I’d like to make one thing very clear: Not all chocolate is created equal. I can say this with certainty after sampling a variety of chocolate, fudge, and truffles from four different chocolate makers in the Merrimack Valley.
However, it hasn’t been just one big chocolate blur. I will never forget the smooth, delicious taste of a milk-chocolate covered orange cream from the New England Chocolate Company in Salisbury, MA, or the rich, complex flavor of a mint-infused dark chocolate truffle from Swan Chocolates in Merrimack, NH. I felt like a kid again when I tasted the smooth and creamy Swiss fudge, donned my own hair net, and took a behind-the-scenes chocolate tour at Van Otis Chocolates in Manchester, NH. And my experience at Ovedia Chocolate in Amesbury, MA, can be summed up in one word: amazing.
Though chocolate unites these companies, their approaches, their offerings, and in some cases, their ingredients, are as different as the grapes the wine makers of California’s Napa Valley rely upon. While each company is equally passionate about chocolate, the experience they want to create for their customers is as different as a sip of red wine versus a flute of champagne. There’s plenty of chocolate for sampling in and around the Merrimack Valley, and this adventure offers a flavor profile to suit every palate.
First stop: New England Chocolate Company
Freshly made raspberry creams at New England Chocolate Company. Photo by Kevin Harkins
Though its name makes it sound like a huge chocolate manufacturing factory along the lines of Willy Wonka, in fact this is a one-woman shop tucked neatly between houses and small businesses on Route 1 in Salisbury. Jayne Murray’s tidy showroom reflects her style of chocolate making: tasteful, classic, and highly focused on quality. Some might call the shop sparse, but Jayne prefers to describe it this way—“I only make what I like,” she says. “I don’t do jellies or fudge, I only do fine chocolates, and it works.”
Once I sampled Jayne’s chocolate-covered creams and caramels, a chocolate-covered pretzel, and a few chunks of solid milk and dark chocolate, I was convinced that Jayne knows what she’s doing. For starters, she relies exclusively on Callebaut chocolate from Belgium. And because she’s a one-person shop (she makes the chocolate, sells the chocolate, and answers the phone!) all her creations are hand dipped, meaning no two chocolates are exactly alike. “I like the fact that each chocolate is unique,” she says.
The chocolates alone are worth the trip, but on weekends Jayne also sets up the chocolate fountain for making chocolate-covered strawberries. Delicious.
123 Lafayette Road – Salisbury, MA: www.newenglandchocolatecompany.com
Next stop: Ovedia Artisan Chocolates
Ovedia offers a pear that is cored and filled with dark chocolate ganache. Photo by Kevin Harkins
If you haven’t been to Amesbury of late, you’ll want to make the trip, if only to sip a cup of rich and creamy hot chocolate complete with homemade marshmallows at Ovedia Artisan Chocolates just off bustling Main Street. In addition to five flavors of freshly made hot chocolate, the retail operation offers a wide range of artisan chocolates, many of which feature the company’s signature caramel.
Just what, you might ask, does artisan mean? Barbra Vogel, the chocolatier behind Ovedia, offers this definition: “I am fascinated with the artisan food producers of older times, and part of that model means making things right here, using local ingredients,” she explains. “We make everything in very small batches, all very fresh. We take our inspiration from traditional Belgian and French chocolates, but we add our own spin for a new interpretation.”
Barbra offered me several examples of this philosophy, such as Ovedia’s salted caramel, a tradition with roots in Belgium. In her version, she combines her homemade buttery, creamy caramel, a dollop of her specially blended dark chocolate, and a sprinkling of sea salt. Because all these flavors are unique, they stimulate different taste buds; I found the flavor combination incredible.
Barbra loves combining unusual ingredients, and a great example of that is her chevre truffle, in which she creates a goat cheese-infused ganache, then coats it in dark chocolate and rolls it in chopped dark
chocolate. “It’s what I call layered flavors,” she says. She also loves combining fruit and chocolate—Ovedia’s stuffed apricots feature a white chocolate vanilla ganache filling and a dark chocolate and fresh coconut coating. Yum!
36 Main Street, Rear – Amesbury, MA: www.ovedia.com
Stop #3: Swan Chocolates
Several shops will cover wine or champagne bottles with a layer of chocolate, as seen here at Swan Chocolates. Photo by Kevin Harkins
The approach at Swan Chocolates, located a few miles off Route 3 in Merrimack, is a little bit different. Here, the cool, quiet showroom is tastefully done in soothing tones of gold and brown. The décor reflects just what owner Theresa Anderson wants: the feel of a European chocolate shop and patisserie, an upscale approach “to all things decadent.” To that end, she uses Belgian chocolate in all her confections, and hersignature offering even looks European: hand-cut, hand-decorated truffles. “A lot of European chocolate is cut, whereas American chocolate tends to be molded,” she says. Furthermore, Swan’s truffles are bite-size, because, as Europeans like to say, “a little bit goes a long way.”
