Food of the Gods 2 : Deep Fried Decadence

Twinkies…again?!

In Food of the Gods I selflessly subjected myself to the decadent “delight” which is the Twinkie.

Now it’s time to return to the world of Twinkies, but this time we’re going to deep fry them!

This moment was prophesied at the end of Food of the Gods, but it has taken several years to build up to this point.

Of course, this was not helped by Hostess, the makers of Twinkies, filing for bankruptcy, but the company was saved so that Twinkies would remain on the shelves.

As the packet now shouts out:

“The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever.”



In another lucky twist, our local supermarket started stocking American goods including, you guessed it, Twinkies!

A bottle of oil, some chop sticks, and some chocolate syrup, we were good to go.

A box of Twinkies and a pan of boiling oil….what could possibly go wrong?

The Twinkie Fry Up

Bear in mind that we had never actually deep fried anything, this was going to be a learning experience.

Now, if you don’t know anything where do you turn? Yes, we looked it up on the web.

We found numerous YouTube videos explaining how to deep fry these Golden Sponge Cakes – clearly we were not alone in our endeavour.

It seemed pretty simple…

Step 1 – Frozen Twinkies

Put your Twinkies in the freezer.

Step 2 – Batter

We found various recipes for batter, all strangely (or perhaps not) including white vinegar, not something we are familiar with for making batter.

Step 3 – Boiling Oil

A bit obvious but still…

We chose a smallish saucepan to reduce the amount of oil we needed. This would mean frying only one Twinkie at a time, but that would not be a problem.

Step 4 – Fry Them Suckers!

That’s right. Engulf the Twinkies in batter and throw them into the boiling oil until they look cooked.

We tried skewering them with chop sticks to start with…




…but then we just let them float free.


Watch and learn….

But I be done seen about everything,When I see a Twinkie fry.

Et Voilà!

When the moment screams decadence, you’ve got to reach for the whipped cream and chocolate syrup.



Oh yes!

“It’s Tasty”

What can I say, they were really nice (yes, I had more than one).

All in all we’re marking this whole experience down as a roaring success.

In fact, we have now got our sights set on deep frying ice cream and cream eggs.

Watch this space!

A Hot Little Latin Number

Sometimes I’m lucky enough to receive gifts of chilli chocolate from kind people, in this case it was the generous @AlbertJ80 who picked up this spicy little treat for me on his visit to Ecuador.

It seems Ecuador is once again becoming one of the world’s largest exporters of cocoa, and also it seems a producer of rather fabulous chilli chocolate.

So, without further ado, may I present the finest chilli chocolate from Pacari - purveyors of “Premium Organic Chocolate from Tree to Bar”!!



The picture on the packet leaves you in no doubt about what you’re going to be getting and the reverse side is very informative but I’m still not sure how many calories are involved here…probably a good thing.

Once you get inside it gets all arty with an inner sealed packet.


No mucking about here, I’m going in!



The inner packet opens to reveal a very solid and sturdy looking chocolate bar. It is almost a shame to break it up, but needs must.

At 60% cocoa this dark chocolate (or chocolate noir) was not too bitter and the chilli taste was just right. You start off wondering where the chilli is, then it slowly starts to caress your taste buds with a light tickle rather than a sharp bite.

One bite leads to another until you look around and realise it's all gone and you start looking up flights to Quito on the internet.

I would heartily recommend this to any lover of spicy chocolate, but be warned, don’t just buy one bar.

Very Peculiar Indeed

Warning: This post may contain Marmite……and celery.

 

 

Marmite Chocolate

The two words seems almost uncomfortable in the same sentence yet there they are in big bold letters. There have been many Marmite products but none so intriguing as this.

After months of intense testing I am finally ready to share the shocking truth…it really is very…erm...peculiar.

The first thing everyone seems to do is have a sniff and I was no different. A good long inhalation of its odour confirmed without a doubt that this was Marmite.

Then comes the tentative nibble with the anticipation of all the preconceptions that have been building up after first casting eyes on this strange yet tantalising item of confectionary.

One glance at the ingredients gives us no clue at all and merely adds to the intrigue. Cocoa is to be expected but garlic, onion and a stark warning about celery?

What manner of chocolate are we dealing with here?

Let's find out…..

