Types of chocolate
CRILLO
Crillo (or in English "Creole” or “indigenous”) is the oldest variety of cocoa. It is cultivated in Central America and in Venezuela, but there are also plantation in the Archipelago of Samoa (Polynesia), Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and Java. It is of an excellent quality and known for being very aromatic and having a delicate and not very bitter flavour. The seeds have a light-coloured shell. It is used for high quality chocolate, but rarely in a pure form in that world production is extremely limited.
FORASTERO
Originally from the Amazon, forastero chocolate also comes from Ghana, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The beans are dark in colour and the resulting cocoa has a strong flavour, very persistent and a bit acid. This variety accounts for about 85% of the world's production.
TRINITARIO
This is a hybrid of the crillo and forastero varieties. The first plantations developed in the Trinidad islands, from which this variety took its name. The performance and the resistance to infection is very similar to that of the forastero, yet the quality is considerably higher. Today it is cultivated in Africa and in Central America, representing 10-15% of the world's production.
CRU
This name indicated the finest cocoa, the best that any connoisseur can desire. As for the best known wines, many cru chocolates are vintage and the bars are numbered. Among the varieties of cru, we would like to mention: Madagascar, which has a distinctive almond aroma; the bitter and robust Ghana, and Trinidad, which is full-bodied and smells of chestnuts. There are also: Equador, Jamaica, Esmeraldas, Rio Caribe Superior, and Sumatra varieties.
The Giangioiello
The imaginative master chocolatier, Silvio Bessone, once again amazes us with his creative talents: In the CioccolaTÒ Factory – a chocolate laboratory ...
The 2008 Golden Bar Award
The sixth edition of this prestigious competition organised by the Compagnia del Cioccolato in which the best chocolates available ...
Chocolate dinner amidst the stars
Friday, February 29, Alfredo Russo, Pier Bussetti, Stefano Gallo, Giovanni Grasso, Francesco Ciocatto – five stars of fine Torinese cuisine ...
Out to discover true cru, accompanied by François Pralus and Andrea Trinci
Cru, high quality cocoas from selected plantations, each of which is used for producing a special quality of chocolate, will be the subject of the lesson to be held on Saturday, March 1 ...