The truffles I sampled at Swan were rich, complex, and flavorful. The blackberry truffle, for instance, is made by piping dark chocolate ganache infused with blackberry purée into a white chocolate shell, then coating it with dark chocolate. “The blackberry purée is a bit tart, which works well with the sweet white chocolate,” says Theresa. “And the dark chocolate marries it all together. All our recipes are created with a certain model: the top note, or the thing you taste first, followed by the middle taste and the end taste. All chocolate should be an experience.”
501 Daniel Webster Highway – Merrimack, NH: www.swanchocolates.com
Last but not least: Van Otis Chocolates
David Quinn, owner of Van Otis Chocolates, works on a batch of fudge. Photo by Kevin Harkins
As I walked into the large, airy showroom of Van Otis Chocolates, located right on Elm Street in the heart of Manchester, I felt like a kid again. Long cases filled with fine chocolates and Swiss fudge tempted me from one side, while molded white, dark, and milk chocolate turkeys, Santas, and footballs called to me from the other side. In between I found everything from foil-wrapped chocolates and overflowing gift baskets to chocolate-dipped champagne bottles, caramel-covered pecan clusters, gourmet popcorn, and more.
Van Otis is just what it sounds like: a traditional American chocolate store offering hundreds of different fine chocolates, a wide assortment of both Swiss and traditional fudge, and molded chocolates to fit every season. Many of the formulas the company uses today are the same ones created by founder Evangeline Hasiotis in the 1930s. Van Otis makes its signature Swiss fudge, as well as 85 percent of the confections it sells, in the 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and 5,000-square-foot candy kitchen located at the same Elm Street address, says David Quinn, co-owner of the company.
Though the company’s chocolates were once hand dipped, over time Van Otis was forced to add machines in order to keep up with demand. “In the high season, we might process 400 or 500 pounds of fudge per night, and hand cutting that fudge took forever,” says Quinn. Nowadays, the fudge is cut into 1-inch-by-1-inch squares by a machine designed exclusively for the company, he notes.
Though the facility produces thousands of pounds of fine chocolate every year, Quinn and his business partner have strived to maintain the friendly family feeling of the business by offering tours and in-store events, among other things. It’s like a little slice of Americana, right in your own backyard, and the company even uses American-made Peters chocolate in all its products. 341 Elm Street – Manchester, NH: www.vanotis.com
Chocolate True or False:
Chocolate is good for you. True, but with a big caveat. While the antioxidants found in certain types of chocolate are good for you, the saturated fat and empty calories found in many chocolate
confections are not. Dark chocolate has higher cocoa content than milk chocolate, so it has higher levels of antioxidants. White chocolate does not contain any cocoa powder, so it has no antioxidants.
Eating chocolate mimics the feelings of being in love. Possibly. Chocolate, like many foods, contains very small amounts of mood-altering substances. One of these chemicals, called phenylethylamine, works by stimulating the brain’s pleasure center. Another, called tryptophan, helps the brain make serotonin, which is associated with feelings of elation or happiness. Chocolate also contains sugar and caffeine, both of which are stimulants.
There is such a thing as “green” (as in environmentally friendly) chocolate. True. Theo Chocolates, in Seattle, is the only company in the U.S. that uses fair-trade cocoa beans exclusively in its award-winning chocolates. In addition, the company uses organic cocoa, and all its other ingredients are either organic or fair trade.
You can really taste the difference between different types of chocolate. True, say chocolate experts. For starters, there are more than 11,000 varieties of cocoa beans, which is what chocolate is made from. What’s more, how cocoa beans are processed has an enormous impact on flavor, meaning the number of unique chocolate flavors is virtually endless. Barbra Vogel, of Ovedia Artisan Chocolates, says taste-testing chocolate is a lot like sampling wine—see if you can taste fruity, smoky, caramel, or floral flavors in your samples.
Chocolate comes in all colors of the rainbow. True, at least at some chocolate shops. Although chocolate is brown because cocoa powder is brown, one of the latest trends in artisan chocolates is adding colorful designs, patterns, and sketch-like images to the tops of chocolates. Ballotin Chocolates in Newburyport sells a variety of bold and colorfully decorated bonbons in its chocolate case. The decorative designs found on chocolates from Christopher Elbow, for example, are actually a combination of food coloring and cocoa butter, says owner Lisa Bleicken.
