Allow me to virtually toast to you with a Sweet Gem Champagne truffle! I hope everyone’s 2011 is off to a grand start. I’m terribly thrilled because after a woeful, 2010 football season, the Texas Longhorns are off to a fantastic start! We’re back at 0-0!

Now, the New Year often brings talk of resolutions, many of which center on eating more healthily and exercising. That’s great. Kudos! But it’s not going to stop me from sharing some sweet things I am excited about this month. To echo my mom, “everything in moderation!”

Yours in Chocolate,

Zzang! Bars Promo!
All month long, when you buy two Zzang! bars,
you get a third one F-R-E-E!

Why not make a resolution to try a Zzang! for the very first time or to branch out and try a different kind? Charlie over at the Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory has devised four distinct and ever-so-delicious – FRESH – candy bars. Yes, fresh! With a maximum shelf life of 60 days (although they rarely, if ever, last that long at the Deli), this is not your run of the mill, gas station candy bar. The nuts in the Ca$hew Cow and Original actually taste nutty! The nougat inside the Wowza is a sweet raspberry cloud! The muscovado brown sugar caramel in the What the Fudge? has you asking where it’s been all your life.

I can’t emphasize it enough; January is the month to stock up on Zzangs! You can hide that free third one in your desk drawer, and come late February, when your resolutions about eating fewer sweets start creeping toward the back burner how amazing will it be to find a Zzang! chummin’ around with your pens and pencils?

For more on Charlie and his candy bars, pick up one of the January/February newsletters floating around at any one of the Zingerman’s businesses.

Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory’s Freddy R. will be demoing Zzang! bars at the Deli on Monday (MLK Day) from 11am to 1pm

Askinosie & Tanzania

Askinosie Chocolate recently accomplished a remarkable feat, the evidence of which quietly snuck onto Deli and Next Door shelves during the holiday rush in December. I’d love to take the opportunity to formally introduce it to y’all!

You may remember way back in July, I mentioned, in passing, what Shawn was up to. He was just about to embark on a voyage to Tenende, Tanzania with about a dozen high school students who, since the Fall of 2009 via Chocolate University’s “Cocoa Honors Program,” had been under his tutelage as he guided them through the process of selecting and sourcing cacao. Everyone made it back to Springfield, Missouri with a pretty remarkable experience under their belt. (Check out the Chocolate University website for photographs, more information, and fantastic first-hand accounts from students!) In addition to sourcing a new single-origin cacao, the project, through the fundraising efforts of its participants, also financed a deep water well to provide the residents of Tenede with clean water. Previously, the village had relied on either a contaminated well within village-limits or trekked hours to a neighboring well (which, cruelly, was often contaminated as well).

Please stop in an ask for a taste of the new bar – 72% Tanzania; it’s unquestionably my favorite Askinosie bar on the shelf. I recorded the following tasting notes in my journal: ‘Espresso, dried cherry, touch of smoke. Great balance of acidity and astringency with a very pleasant, slightly creamy mouthfeel.’ While nibbling on some the other day, mushrooms sautéed in sherry came to mind – yum!

In addition to the Tanzania bar, we’re also stocking Tanazanian nibs. Nibs are fermented, roasted, and crushed cacao beans. Roasty and nutty in flavor, nibs prove extremely versatile. While great on their own (perhaps you saw Ari sitting at his table in the Deli with a whole pound of them in a Ziploc bag?), they make a great addition to baked goods (Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace cookies; cornbread muffins; pecan pies…), grilling (grind ‘em up and use them in a spice rub), and on top of salads and gelato. Nibs are also the recent darling of the microbrewery world; I geeked out when I sat down to dine and noticed that Jolly Pumpkin’s Tortuga Ale Company Chocolate Stout is brewed with Patric Chocolates’ nibs from Madagascar. Similarly, brewers are jumping at the opportunity to use cacao husks/shells as well as cocoa powder to ramp up flavor in their chocolatey beers. Corner Brewery in Ypsi has been brewing their Mackinac Island Fudge with Mindo Chocolate Makers’ cocoa powder. Dreamy!

Last, but not least, I want to close my Chocolate News & Notes with a reminder that the Chocolate Gelato Tasting is fast approaching! Josh Miner, Don of Gelato at Zingerman’s Creamery, will be joining Em Hiber, beloved barista & Deli Gelato Maiden, to take us through the chocolatey goodness that will overtake the gelato case in February. Don’t miss out!

Chocolate Gelato Tasting with a real live gelato maker – Josh Miner from Zingerman’s Creamery

Tuesday, January 25th, 2010, 7-9 PM
There are few things in the world as delicious as Zingerman’s chocolate gelato! We wait with anticipation all year for the best month fo the year: Chocolate gelato month! Join our expert gelatier, Josh Miner and Deli Gelato Maiden Emily Hiber for a preview of this year’s selection. You’ll taste no-less-than seven different chocolate gelati, including dark chocolate, straberry balsamic, rocky ride and chocolate heat.
$25 reg. price / Save $5 by paying 2 days in advance, Call 734-663-3400 to save a seat!

Did you make it this far? That’s so sweet of you!
Here’s a special treat! I’ve got a wee surplus of Valrhona’s Ampamakia single-plantation chocolate. I can’t purchase any of the new 2010 harvest till my 2009 stock is gone. Allow me to help you help me. I’ve already put the bar on special, knocking $2 off the price. Bring in the coupon below for an additional $1 off! Tough to beat!

My Ampamakia tasting notes: ‘spicy aroma with a touch of fruit; creamy, round/full mouthfeel; cocoa powder, savory, vanilla really pops, dark roast, dried fruit (raisins?) in the finish.’