in making pralines) and a diploma from the Call Ebaut Chocolate College in Singapore

.er,yes..

i wonder though what the young mans target market will be since people are happy enough to pay vast sums for the je ne sais quoi that is ooty chocolate as is.i think the chalet suisse people and also the nilgiris brand have foreign returned qualifications behind them-may be worth a look.or perhaps a short stint under the tutelage of one ceo-gourmet india?save his parents some money!next time you're in ooty check for the japonais cakes from j n bakery in coimbatore.

kandos seems to be sri lankan with a malaysian connection.

"Upali Group" pioneered by one man, began as a small candy manufacturing factory under "Delta" brand in Sri Lanka. Next he was the pioneer to assemble radios, clocks and TVs under the "UNIC" Brand. Upali Motor Company was next on line. The UMC Mazda and Upali Fiat were assembled at his Industrial Complex in Homagama in the early 70s. He also started the first domestic airline and helicopter service "Upali Aviation".

Upali next acquired "Kandos Chocolate Company" from his uncle Sarath Wijesinghe

guess that explains'upali' Shiewie.kandy-kandos?

oddly enough,the first time i can remember seeing it in india was in ooty,along with hai tai gum and other goodies from s+se asia think there must have been a smuggler source for those things.the kandos cashew nut chocolate was particularly memorable for having whole,fresh tasting nuts in it.

now i'm reminded of two more brands-lotus and campco.wonder how they're doing.

ok so who else collected chocolate wrappers?!

barabpapa,barbamama..

[Episure]

india is one big grazing ground.(sounds of relentless chomping..)

In April this year, Kohli held a chocolate sculpting event in Mumbai, where she invited three world-renowned sculptors to craft masterpieces out of huge chunks of chocolate.

I was there. The chocolates were gooood, a newly launched wine was not.

next time you're in ooty check for the japonais cakes from j n bakery in coimbatore.

is this the ever popular round brown pastry that is found all over the south? I've asked everyone here about it's "japanese" context and nobody knows. I guess somebody must have introduced it first and the rest is pastry.

Wat 2 do we r like this only!

[gingerly]

next time you're in ooty check for the japonais cakes from j n bakery in coimbatore.

is this the ever popular round brown pastry that is found all over the south? I've asked everyone here about it's "japanese" context and nobody knows. I guess somebody must have introduced it first and the rest is pastry.

Wat 2 do we r like this only!

japanese most commonly -also japanese drums-that might hold the key to its name i(lah de dah)say japonais so one might recognise the original.i found a recipe years ago in an english cook book and proceeded to painstakingly reproduce the dratted things.in the circumstances,it was way too much effort but good nevertheless.basically two rounds of nut merengue sandwiched with butter cream and iced with a lovely brown dot on top.j n bakery makes the best ones-you wouldn't think it coming from the sweltering plains of coimbatore but stranger things have happened!

edit:http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/ilc/0499/dacquoise.html

-

A classic dacquoise consists of two layers of a meringue filled with an egg-yolk-based buttercream. Often, the layers are of a meringue "japonais," which means with ground nuts added;

Edited August 12, 2004 by gingerly (log)

[e101g]

I know it is not made in India..

But 'Masala' Chocolate by Dolfin in Belgium is to die for..

[Monica Bhide]

I know it is not made in India..

But 'Masala' Chocolate by Dolfin in Belgium is to die for..

always happy to accept samples to confirm this

[e101g]

I searched for it when I was in Belgium.. I could not find it..

It is available in some specialty stores in the US.

Google "dolfin masala" for some online retailers.

(http://www.dolfin.be/infosuk.htm)

[v. gautam]

Could anyone shed some light on the quality of Indian cocoa beans, and their use in Indian chocolate? Any lines [e.g. Amul ingot, cooking etc.] primarily from Indian beans? One hears that several foreign nationals are now growing cocoa, in addition to Indian cultivators, and it would be interesting to learn if any are cultivating the 'forastero' types so esteemed in central/So. America?

one's suspicions are aroused by Valrhona which has Sankrit/Indian names for some of its premium lines, e.g. Manjari, which are supposed to be grown in some secret island in the Indo-Pacific. Is the Andamans group producing cocoa, and the source of this premium chocolate? Why would a European company suddenly indulge in a string of not-too-common Sanskrit names, and poetically evocative ones at that. Is an Indian the source of these names or is India the source of these beans?

Episure, do you have any sources that can shed light on this mystery? My obsession is with value-added agriculture for India, and it would be wonderful if we could add premier grades of cocoa to our agricultural base. Thanks much.

[Episure]

Gautam,

I dont know much about the quality of Indian beans but this is not for lack of trying. The Indian companies and institutions are obsessed with secrecy and babudom with no great quality of raw stock to boot. So if I have to continue my efforts at assessing local beans, I will have to penetrate the farmgates.

I do remember that some of the companies were contracting bean farming but with the present free flow trade scenario that may not prove worthwhile in the short and medium term. It's much more economical to import nowadays.

The highly acclaimed criollo had recently( 2 years ago) made a short appearance in Mumbai and there was a lady who was offering chocolates made with a large % of the bean. I think the costs may have been high and unacceptable to the price points in existence. Personally I prefer the humble forestero for it's bitterness.

The names, I suspect are more to do with the Amazon area than apna Bharat, but I would be more than happy to be wrong. gingerly?

Now, 'masala' is more than a spice mix, bollywood formula film and the new IBM product, it is the new flavour of chocolate! Some thing I had attempted 6 years ago and got laughed at! My current fav is caramellised onion chocolate.

Gautam, When are you likely to visit India?

[gingerly]

don't know if these are of any help-http://www.agriculture-industry-india.com/...ties/cocoa.html

Commercial cocoa is obtained largely from two major varieties. Criollo and Forestero. Other types include Tinitario (hybrid between Criollo and Forestero) Amelonado and Amazon.

not sure if that is a general statement.

http://www.domain-b.com/news_review/200006...00608newsa.html

from the second link which may be problematic-

Campco bags Amul chocolate deal

Bangalore: The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Limited (Campco) which has been making chocolates for multantional, Nestle, has managed to get India's largest co-operative sector dairy products manufacturer, Amul, manufacture its entire range of chocolates at Campco's Puttur unit near Mangalore. Campco's agreement with Nestle is coming to an end on December 31. It is understood that an MoU with Amul to this effect is to be signed very shortly.

Campco, which manufactures its own brand of chocolates in a small way, previously had an offer from Amul to pool all chocolates under the Amul brandname, which would have brought the two big Indian co-operative brands together. At that time, Campco was not in favour of the move as it wanted to go alone.

Campco, which re-entered the chocolate market after a gap of ten yers, has made an aggressive return with ten products that include such brands as Melto, Turbo bar, Cream Treat, Megabite, Campco Bar, Campco Eclair, Winner and Kraze. It has also tied up, for the lucrative Mumbai region, with Panama Marketing Company, the marketing arm of Akbarallys, Mumbai's noted department store.

Campco also manufactures a clutch of semi-finished products for the market namely cocoa mass, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, unsweet-covering, sweet covering, chocolate mass, choco-paste, cocoa chips and bitter chocolate.

if i had to take a wild guess as to the source of that cocoa,i'd say somewhere in indonesia or thereabouts-or maybe they're confusing the competition and it's the other end-say mauritius!or maybe it's just someone in the copy dept. who's had his/her doshas realigned by deepak chopra

[Episure]

Thanks gingerly,

I knew I could depend on you. Whenever you come out with an IPO, count me as a subscriber.

[bague25]

Now, Now, How could I not react on this thread? – Sorry to come in late but now that the parents have safely returned home I have more time…

I generally agree to the nostalgia part mentioned above by Vikram and Monica. I used to suffer from Nutties withdrawal symptoms till I came to live in Belgium. None of that here – the chocolate is just too good…

I got myself a slab of that Dolfin Hot Masala Chocolate yesterday. The chocolate tastes (in fact that's what it is) like coarsely ground garam masala added to milk chocolate.

It was GOOD chocolate but give me a traditional Belgian praline, and I'll prefer that any day... it was nice but I was not impressed – lot’s of better quality chocolate available more easily.

I do give them credit for the unusual flavoured chocolates though. I also brought their green aniseed, pink pepper, and fresh ginger chocolate slabs.

[Monica Bhide]

Bague25 - now this is chocolate

[Episure]

Now, 'masala' is more than a spice mix, bollywood formula film and the new IBM product, it is the new flavour of chocolate! Some thing I had attempted 6 years ago and got laughed at! My current fav is caramellised onion chocolate.

If you all think I am crazy, check this out - another egullet thread on Unusual Chocolates