A Taste of Chocolate for Every Palate – Jan/Feb 2008
I’d like to make one thing very clear: Not all chocolate is created equal. I can say this with certainty after sampling a variety of chocolate, fudge, and truffles from four different chocolate makers in the Merrimack Valley.
However, it hasn’t been just one big chocolate blur. I will never forget the smooth, delicious taste of a milk-chocolate covered orange cream from the New England Chocolate Company in Salisbury, MA, or the rich, complex flavor of a mint-infused dark chocolate truffle from Swan Chocolates in Merrimack, NH. I felt like a kid again when I tasted the smooth and creamy Swiss fudge, donned my own hair net, and took a behind-the-scenes chocolate tour at Van Otis Chocolates in Manchester, NH. And my experience at Ovedia Chocolate in Amesbury, MA, can be summed up in one word: amazing.
Though chocolate unites these companies, their approaches, their offerings, and in some cases, their ingredients, are as different as the grapes the wine makers of California’s Napa Valley rely upon. While each company is equally passionate about chocolate, the experience they want to create for their customers is as different as a sip of red wine versus a flute of champagne. There’s plenty of chocolate for sampling in and around the Merrimack Valley, and this adventure offers a flavor profile to suit every palate.
First stop: New England Chocolate Company
Freshly made raspberry creams at New England Chocolate Company. Photo by Kevin Harkins
Though its name makes it sound like a huge chocolate manufacturing factory along the lines of Willy Wonka, in fact this is a one-woman shop tucked neatly between houses and small businesses on Route 1 in Salisbury. Jayne Murray’s tidy showroom reflects her style of chocolate making: tasteful, classic, and highly focused on quality. Some might call the shop sparse, but Jayne prefers to describe it this way—“I only make what I like,” she says. “I don’t do jellies or fudge, I only do fine chocolates, and it works.”
Once I sampled Jayne’s chocolate-covered creams and caramels, a chocolate-covered pretzel, and a few chunks of solid milk and dark chocolate, I was convinced that Jayne knows what she’s doing. For starters, she relies exclusively on Callebaut chocolate from Belgium. And because she’s a one-person shop (she makes the chocolate, sells the chocolate, and answers the phone!) all her creations are hand dipped, meaning no two chocolates are exactly alike. “I like the fact that each chocolate is unique,” she says.
The chocolates alone are worth the trip, but on weekends Jayne also sets up the chocolate fountain for making chocolate-covered strawberries. Delicious.
123 Lafayette Road – Salisbury, MA: www.newenglandchocolatecompany.com
Next stop: Ovedia Artisan Chocolates
Ovedia offers a pear that is cored and filled with dark chocolate ganache. Photo by Kevin Harkins
If you haven’t been to Amesbury of late, you’ll want to make the trip, if only to sip a cup of rich and creamy hot chocolate complete with homemade marshmallows at Ovedia Artisan Chocolates just off bustling Main Street. In addition to five flavors of freshly made hot chocolate, the retail operation offers a wide range of artisan chocolates, many of which feature the company’s signature caramel.
Just what, you might ask, does artisan mean? Barbra Vogel, the chocolatier behind Ovedia, offers this definition: “I am fascinated with the artisan food producers of older times, and part of that model means making things right here, using local ingredients,” she explains. “We make everything in very small batches, all very fresh. We take our inspiration from traditional Belgian and French chocolates, but we add our own spin for a new interpretation.”
Barbra offered me several examples of this philosophy, such as Ovedia’s salted caramel, a tradition with roots in Belgium. In her version, she combines her homemade buttery, creamy caramel, a dollop of her specially blended dark chocolate, and a sprinkling of sea salt. Because all these flavors are unique, they stimulate different taste buds; I found the flavor combination incredible.
Barbra loves combining unusual ingredients, and a great example of that is her chevre truffle, in which she creates a goat cheese-infused ganache, then coats it in dark chocolate and rolls it in chopped dark
chocolate. “It’s what I call layered flavors,” she says. She also loves combining fruit and chocolate—Ovedia’s stuffed apricots feature a white chocolate vanilla ganache filling and a dark chocolate and fresh coconut coating. Yum!