Inside, the bar is neatly divided into lots of small squares, ideal for those tentative explorations into the unknown. Disappointingly there is no fancy etching or embossing of the chocolate itself, but nevertheless it looks very chocolatey and inviting.

But what does it taste like?

Very peculiar. The tentative nibble gives way to another, and then another. The taste buds are looking for Marmite, they expect Marmite, they demand Marmite. There is no Marmite. This is a good thing. What does emerge is a very peculiar flavour, and that is good peculiar. I have yet to find a victim test subject who does not emerge from the experience with a smile and a nod of approval.

Recommended?

Whole heartedly recommended to Marmite lovers and haters a like. A unique, and as advertised, Very Peculiar flavoured chocolate that will certainly be crossing my palate again.

Credits

Thanks and credit must go to @bopterror for the gift of this chocolate proving once more that Twitter is a source of unparalleled confectionery and great people. :-)

Aye Aye Captain

The charming and iridescent @TheFlossieTP has once again come up trumps and delivered yet another chilli chocolatey specimen for me to sample. This time Chili Bird’s Eye from zotter.

It is described as….

“Genuine chocolate culture. A ganache of bright soy chocolate with a fiery chilli filling, refined with grape marc spirit, is immersed in a noble bitter chocolate coating.”

Behold!

Taking it slowly, we do not want to rush things, let us flip this thing over and see what delights await us…




So, a product from our European cousins in Austria?

“…filled with Chilli Bird’s eye cream” and “..contains alcohol..”?

Curiouser and curiouser!

Slice and Dice

The outside packing opens to reveal an inside of the brightest gold adorned with the manufacturers name.



This then opens up to a single smooth bar.

No lines to snap? No individual pieces to break off? Great! I get to use a knife!!



The “cream” makes sense with the first incision…



The smooth dark chocolate outer layer protecting the soft chilli creamy goodness of the interior.

So like any normal person given the blank canvas of a chocolate bar, I chopped it up into triangular pieces.

Hot Damn!

Finished with unwrapping, smelling its delicate bouquet, and giving it a surreptitious squeeze while no one was looking, it was time to taste this tantalising delicacy.

A gentle crunch from both sides through the outside chocolate and I am in, quickly moving through the soft cream centre. The chilli flavour was immediately evident, this sucker was not pulling any punches. No gentle introduction with soft lights, Barry White and a glass of wine. No, this bar takes you straight to the bedroom where it gently caresses your taste buds with a strong intense burst of chilli that slowly dies leaving you gasping for your next piece.

Finally, lying there dishevelled, out of breath, smoking a cigarette and staring at the empty packet, the verdict is a definite thumbs up. All that is left to do is take a long cold shower.

The Moral of the Story

You learn something new every day (Ganache? Who knew?), good things can come in small packages and the world, despite claims to the contrary, is filled with really nice people, a goodly sample can be found on my twitter timeline.

Salut!

What, More Chocolate?

Three more delightful chocolates have made it to my discerning palate.

Huge thanks go out to the ineffable force of nature that is @TheFlossieTP for the delightful little number from Hotel Chocolat, and to my sister Julie for the gingery delight by Bovetti (nope, not heard of them before either) bought back from a recent trip to France. I have to thank myself for the third one, the Dark Wasabi from Lindt.

Line Them Up!

From left to right we have:

Chocolat Noir Gingembre by Bovetti

Even my limited language skills manage this translation to Dark Ginger Chocolate with Pure Cocoa Butter.





Top marks for presentation. The packaging, while simple, looked good with quirky little pictures and their trademark ship on the back. The chocolate itself was also handsomely presented with individually worded blocks.




But what about the taste?

I have to admit I have been disappointed with ginger chocolate in the past. Not this time though.
With 73% cocoa I was expecting it to be a little on the strong/bitter side but this was not the case.
It was crunchy with just a hint of the dark chocolate bitterness offset nicely with the subtle taste of ginger.

Chilli and Orange 70% Dark by Hotel Chocolat

The packaging claims:

“Zesty orange gives way to smooth dark chocolate then a gentle chilli tingle.”

They are not wrong and I could not have said it better.



Admittedly, I am a sucker for orange chocolate (yes, I love chocolate oranges) so this was getting points before we started.

Opening the packet I was greeted with the intoxicating mixed aromas of chocolate and orange; I was in heaven.

