I need to go down south this weekend to replenish my Trader Joe’s stash.
The closest Trader Joe’s is about an hour away from me, and then there’s the little issue of it being in another country altogether, so who knows how long the line-ups are at the border.

I try to go every month with a long list; I get everything from nut butters to an assortment of teas – lately I’ve added canned smoked trout to this list.
I first read about it on The Kitchn and the reviews were so great it had to go on my list.
It really is a time saver when you need to put a quick meal together.

Here’s an easy dinner I put together one Wednesday night when we got home hungry, with almost nothing to eat.
All we had were leftover jollof rice, sundried tomato wrap and a can of smoked trout.
These wraps from Indian Life are amazing and huge; my favourites are sundried-tomatoes and spinach.
A generous heaping of rice and some trout, I didn’t’ t bother with anything else, it was simple, perfect and satisfying.
I love it when dinner practically makes itself.

I love these chocolate bars just for their retro automobile artwork – how cool are they?
It’s pretty good chocolate too, Belgian chocolate made with real cocoa butter.
It’s made by Starbrook Airlines (it’s an imaginary airline), with art illustrations by Jaak De Koninck.
Some of his oil and watercolour paintings can be see at the Brussels Airport.
According to the company’s website their chocolates are produced in a semi-artisan way.
And they’re adherents of the ‘Belgian Chocolate Code’ this could also be an imaginary code, but like I said, it’s good chocolate.

Don’t they seem like the perfect bar for a road trip?
With its nostalgic renderings of cars, planes and airline travel.
I got a few this afternoon for my mini road trip this weekend

Urban Fare on Alberni (next to the Shangri-La) carries these, the Dan-D Pak store on Broadway has them too.

I’ve become addicted to these little drops. As far as addictions go, it’s pretty harmless.
I guess I probably won’t admit it if I had serious addition problems.

So anyway, Les Anis de Flavigny are the most delectable little candies ever.

There were first produced in the 8th century by monks.
The candy is still made in the same ancient abbey of Flavigny.

It’s anise seed coated in sugar, and it’s simply delicious.
It takes an amazing fifteen days to complete the coating process and only the best natural ingredients are used.
It has just the right hint of mint with a touch of rose flavour.

I get them by the stacks from the Italian store.
They come in these very cute old-fashioned tin, I use the tins for all sorts of handy things afterwards.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that I’m slightly obsessed with Parisian macarons.
Seriously, my life changed after I tasted Pierre Hermé’s magnificent macarons last September.
I’ve had plenty a macarons since then looking to capture that glorious taste, and so far, non have come close.
I spent a small fortune at the tea shop, their macarons are shipped straight from Paris but they obviously aren’t shipping from Pierre Hermé or Ladurée

A wise man once told me in frustration that if you wanted good fufu, you went to a good chop-bar in Kumasi.
After various failed attempts to find that perfect macaron here in my fair city, I said; touché.

Looks like I’m going to have to go back to Paris!

Yet, when I saw these macarons at Trader Joe’s for $4.99 a dozen, I just couldn’t pass up on them.
Of course I wasn’t expecting mind blowing macarons, I don’t even know what ‘mind blowing macarons’ are anymore.

The Trader Joe’s macarons come frozen in a box, there are two flavours, vanilla and chocolate – six of each.
For store-bought frozen macarons, they are ok.
The vanilla ones are lighter and crumbly, maybe crispy; the filling is soft and very sweet.
The chocolate is a firmer with a ganache filling which gives it a fuller flavour.

You obviously can’t compare them to the real deal, but they’ll do in a pinch.

I haven’t done a ‘curious product’ post in a while; I guess I haven’t been as adventurous lately.

Today’s product isn’t really a curious product, it’s chocolate from Ghana; Dean and Deluca’s single origin 60% dark.
I’ve been curious about single origin chocolates for a while; they seem to be everywhere these days. 
These chocolates are marketed by chocolatiers for being made from beans from a specific country, region or farm.

They’re packaged and sold as sets in most specialty supermarkets.
It looks like while I wasn’t paying attention single origin products became hip. 
It’s not limited to wines anymore; it’s coffee, chocolate, tea, honey etc. 

The idea is that food tastes unique to the region it is grown and perhaps that differing taste is lost when we mix it up.
With this bar I also wanted to see if it tasted anything like the other made-in-Ghana bars I’ve tried.
I assume those are made from wholly Ghanaian beans.

Chocolate from Ghana tastes different.
For years people have tried to determine why chocolates made in Ghana tasted different from those made in… say… Hershey, PA
But I really picked up the bar at Dean & Deluca because I liked the earthy brown and bright yellow packaging.

It doesn’t say on the package whether the beans are from a specific farm or region in Ghana, so the claim of single-origin is still a tad vague.

What I liked most were the ingredients…. simple and few; dark chocolate, sugar, vanilla and an emulsifier.
The taste was surprisingly similar to the other Ghanaian cocoa bean bars I’ve had, the texture is smoother.
It’s firm with a bold cocoa taste, it has slight fruity notes and a mellow nutty flavour.

It also has the same deep hints as Divine Chocolate’s 70% dark, except the Divine bar is richer (taste wise).
It wasn’t too bitter or too sweet except for a mild bitter aftertaste that lingered.
In all, it’s a delightfully centred bar; smooth, rich, dark with nutty hints.
Maybe the proponents of single-origin-beans are on to something after all.

My Other Chocolate Posts:

• Mink Chocolate
• Terra Nostra Ricemilk Chocolate
• Kingsbite Chocolate
• Kras Dorina Chocolate