February 2010 The food that we love unconditionally year-round — chocolate — is actually synonymous with "love" this month. A gift of chocolate or candy early this month symbolizes something, well, special. It might be used to convey any number of sentiments, ranging from "Regards," to "I am glad my desk is next to your desk at school," to "I love you madly." Although the subtleties of gifting candy hearts and chocolate bonbons might seem tricky to master, each year we all give it a try. And each February 14th lovebirds, friends and grade-schoolers everywhere use chocolate and sweets to signal their affections for each other. And so for all of you who love chocolate — and who love people who love chocolate — this is the time to pull out all the stops. I've brought in an outstanding collection of Valentine's sweets, as well as re-stocked our constant favorites, to make shopping for your Valentine(s) easy and fun. And whatever message you are trying to convey to the people you love this year, I guarantee that great chocolate and confections from Zingerman's Deli will do the job. Here are a few things that are sure to make any chocolate lover weak in the knees. *artwork by our very own Sarah T. Sweetly, Duff duff@zingermans.com 734-663-5282	Candy Manufactory Zzang! Bar Demo Friday, February 12th, 11-1 PM Zingerman's Next Door, FREE! Charlie Frank of Zingerman's Candy Manufactory will be sampling his candy bars during the lunch hour on Friday, February 12th. This is a great chance to meet the man responsible for the amazing range of Zzang! bars and taste some really, really great sweets.
· Sweet things you will find here this month · Wowza bar, 2.0 When I started working at Zingerman's a few years ago, there was a Wowza Bar. Then it went "on vacation" for a while — in this case, that is Zingerman's speak for "we stopped making it because we wanted to work on the recipe and make it better." This month, the Zingerman's Candy Manufactory released the new and improved Wowza bar, adding it to a line of already exceptionally good Zzang! candy bars. The Wowza is a raspberry-centric candy bar, with raspberry ganache, raspberry preserves and raspberry nougat all enrobed in a not-too-sweet Ecuadorian dark chocolate. Please come in and sample one! Vosges Couture Cocoas I appreciate these cocoas more and more with each passing winter! That's because the Bianca, the Parisienne and the Aztec Elixir are the best of both the hot cocoa and the drinking chocolate worlds — easy to make/no fuss like a cocoa, but rich and decadent like a drinking chocolate. If you are looking to put a spin on your normal hot cocoa/hot chocolate routine (or impress your beloved) this is the place to start. Would you like to try a sip before you buy a box for your Valentine? Just ask! We'll steam up a mini couture cocoa for you in no time. And fellas: I think there are few things more sensual than a perfect cup of steamy drinking chocolate. Just sayin'... Askinosie Valentine's Pack: "Real People, Real Places, Real Love" This is probably the best chocolate deal we have ever offered at the Deli. It all started off with a Valentine's Day 4-pack of great chocolates from Askinosie Chocolate — one each of their single-origin dark chocolates (Soconusco, Del Tambo and Davao) and their Dark Milk + fleur de sel chocolate. The bars come in a simple box with a place to write a note for your Valentine. The whole effect is extremely practical, witty and adorable — typical of Askinosie's award-winning packaging. After I brought those in I thought to myself, "We've got to have the El Rústico bar in there, too!" So I tied up El Rústico with a red satin ribbon and tucked it in the package. Then Askinosie called and said, "Hey, we want to offer a free bar to anyone who buys the pack between now and Valentine's Day, because the person giving the gift deserves some chocolate, too!" I couldn't agree more. So to re-cap: Through February 14th, you can buy six really great, American-made, Askinosie chocolates for $35. Five for your sweets, and (at least) one for you. A crazy-good deal. Fran's Salt Caramel Sleeves and 20-piece box Fran's award-winning gray and smoked salt caramels are available in either a cherry-red linen sleeve (7 piece) or a brown linen box (20 piece) this month — beautiful and ready to give. I have yet to meet a person who does not like these caramels — and that is the honest to goodness truth. They are utterly "swoony," as my friend Christiana would say. These will be a revelation to the caramel lover in your life. Chocolat Moderne Amarena Cherry Ballotin What is Valentine's Day without a chocolate covered cherry? Lucky for all of us, Chocolat Moderne's version of this classic confection is sophisticated and not sticky-sweet. Joan takes a wonderfully tart Amarena cherry, soaks it in a vodka-infused syrup and captures it all in a thin dark chocolate shell. There are a dozen of these one-bite, drip-down-your-chin bonbons in each pretty coral-colored ballotin. Chocolate-dipped long stem strawberries (Feb 13 & 14) It's a Deli tradition! Each Valentine's Day, we order a case of beautiful