Friday, May 31, 2002


once long ago, i got my hands on a single dark chocolate mini-bar. . . and it was good.

this, plus many reviews and personal recommendations from sources i trust, put me on the path to richard donnelly. then, when i actually wrote him, his prompt and courteous reply increased my good feelings. now, dear readers, i have actually sampled the whole goods, and done so side by side with equal candies from jacques torres. the artist was kind enough to send me a sampling.

before i talk more, let me discuss my feelings about this. many sites review chocolates, such as mrk.'s xocolatl, dale's page, or eric's page, etc. most try to use some kind of numbering rank. this number system is common; it echoes the common wine ranking system.

however, while i admire the authors of these pages very much, i don't like a numbered system. i prefer in-depth, flowery prose, and full disclosure of the writer's preferences, a la elizabeth david. the numbered system fakes an objectivity that isn't really possible, to my mind. further, donnelly sent me these chocolates. if i didn't like them, i would say so; i won't lie just for a freebie. fortunately, this isn't an issue here -- because donnelly's chocolates are mind-blowingly fantastic. let's fall down the pit of obsession. . . .

long-time readers know my very favorite chocolates are the knipschildt truffle, torres' dark chocolate passion-fruit heart with alize, el rey's bucare, and valrhona's manjari. now you know my prejudices up front. donnelly sent me a box of assorted candies, including truffles, and a set of his mini-bars. i plan to discuss the truffles and other treats later. because i had on hand a bar of jacques torres' west african dark (pink label) and some of his delightful coconut candies, i could do a taste-off to comparable candies immediately.

other reviewers have said that donnelly's fillings overpower his covering. to my mind, this is just more proof that consumer reports has no clue; they likewise say ridiculous things about espresso machines. donnelly's candies are every bit superior to martine's at bloomingdales. those candies are quite nice, but in my view lack the artistry you see in donnelly.

i'll elaborate more on this in a minute. first, let's note that chocolates are often gifts, which means presentation and shipping matters. donnelly takes exquisite care in his shipping. the chocolates came to me on an 80-degree day here in new york; yet since he carefully wrapped them surrounded by chill-packs and bubble wrap, they were actually a little too stiff to eat. i had to let them warm up for about 10 minutes. these chill-packs were so effective that after i had opened the package at noon, swooning at the intoxicating aroma; repacked the candies roughly; let 'em sit on my desk all afternoon; and then took them with me on the un-air conditioned subway to my un-air conditioned yoga class and on home, the candies were still cool. so if you plan to order from donnelly, you can rest assured your chocolates will be packaged to transit safely.

as for the presentation, it is stellar. his gift-wrapping exceeds that of jacques torres or la maison du chocolat. kiplinger's compares it favorably to a tiffany's wedding present. i have to agree. i found his choices of hand-made oriental papers original and elegant. the ribbons are not the thin gold elastic bands you so often see, but actual lush wide satin ribbons, hand tied in plump, perfect bows. one box came in a lovely straw-colored rice-bran paper with a deep merlot bow; another in a slate-y blue-gray paper gently embossed with metallic silver vines and a midnight-blue ribbon. my colleagues actually gasped at the site of them. they are that lovely.

and the perfume! these chocolates also have jacques torres and maison du chocolat dead beat on aroma. even before i opened the ribbons my cubicle mate could smell their intense deliciousness. although i had swore to save them for the taste test at home, they were irresistable. while i cannot say i resist chocolate, my cube mate, a programmer, is generally indifferent due to her strict diet (she's a fairly serious runner who enters races). the sensual scent of these candies inticed even her pure heart. so we raided the box, and i gave our several candies to the women around me. the response ranged from rapture to inquiries about donnelly's marital status. he certainly made 4 or 5 intense devotees that afternoon.

but for the serious comparison. jacques torres makes a dark chocolate coconut cream candy, as does donnelly. the torres coconut bon-bon is a rough thin square about the size of two thumbnails, dipped in belgian couverature, and garnished with a tiny spring of chopped coconut. the interior is filled with a white coconut cream with a body thick like very cold honey. not stiff tho'. it is perfectly smooth, light, neither too wet nor too dry, not sticky, not gritty, and not overly sweet. the coconut flavor is fresh and intense. the couverature gives gently to the teeth and is just thick enough so that every nibble has about double the filling to the chocolate, yet the flavors are balanced. you taste coconut and chocolate evenly. it doesn't coat the tongue, but rolls around on it, seeps into it, and stays for a long, long aftertaste. it's a delicate, tiny treat, with an intense flavor, partially due to the malibu liquor. in the past, this candy has contained bits of coconut inside, but recently seems to have settled into the pure cream.

the donnelly bon-bon is a larger, textured piece about the length of my thumb's first joint and easily 1-1/2 times as thick; you'd need to stack up three of jacques' squares to equal it. unlike the rounded rectangles from torres, donnelly's candies are crisply modeled, every detail sharp. his coconut treat is filled with fluffy, white chocolate ganache containing small bits of toasted coconut.

