Passionfruit Butter

I was recently introduced to Michel Cluizel chocolates and life will never be the same. We were at St. James Cheese Company for one of their free Friday night cheese tastings, and my mom’s dear boyfriend snuck in the shop to buy me a bar of one of the dark chocolates (and oh, man, there are many). I was pleased but a bit reluctant; while I appreciate high-quality cacao, I find that most of my encounters with dark chocolate are subpar. I firmly believe that a lower milk/sugar content doesn’t necessarily require a patently bitter flavor. In any case, I have always had faith that, despite my all-too-frequent negative encounters, one day, I’d find a dark chocolate bar I truly enjoyed.

This is it. Michel Cluizel is the stuff of dreams. (Now I just wish I could try Valrhona, which I’ve heard puts Cluizel and all others to shame.) My favorite, come to find out, is actually the one with the highest cacao content: an astonishing 85% (I will say, however, that the 64% Maralumi as well as the sampler box of individually wrapped squares made with cacao from plantations in just about every continent are every bit as delicious.)

With a cacao content as high as it is in the Grand Noir, there’s little room for the underlying notes of fruit, olives, or tobacco that you might find in the lighter darks. With the Grand Noir, the emphasis is not on nuance (flavor is direct, not a multi-dimensional circus of aromas) but on quality and texture. Those two assets are what won me over: this is creamier than some milks I’ve had, lingering on my tongue in the most appealing way. Heavy coffee flavor. Pungent, unadulterated chocolate flavor. It seems that the high cacao content of most darks works against them rather than for them, alienating many with their sourness. With the Grand Noir, all that cacao defines it. It takes a bit of getting used to, simply because it’s so much darker than anything else you’re likely to find, but the richness of flavor is really something to be admired.

Next up: the 99% bar, which I’ll buy this summer from the Michel Cluizel storefront when I’m in Paris.