long-stem strawberries, dip them in silky, semisweet chocolate from Michel Cluizel, finish them with a drizzle of white chocolate and offer them in the truffle case. These are available for a very limited time starting Saturday, February 13th. Add one to your custom truffle box! Take a couple home for dessert! But don't delay: when they are gone, they are gone. Nougat from Flora Confections in Chicago (Locavore and Traditional) An unsuspected and much welcome discovery for us in the new year, Flora Confections is a small, Chicago-based confiserie. The owner — Flora Lazar — just shipped us fresh batches of her wonderful nougat. Flora's nougat is nougat mou, a version that is crisp at first bite, but tender in the mouth. She uses great ingredients like free-range egg whites, honey from Ellis Farms in Benton Harbor, almonds from California, pecans from Tennessee, and dried cherries from South Haven. We offer two varieties — traditional and locavore. The traditional has roasted pistachios and almonds and the locavore (oh so good) has roasted pecans and dried cherries. This is a simple confection, perfectly executed. I am delighted to offer it in time for Valentine's Day. Fresh chocolates I am absolutely over-the-moon about our truffles and bonbons this year. We have almost thirty different chocolates, caramels and pralinés — ranging from classic to very adventurous — for your consideration this Valentine's Day. Don't be fooled by our modest selection: I promise we have everything you are looking for. A big thank you to all of the chocolatiers around the country that worked so hard to make these perfect chocolates. We offer all of our truffles by the piece as well as in a range of ballotins. We would love to help you create a perfect, custom box of chocolates for Valentine's Day. Here is a list of our choco-partners and their creations, just in case you want to plan ahead! Charles Chocolate (San Francisco, CA) • Blood Orange, Raspberry, Passion Fruit and Peach Pâte de Fruit. Tiny, French-style fruit jellies with no less than 45% fruit purée and cane sugar. Nothing funny or artificial here, these jellies are naturally flavored and colored — a refreshing finish to a box of chocolates. Chocolat Moderne (New York, New York) • Amarena Mon Amour These are the chocolate covered cherries I mentioned earlier — unbelievable! • Caramel Caresse Pear purée, Poire William eau de vie, and caramel coated in dark chocolate. • Hazelnut Hysterie Coarse-ground roasted hazelnut praliné, bits of caramelized sugar and milk chocolate in a dark chocolate heart. • The Lover A silky passion fruit caramel in a hand-painted, white chocolate heart. Chocolate in Chelsea (New York, New York) • Aztec A creamy cinnamon, vanilla and chilie-infused ganache, sweetened with a little honey and enrobed in a delicate dark chocolate square. • Burnt Caramel A delicate caramel that is almost like a sauce — cooked longer for fuller flavor. Molded in a faceted dark chocolate shape. • Chocolate Mousse Just like what it sounds like — a fluffy chocolate mousse covered in dark chocolate. Fran's Chocolates (Seattle, WA) • Gray Salt Caramel A slow-cooked, buttery caramel covered in subtle dark chocolate and sprinkled with coarse sea salt. Made with organic ingredients. • Smoked Salt Caramel The same perfect caramel coated in milk chocolate and topped with smoked sea salt. Also organic. Grocer's Daughter (Empire, MI) • Cherry Eau de Vie Cherry Eau de Vie liquor from a Michigan distillery in a dark chocolate truffle. • Raspberry Heart Raspberry and dark chocolate ganache with a touch of Framboise molded in a smooth chocolate heart. • Raspberry Honey Caramel Raspberry purée stirred into a luscious chocolate-honey caramel. Covered in dark chocolate and topped with a dried raspberry. • Whiskey Fig A big, chewy, organic dried fig, stuffed with a whiskey ganache and gently dipped in dark chocolate. Michel Cluizel (Damville, France) • Chocolate Caramel Mushroom A striking piece in the shape of a mushroom — with a wonderful, slightly-salty caramel in the stem and almond nougatine in the cap. Like two bonbons in one! • Tabor (aka Hazelnut) A wonderful hazelnut praliné covered in milk chocolate and topped with a whole candied hazelnut. Sweet Gem Confections (Ann Arbor, MI) • Aztec Heart I wish Nancy made these all year long! A spice-infused ganache (cumin, cayenne and ancho chili, cinnamon and coriander) in a pretty, hand-painted dark chocolate heart. • Champagne Heart French Campalou brut Vouvray sparkling wine, excellent milk chocolate from Michel Cluizel and Calder Dairy cream. Finished with a splash of cognac. Vosges (Chicago, IL) • Peanut Butter Bonbon A milk chocolate and peanut butter ganache enrobed in a sweet dark chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt. • Zingerman's+Vosges Sweet and Savory Caramels I am offering these by the piece for Valentine's Day because, well, I thought you might like to add some to your custom truffle box. I've got the Leaf (Anise myrtle), Tarte (Blood orange + Campari), Nightshade (Sicilian sun-dried tomatoes + Paprika), and Peanut Butter (Koeze peanut butter).