i would say that the filling is every bit the equal that of jacques. the candy is covered a tad more thickly with chocolate than jacques', since it has to hold together at a larger size. however, since the candy is thicker, donnelly's candy has more filling inside than torres'. so if his were as rich, it might overpower the chocolate shell in a nibble. but donnelly has even thought of that -- his coconut filling is a little less intense than jacques', so that the pure coconut and white chocolate flavors shine through without dominating the chocolate covering. the texture is superb, almost moussy.

mr. right, when he did this taste test for himself, noted that the torres' coconut cream was more intense. i personally think, as i said above, it's a question of balancing the flavors in a larger bon-bon. i find both these coconut candies equal in covering, flavor, mouthfeel, balance, and aftertaste. donnelly wins on aroma. if you think chocolates should be minute and dainty, you may prefer the torres; if you're a person who wants two or three good solid bites in a chocolate, donnelly is for you.

let's move to the bar chocolate. a comment i have on both torres' and donnelly's bars is that neither tell you their percentage. are these 54%, 61%, 70% bars? who knows! i wish the labels said flat out. mr. right and i tasted the torres pink-label bittersweet (west african origin) and the donnelly dark bittersweet. once again, i have to discuss presentation. torres wraps his bar in silver foil and construction paper with black printing. with all due respect, they look as if they came off a home laser printer. donnelly wraps his bars in gold foil and more of that beautifully textured paper, decorated with a lovely black and gold diamond label on the front and nicely sealed with a re-stickable label on the back. i feel like this wrapping, besides making the donnelly bar pleasant to open (that silky paper is a treat to touch!), may keep the bar a little fresher, since you can re-wrap the foil carefully and re-seal.

as for aroma, donnelly again won for me. to be fair, i don't know how old the torres' bar was; probably several days older than the donnelly, so perhaps it's not quite a fair comparison. then we checked snap, finish, and gloss. these are important indicators of bar quality. the color of the donnelly bar was a tad lighter than the torres', but despite the color factor, mr. right and i judged them both equal in gloss. likewise, the bars were equal in snap. they broke cleanly, with light texture in the thickness of the edge. no flaking or chipping.

the torres bars are thicker than the donnelly mini-bars, and the pieces are differently shaped: torres' pieces are little trapezoids whereas the donnelly pieces are thinner and rectangular. this difference in thickness made it a little hard to compare how they melted in the mouth exactly. but i let both of them sit and soften for a bit before chewing away. that's when the differences became obvious. the bars are a different style, and i think a different percentage. mr. right, who likes the mouthfeel of lindt, loves the torres bar. i found the torres the tiniest bit waxy in the mouth when you first began to chew. then it dissolved into a harmony of flavor, rich and long-lasting. yum.

the donnelly was a bit drier and more intense; it reminded me texturally somewhat of el rey's apamate 73.5%, bernard castelain noir (which, if i recall correctly, is about 72%) or a michel cluizel amer 72%. but due to the light color of the bar, i doubt it's actually that high percentage-wise.

not to get all pretentious (oops! probably waaay too late for that!) and wine-talk-y, but i might say it was a tad oak-y. really, something about the mid-to-late taste reminded me of chardonnay. mr. right wasn't fond of it at all. but i thought it was heavenly; perfect for serving after dinner with a fine dessert wine or an espresso. the torres' bar is easy to eat, it's delicious and you could just munch and cruise on the flavor. but the donnelly bar makes you think and explore what you were tasting; it's about details, whereas the torres has an overall, round taste. as i said, torres is harmonious and unified; the donnelly has more distinctive dimensions, your attention is drawn more to the notes, the punctuations, in the chocolate.

above, i said donnelly possessed an artistry in his chocolate. by this i mean his chocolate is a fine food that focuses your attention on what is in your mouth at that moment. you can't eat it blindly. his skill is to make you conscious of what you are eating, to appreciate the depths and nuances by bringing them to the forefront of your mind. you can't ignore donnelly's chocolate when you eat it, i find.

after all that, let me take a moment to talk about other flavors in the donnelly ballotin. his tahitian vanilla is a signature flavor; and i found eating the dark candy a revelation. it was exactly as if i were licking a spoonful of nielsen-massey vanilla-bean paste. never have i tasted a product with such a pure and intense vanilla flavor. i can say the same for his saffron candy -- i could never have imagined this vibrancy. it was as if i were tasting saffron for the first time. donnelly's mint is also note-worthy.

unlike any candy-mint you've had before, this mint is the immediate fragrance of dewy, fresh mint leaves you've just plucked and crushed under your very own nose. and i can't end without mentioning the ginger, which is exactly like freshly grated: a spicy river rushes straight for your nose, as if you had plucked a bit clinging to your kitchen rasp and set it on your tongue. and i can't close without noting his amazing honey-caramel. it's simply the best caramel ever. ineffable, actually.

what's amazing is these flavors dwell within the overall chocolate balance. they are the bright trumpet notes that sing out against the creamy fillings, the light brittleness of the covering. and although it might seem lame, this is how i'm going to close out my comparison of the torres and donnelly -- with music. torres is telemann; donnelly, dizzy gillespie.

if you haven't had a donnelly chocolate, you've probably come this far, thinking that i'm really crazy, too effusive. to which i can say: order a box yourself. prepare to be surprised.

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