36 Main Street, Rear – Amesbury, MA: www.ovedia.com
Stop #3: Swan Chocolates
Several shops will cover wine or champagne bottles with a layer of chocolate, as seen here at Swan Chocolates. Photo by Kevin Harkins
The approach at Swan Chocolates, located a few miles off Route 3 in Merrimack, is a little bit different. Here, the cool, quiet showroom is tastefully done in soothing tones of gold and brown. The décor reflects just what owner Theresa Anderson wants: the feel of a European chocolate shop and patisserie, an upscale approach “to all things decadent.” To that end, she uses Belgian chocolate in all her confections, and hersignature offering even looks European: hand-cut, hand-decorated truffles. “A lot of European chocolate is cut, whereas American chocolate tends to be molded,” she says. Furthermore, Swan’s truffles are bite-size, because, as Europeans like to say, “a little bit goes a long way.”
The truffles I sampled at Swan were rich, complex, and flavorful. The blackberry truffle, for instance, is made by piping dark chocolate ganache infused with blackberry purée into a white chocolate shell, then coating it with dark chocolate. “The blackberry purée is a bit tart, which works well with the sweet white chocolate,” says Theresa. “And the dark chocolate marries it all together. All our recipes are created with a certain model: the top note, or the thing you taste first, followed by the middle taste and the end taste. All chocolate should be an experience.”
501 Daniel Webster Highway – Merrimack, NH: www.swanchocolates.com
Last but not least: Van Otis Chocolates
David Quinn, owner of Van Otis Chocolates, works on a batch of fudge. Photo by Kevin Harkins
As I walked into the large, airy showroom of Van Otis Chocolates, located right on Elm Street in the heart of Manchester, I felt like a kid again. Long cases filled with fine chocolates and Swiss fudge tempted me from one side, while molded white, dark, and milk chocolate turkeys, Santas, and footballs called to me from the other side. In between I found everything from foil-wrapped chocolates and overflowing gift baskets to chocolate-dipped champagne bottles, caramel-covered pecan clusters, gourmet popcorn, and more.
Van Otis is just what it sounds like: a traditional American chocolate store offering hundreds of different fine chocolates, a wide assortment of both Swiss and traditional fudge, and molded chocolates to fit every season. Many of the formulas the company uses today are the same ones created by founder Evangeline Hasiotis in the 1930s. Van Otis makes its signature Swiss fudge, as well as 85 percent of the confections it sells, in the 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and 5,000-square-foot candy kitchen located at the same Elm Street address, says David Quinn, co-owner of the company.
Though the company’s chocolates were once hand dipped, over time Van Otis was forced to add machines in order to keep up with demand. “In the high season, we might process 400 or 500 pounds of fudge per night, and hand cutting that fudge took forever,” says Quinn. Nowadays, the fudge is cut into 1-inch-by-1-inch squares by a machine designed exclusively for the company, he notes.
Though the facility produces thousands of pounds of fine chocolate every year, Quinn and his business partner have strived to maintain the friendly family feeling of the business by offering tours and in-store events, among other things. It’s like a little slice of Americana, right in your own backyard, and the company even uses American-made Peters chocolate in all its products.
341 Elm Street – Manchester, NH: www.vanotis.com
Chocolate True or False:
confections are not. Dark chocolate has higher cocoa content than milk chocolate, so it has higher levels of antioxidants. White chocolate does not contain any cocoa powder, so it has no antioxidants.
Eating chocolate mimics the feelings of being in love. Possibly. Chocolate, like many foods, contains very small amounts of mood-altering substances. One of these chemicals, called phenylethylamine, works by stimulating the brain’s pleasure center. Another, called tryptophan, helps the brain make serotonin, which is associated with feelings of elation or happiness. Chocolate also contains sugar and caffeine, both of which are stimulants.
There is such a thing as “green” (as in environmentally friendly) chocolate. True. Theo Chocolates, in Seattle, is the only company in the U.S. that uses fair-trade cocoa beans exclusively in its award-winning chocolates. In addition, the company uses organic cocoa, and all its other ingredients are either organic or fair trade.
You can really taste the difference between different types of chocolate. True, say chocolate experts. For starters, there are more than 11,000 varieties of cocoa beans, which is what chocolate is made from. What’s more, how cocoa beans are processed has an enormous impact on flavor, meaning the number of unique chocolate flavors is virtually endless. Barbra Vogel, of Ovedia Artisan Chocolates, says taste-testing chocolate is a lot like sampling wine—see if you can taste fruity, smoky, caramel, or floral flavors in your samples.
Chocolate comes in all colors of the rainbow. True, at least at some chocolate shops. Although chocolate is brown because cocoa powder is brown, one of the latest trends in artisan chocolates is adding colorful designs, patterns, and sketch-like images to the tops of chocolates. Ballotin Chocolates in Newburyport sells a variety of bold and colorfully decorated bonbons in its chocolate case. The decorative designs found on chocolates from Christopher Elbow, for example, are actually a combination of food coloring and cocoa butter, says owner Lisa Bleicken.