Even better than this was the surprise of there being not one, but two bars hiding inside!



Again, here I have to give top marks for presentation for the markings and the embossed Hotel Chocolat insignia.


The taste experience was as advertised on the packaging. The orange flavour hits you first followed by the dark chocolate and finally when you wonder where the chilli is it hits you, starting slowly building to a nice warmth which stays with you to remind you of the delightful experience.

Dark Wasabi by Lindt

I always head to the chocolate aisles in supermarkets in the hope of finding something different. On this particular day I was not disappointed!



Wasabi is not an obvious choice to mix with chocolate but I am willing to try anything and when it comes from someone like Lindt you have to have a little faith.

I am not sure about everyone else but wasabi hits me in the nose and has a tendency to make my eyes water and sneeze.

Yes, you guessed it, the chocolate did the same thing.

The wasabi taste was very strong and noticeable but so was the chocolate. My first impression was that of this was a disconnection of tastes rather than a smooth mixture.

Regardless, it was a tasty chocolate and when handed out to colleagues at a recent work event seemed to go down well and in some cases was rated above some of the chilli chocolates.

Not to everybody’s taste but well worth trying!

The Scores on the Doors

The winner here today, hands down, has to be the Chilli and Orange from Hotel Chocolat. The subtle flavour and gentle release of the chilli makes this an obvious choice.

It’s Still a Tough Job…More Tales of Hardship.

Earlier this year I documented here the arduous task of sampling various brands of chilli chocolate.

Throughout the year I have been keeping an eye out for more chilli chocolate and selflessly sampling the wares that I find.

Here are some of the chocolates that have crossed my palette.

Fiery…or not.

Staring at me from my timeline last week on twitter was a picture of chilli chocolate from Thorntons. Of course, passing the shop yesterday and the 3 for £5 pound offer, how could I resist…..

This is a dark chocolate and does taste nice, but the Thorntons is a light weight amongst the chilli chocolates. If you’re wanting afterburn and a strong heat then this is not the one for you.

Chocolat

Fellow chilli chocolate lover and all round class act @TheFlossieTP was kind enough to give me some Hotel Chocolat Chilli Pralines (thank you, thank you, thank you!).

Top marks here for presentation, the photo is poor but if you look carefully you will see bits of chilli poking out of the chocolate. A nice touch!

Sadly, despite these being very delicious (gone in 60 seconds) the heat was a little too subtle for my tastes.

Sexy!

The things I do in the name of research!

On a recent visit to Edinburgh we went to the Real Foods shop not looking for chilli chocolate but finding it in abundance.

One of the most notable bars was the Sexy one. How could anyone resist such blatant marketing?

The chilli side of this worked very well. It had the perfect afterburn experience, kicking in a good 30 seconds after you start eating it. Sadly the chocolate taste didn’t do it for me. A little too smooth and milky for my taste but still a commendable product. And boy what great packaging!

Montezuma Strikes Again

Finally another Montezuma’s bar. These people really do know how to make great chocolate.

Their Dark Chocolate with Chilli came out on top in my last roundup and this Milk Chocolate & Chilli wins hands down this time too.

This is a milk chocolate bar, like the Sexy one, but the addition of the lime really does make a huge difference.

It is soft and smooth, and the chocolate, chilli and lime all merge together to caress your taste buds.

Very, very nice.

The End

That’s the lot for now, but you can sleep soundly at night with the knowledge that someone out there is tirelessly working to ensure no chilli chocolate is left un-tasted!

“Food of the Gods”

Twinkies!

A word that strikes fear into the heart, or arteries, of any sane man (women seem far too sensible to even consider them).

As usual I am sacrificing myself to get the facts so that other people don’t have to put themselves in harms way. Selfless, I know.

This time I ordered some Twinkies.

There were at least two places I found here in the UK:

The Stateside Candy Co.  (where I ordered mine from)
American Soda

It was a box of ten.

 

Why Oh Why!

To most people (I assume) in North America the Twinkie is a well known item of cakey confectionary but to us people here in the British Isles they are a tempting mystery….until now.

In their own words the makers of Twinkies describe them as:

"Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling"


But more about that later…

Although aware of them through US TV and movies (Die Hard, Ghost Busters), Twinkies did not fully engage my attention until I saw the episode of The Pretender titled Hazards. In this episode Jarod passes a truck delivering cakey items and on seeing the man with a trolley of Twinkies asks if he can buy one off him for $20, The delivery man of course accepts. Jarod’s first impression?

