A friend has just returned from her first trip to the States – a visit to my one-time home of New York City. Inevitably, she was bowled over by the place. And equally inevitably, one of the big attractions was the food.
Working for a US-based publisher, first in London and then in New York, I always used to get teased by my American colleagues about the quality of British cuisine.
Now, to an extent I concede they had a point. There are some wonderful eating establishments around Britain, and in particular in London. But there are some shocking places as well. And a country that boasts fish and chips as its national dish has to be on dodgy territory.
By contrast, the year I lived in the States – and I did a fair amount of travelling around during that stint – I never had one bad meal. So, grudgingly, I had to admit my colleagues had a point. Indeed, the only complaint I ever had was that the portions were too big.
Where I did have a gripe though was with American chocolate. Hershey’s! Urgh.
According to Wikipedia, Hershey’s uses a secret, more economic process in its milk chocolate that, it is speculated, produces a compound that helps stabilize the milk, but also produces a sour, “tangy” taste. Definitely not one that works for me.
America also sets lower cocoa limits: US government rules specify milk chocolate must have a minimum 10% concentration of chocolate liquor (which, says Wikipedia, is pure chocolate in its liquid form, containing approximately equal amounts of cocoa solids and cocoa butter). By contrast, European Union regulations stipulate a minimum of 25% cocoa solids.
Even the chocolate bars we were used to finding in Britain had been adulterated beyond recognition. And I won’t even get into the comparative merits of Swiss and Belgian chocolate.
In short, this is one area where America can learn a thing or two from its friends in Europe. So I only hope Kraft doesn’t ruin Cadbury’s now it has taken charge.
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Tags: America, Britain, British, Cadbury, chocolate, country, cuisine, European Union, Food, Hershey, London, New York, States
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You obviously tasted chocolate in America for a long time. Fine chocolate has become almost a national obsession and although milk chocolate is still around, most commercial chocolate companies now have added some dark chocolates to their lines. It’s not uncommon to see the label saying 60%, 70% and sometimes even 85%. And that’s just the commercial varieties. Chocolatiers like Jin of Jin Patisserie in Los Angeles left her homeland of Singapore to make her delicious chocolates. Fritz Knipschildt, a Dane, came to the US via France and Spain to produce what is widely considered some of the best chocolate confections in the world. I could go on and on. It’s been impossible for me to be able to cover all of the many US based and European chocolatiers in NYC alone. You can’t imagine how many artisan chocolatiers there are in the rest of the country. Chocolate has become an American obsession and you know how we can get when we get obsessed.
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Hi Ellen,
My apologies! You’re right, it’s been almost a decade since I lived in the States. At the time the normal chocolate bars we found in the cornershops and supermarkets were pretty low-standard – so I’m pleased to hear things are taking such a turn for the better. Sounds like chocolate is now achieving the same heights as the rest of the country’s wonderful food (although you’re still not forgiven for giving us McDonald’s!).
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