mmm...chocolate

Today I went to a "chocolate tasting" event at work. The founder of Cocoa Pete's (also the founder of Pete's Wicked Ale) talked about the process of chocolate making, we sampled a variety of chocolates paired with beer/wine/soda, and finally we had a most excellent chocolate-themed dinner.

It was fun, yummy, and I learned quite a bit. Apparently, in Europe, "dark chocolate" must be 35% pure chocolate, while in the US, it only has to be 15% pure chocolate, unless it's semisweet or bittersweet, in which case it must also be 35% pure chocolate. Incidentally, there is no difference, technically speaking, between semisweet and bittersweet chocolate.

Similarly, European "milk chocolate" must be 25% pure chocolate, and American "milk chocolate" only has to be 10% pure chocolate. No wonder theirs tastes better. Also, so-called "white chocolate" has no chocolate at all, it's just cocoa butter and sugar. Mmm...fat.