“It’s tasty”.


Who can ignore such a recommendation?

Next we see Horace Strickland who upon seeing Jarod with a box full of Twinkies exclaims “Food of the Gods”, but then of course he was the evil doer of the episode, finally getting his comeuppance in a hazardous container full of Twinkie cream (Jarod emptied out how many Twinkies?!).

Throughout the episode Jarod consumes a colossal number of Twinkies on his quest to right this episode’s wrong and all, I might add, without seeming to put on an ounce of weight or exhibit any signs of nausea.

Back to business….

Here we have the Twinkie itself, the individually wrapped package of sugary sweet gooiness (modelled by my beautiful, but shy, assistant).



Now for the gooey bit…

The Twinkie Tear Down!

The first thing to note is that they were not wrong. Slice ‘em up and there is the creamy filling. Not quite as creamy as the box led me to believe but I guess that is to be expected.



But what about the scientific bit, the facts and figures?

I was a little surprised that there were so few calories in a Twinkie. They are always bigged up as being so evil, and ok, with big fat zeros for Vitamins A, C and Calcium they are not winning any prizes for nutritional value, but is 150 calories really a lot? But there is the small matter of the sugar and the fat… Better than me jabbering on, I found this random article on Twinkie nutrition (not responsible for facts blah blah blah). http://www.livestrong.com/article/310643-twinkies-nutrition/ One heart stopping claim they make is that the infamous Fried Twinkie weighs in at 420 calories!

So what were they like? Did they live up to my expectations?

I have to say I was a little disappointed. I had expected sweetness, decadence and the morishness that comes with “evil” cakes. What I got was a mediocre experience.

They were stodgy and believe it or not I did not find them sweet enough.

Of course, I only had a box of ten, clearly not enough to perform a full study, and there is after all the Fried Twinkie to test drive.

The story is far from over!

And so we bid not adieu, but au revoir to the Twinkie.

It’s a Tough Job, But Someone Has To Do It

When I were a lad chocolate was pretty simple: Milk or Plain.

Now when you wander down the confectionary aisle of your local supermarket you are presented with a dazzling array of chocolaty wonders.

One of the more delightful chocolate combinations is chilli and chocolate.

What I present here is a small selection of chilli chocolate bars I have managed to find locally.



I would like to explain that this review was done under strict conditions but I can’t. It was just one big chocolate fest!!

I did try to do each bar justice. I opened each one carefully and broke off the assigned portion. I took in the aroma relishing the smell of the chocolate before slowly eating it...savouring every moment. I also left it a good time between each tasting involving lots of tea to make sure my taste buds had recovered.

I have written my initial comments for each bar as I was smelling and chewing:

Montezuma’s ~ Dark Chocolate with Chilli Min cocoa solids: 73% Weight: 100g Comments: Smell of strong dark chocolate. Small solid chunks. Tastes like normal strong dark chocolate for the first few bites then the chilli kicks in! You really can taste the higher cocoa content.

Moser-Roth ~ Finest Dark Chocolate Chilli Min cocoa solids: 52% Weight: 5 x 25g Comments: Another strong chocolate smell. Individually wrapped chucks. Smooth sweet taste. Slow trickle of chilli heat as it melts. Individual bars make for a controlled experience.
Lindt ~ Excellence Chilli Min cocoa solids: 49% Weight: 100g Comments: Thin large chunks. Much sweeter than the other bars probably in part due to lower cocoa content. Very moreish. Even taste of chilli. No surprises or after burns here.

Conclusion

The conclusion is not what I was expecting. We have three different makes of chocolate from three different countries containing three different strengths of chocolate.

The conclusion is that each is best at different times. The Montezuma bar is strong and you can’t help but eat it slowly savouring every mouthful. The Moser Roth is conveniently split into five individual bars, ideal for snacking. Finally there is the Lindt with its sweeter more main stream taste.

But, it is chilli chocolate we are talking about here. On pure taste and kick I would have to say that Montezuma’s is victorious on this day.

…and world peace!

Alas I didn’t think a swimsuit stage would be appropriate so here I present the Hot! photo shoot: