Candy Bar Taste Test

[bloviatrix]

This week's issue of New York magazine has a section devoted to chocolate. Among the features is a blind test test were they asked Francois Payard to sample assorted low-end chocolate based candy bars and give his opinions.

These are his thoughts.

[Jason Perlow]

I see he shares my predilection for Caramellos and Dove Bars.

[Bux]

It’s an interesting premise, but I wonder if there wasn’t a slip up somewhere. None of our taste buds are infallible, but it just seems too odd for Payard to describe a milk chocolate as dark chocolate. Was the Dove bar a dark chocolate? I’ve never had a Dove bar, but I doubt any milk chocolate could be mistaken for a dark chocolate by someone as experienced as François.

I haven’t had a lot of those bars recently. I’ve kind of sworn off the bars made with real junk and chemicals. If I’m going to eat cholesterol, I want it to come from real butter, not added diglycerides. I enjoy a Crunch bar now and then and my opinion is that Nestlé chocolate bars are much better tasting and textured than Hershey bars, although Hershey makes a premium line that’s better yet. I wonder if freshness affects all those mass produced bars. I suspect it's more of a problem in the ones with cookies or wafers, but I think it affects Crunch bars as well.

I remember not liking Cadbury either, but I wouldn’t say it was because it’s like Belgian chocolate. I love fine Belgian chocolate although I understand Payard here. Fine French chocolate is much leaner and a bit more intense than the Belgian stuff. I’m off track here, but Pierre Marcolini makes excellent chocolate that’s sort of halfway between the traditional French and Belgian styles. That’s what I like from Belgium. I fell off the wagon and had a Caramello bar recently. I thought it was sickly sweet and the caramel intensely unnatural tasting. The chocolate itself was fatty but not in a rich way and a bit grainy. If I recall correctly, that's what originally put me off Cadbury bars. The were sort of gummy and grainy. I think Payard liked the Caramello because the caramel masked the chocolate.

[jhlurie]

Dove makes both Dark and Milk varieties, Bux. Then again, the article seems to be identifying what he ate as the Milk variety. But maybe the magazine is the one confused, and Payard the one who knows what he's talking about.

EDIT - The Dove Dark chocolate bar apparently has a red stripe on it and the Milk chocolate a blue stripe. The artwork for this article shows the Milk variety, then again that's not really proof that's what Payard was given.

Edited October 28, 2004 by jhlurie (log)

[LaurieA-B]

I wonder if freshness affects all those mass produced bars. I suspect it's more of a problem in the ones with cookies or wafers, but I think it affects Crunch bars as well.

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In the book Candyfreak, Steve Almond visits several American candy factories (small compared to Hershey or Nestle, but still mass-produced) and emphasizes how amazing the candy tastes when it's freshly made on the factory floor. I'm a fan of the Reese's peanut butter cup and always find that the seasonal ones (Christmas tree, Easter egg, etc.) taste better, presumably because they are manufactured, delivered, and eaten within a shorter time frame than the cups.

[Susan G]

Note to self: Don't drink hot tea in front of the keyboard when reading remarks from a French chef.

Toothpaste! And overpowering peanuts! Twice I had to clean up a mess! (But I was chortling as I did it!)

[LaurieB]

I liked the quote "It's like having a cow in my mouth". Now, THAT'S a taste I would never have associated with chocolate.

[laurenmilan]

Baci :

This one is the most delicious. Is it Ferrero Rocher? I like the praline paste. It’s a hazelnut-and-sugar mix with cocoa-paste filling. The flavor is very good.

Okay, it's Perugina, not Ferrero Rocher. But delicious? Daaaamn skippy!

[FistFullaRoux]

I liked the quote "It's like having a cow in my mouth".  Now, THAT'S a taste I would never have associated with chocolate.

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That and "because I was eating Kitty Kat every day. "

What the hell did his parents let him get into?????

[ruthcooks]

I was thinking he meant kitty litter.

[lia]

I wish we were told what "low end" chocolates he was familiar with to begin with, beyond the Ferrero Rochers which he didn't identify correctly, and the kitty kats, hee.

I hate to say it, but I think i would have succeeded identifying each item with flying colors.

[Phatlouie07]

kitty kats?? what's he been eating as a child?? how can't he not like Ferrero Rocher..to me it tastes good. wonder if mr. payard has eaten other "low end" chocolates or candies..

[Bux]

Bear in mind that Payard grew up in France, in a family of professional pastry chefs.

François Payard is a third generation French Pastry Chef born in Nice on July 16th, 1966. François cultivated his passion for the art of Pastry as a child in his grandfather's acclaimed shop, Au Nid des Friandises on the Riviera. He grew up surrounded by the delicious classic French pastry in the tradition carried on by his parents and grandparents for over fifty years.

We can assume he also had access to Kit Kat Bars as well as other less refined treats, but his current tastes have also been honed by the skills and tastes needed to have been the pastry chef at two Michelin three star restaurants as well as as two NY Times four star restaurants in NYC. Then again the most memorable dessert of his I ever had was a tarte with ice cream and used pears, figs and armagnac --no chocolate.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Bear in mind that Payard grew up in France, in a family of professional pastry chefs.

François Payard is a third generation French Pastry Chef born in Nice on July 16th, 1966. François cultivated his passion for the art of Pastry as a child in his grandfather's acclaimed shop, Au Nid des Friandises on the Riviera. He grew up surrounded by the delicious classic French pastry in the tradition carried on by his parents and grandparents for over fifty years.

We can assume he also had access to Kit Kat Bars as well as other less refined treats, but his current tastes have also been honed by the skills and tastes needed to have been the pastry chef at two Michelin three star restaurants as well as as two NY Times four star restaurants in NYC. Then again the most memorable dessert of his I ever had was a tarte with ice cream and used pears, figs and armagnac --no chocolate.

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Bear in mind, also, that Kit Kat bars in Europe taste remarkably different than they do here -- I often buy them from British import shops just because they are different (same as Mars bars which are also exported).

[Bux]

Bear in mind, also, that Kit Kat bars in Europe taste remarkably different than they do here -- I often buy them from British import shops just because they are different (same as Mars bars which are also exported).

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Are they exported or are they made under license in Europe? My guess would be that if they taste different, they're probably made in another country under license. Check the wrapper and let us know.

[Phatlouie07]

Bear in mind that Payard grew up in France, in a family of professional pastry chefs.

François Payard is a third generation French Pastry Chef born in Nice on July 16th, 1966. François cultivated his passion for the art of Pastry as a child in his grandfather's acclaimed shop, Au Nid des Friandises on the Riviera. He grew up surrounded by the delicious classic French pastry in the tradition carried on by his parents and grandparents for over fifty years.

We can assume he also had access to Kit Kat Bars as well as other less refined treats, but his current tastes have also been honed by the skills and tastes needed to have been the pastry chef at two Michelin three star restaurants as well as as two NY Times four star restaurants in NYC. Then again the most memorable dessert of his I ever had was a tarte with ice cream and used pears, figs and armagnac --no chocolate.

←

Bear in mind, also, that Kit Kat bars in Europe taste remarkably different than they do here -- I often buy them from British import shops just because they are different (same as Mars bars which are also exported).

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what are the names of the european kit kat bars?? are they better than the kit kat bars produced here in the US?

[foodie52]

Wouldn't you think that freshness is key, especially in "low end" chocolate? When a Toblerone bar is stale, the crunchy bits become chewy. There's no way to know how old the chocolate bars were.

I've never thought about this , but I wonder if fresh Hershey bars taste different from .....aged (!) bars?? High end chocolates have sell by dates on them.

[ulterior epicure]

Alright, so I'm nearly two years late in reading this article - but what a riot! Thanks for posting this - it has been a fun read!

u.e.

[Torrilin]

Wouldn't you think that freshness is key, especially in "low end" chocolate? When a Toblerone bar is stale, the crunchy bits become chewy. There's no way to know how old the chocolate bars were.

I've never thought about this , but I wonder if fresh Hershey bars taste different from .....aged (!) bars?? High end chocolates have sell by dates on them.

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The difference between a "fresh" Hershey bar and an "aged" one is not particularly noticable. You'll notice the difference between a fresh Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and an aged one much more easily.

For the curious, Kit Kat is a Nestle developed candy bar, produced by Hershey Foods under license in the US (since it's a Nestle product, I no longer buy it. I find their business practices reprehensible). Cadbury chocolates are licensed by Hershey Foods in the US. Figuring out what is licensed and what isn't is pretty easy if you read the label.

Emily

[MarketStEl]

Great article.

Given how the folks at Mars have promoted Snickers from time to time, I found his comment suggesting that Snickers was an energy bar quite apropos.

(Right now, SEPTA buses are zipping across Philly with big brown ads on their sides bearing familiar-looking white trapezoidal shapes on them. Inside the trapezoids are nonce words: "Peanutopolis," "Nougaticity," "Hungerectomy," "Satisfectellent." Looks to me like variations on a long-running theme.)

--Sandy, not going anywhere for a while