A Reader in Belgium Writes, asking, “I am a US citizen living in Brussels, Belgium (to me the “chocolate capital of the world"). I’m also attending a two-year course to become a “chocolatier artisanal”. What I would like to know is the following: what is/are the difference(s) between U.S. chocolate and Belgian/European chocolate?” Answering this question gets to the heart of a part of the chocophile rating system ...

When developing the chocophile rating system, one of the things I had to do was to answer the (hypothetical) question, “What’s better, Chinese Sichuan cuisine or Chinese Cantonese cuisine?” The answer is that neither one is inherently better than the other and it’s necessary to evaluate each on its own merits. The same thing is true with chocolate.

For my rating system, I created the categories “French-Style,” “European-Style,” “Traditional American-Style,” and “Nouvelle American-Style.” Both Belgian and Swiss chocolate tends to fall in the European-style category and tends to be lighter and sweeter with more pronounced flavors than French-Style. Also, European-Style chocolates tend to be shell-molded while French-Style tends to be enrobed.

Of course, these are generalizations and there are many exceptions, but the idea is that there is one style of chocolate that tends to be light and sweet, mostly shell molds, and where the flavors are forward and easy to identify and another that is darker and less sweet, has subtler flavors, and tends to be enrobed.

Traditional American-Style chocolate, if anything, is lighter and sweeter than European-Style chocolate and the flavors are even more pronounced and identifiable. This is one of the reasons that most Americans tend to like European-Style chocolates over French-style chocolates—the American palate for chocolate is light and sweet.

The Nouvelle American-Style of chocolate is French influenced in the sense that the sensibility is darker and less sweet and the flavors tend to be subtler but not to the point where it’s impossible to figure out what the taste is (which is too often the case with French-Style chocolates). Interestingly, most Nouvelle-American chocolatiers are using shell molding techniques not enrobing, with a few notable exceptions.

Many people consider Brussels to be the center of chocolate in Europe, if not the world, and if anything there is a sensibility of integrating chocolate into everyday life that is uniquely Belgian. For my taste, however, I prefer French-Style and Nouvelle American-Style chocolates—which is not to say that I would ever turn up an offer to eat some artisan crafted chocolate from anywhere, even Brussels.

Previous Questions and Answers:

1. Can you tell me something more about the composition of the US chocolate. What are the ingredients and what are the percentages. Thanks in advance.
   Posted by  on  01/31  at  04:43 PM
2. The composition of chocolate in the US is governed by what is called a "Standard of Identity" or the rules manufacturers must follow if they want to call a product chocolate. The standards of identity for various cocoa products are on the following page: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=163 . Note that there is no separate definition for semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, both are defined under "sweet chocolate." One difference between US and EU chocolate is that the EU allows up to 5% CBR/CBE (cocoa butter equivalent/cocoa butter replacement) fats and still allow the manufacturer to call it chocolate.
   Posted by  on  01/31  at  08:49 PM
3. what is the french word for chocolate?
   Posted by  on  11/09  at  08:44 PM
4. "what is the french word for chocolate?" -- not too surprising here: "chocolat"
   Posted by jen  on  11/10  at  08:00 PM
5. I need to know where you can buy molds to make a hollow chocolate shell, similar to ones used by Joseph Schmidt for his Mosaic's.
   Posted by  on  12/03  at  11:26 PM
6. Why is Belgium a leader in production of the chocolate? ( where Belgian produser gets cacao from? What is existing market for Belgian chocolate? Please. Thank you. Will wait for answer.

   :: Vira,  
   This is actually a very good question that no one really knows the answer to. 
   I suspect that the reason is similar to the reason that Belgium is famous for diamonds. 
   Diamonds and cocoa beans from western Africa arrived in Europe in Belgian ports 
   and enterprising business people looked to situate themselves as middlemen adding 
   value to the raw imported goods. These days, Belgian producers secure cocoa beans 
   from everywhere in the world they are grown. 
   
   The existing market for Belgian chocolate? That's a hard one because it depends on
    what you mean by market and whether or not you are talking just about chocolate or 
   want to talk about confections (what the Belgians call pralines) as well. With respect to 
   chocolate, Belgian is not one of the top 4 European producers in 2002-2004. From a per 
   capita consumption perspective Belgians apparently consumed the most chocolate in 
   2002/03 however the figure is suspect because (I believe) it does not take into account 
   the amount of chocolate purchased by tourists or exported. Belgium, as a whole,
   consumed about 58.000 tonnes of cocoa in 2002/03 putting it in 13th place well behind 
   the first place US which consumed a total of 689.000 tonnes. 
   :: Clay
   

   Posted by  on  04/05  at  06:10 PM
7. i grew up in the united states, and therefore appreciate greatly the chocolate here in europe. in my opinion, the average american chocolate candy bar does not compare to the average european chocolate that one finds at the grocery store. what is the main difference between the two? do american manufacturers use more processed ingredients?

   Suz:: 
   The main difference between the average bar of chocolate made
   in Europe and the average bar of chocolate made in the US is that
   there the minimum level of cacao is higher.
   
   Of course, this is a generalization and really refers only to mass
   market chocolates and candy bars. There is some very light and
   sweet Belgian chocolate and mass market candy bars are very
   similar to their US counterparts.
   
   One reason is that the American palate in general (and this refers to
   the mass market again) prefers lighter and sweeter foods. Think
   cafe latte or cappuccino compared with espresso. Espresso is (to
   most Americans) an acquired taste that requires a more 
   sophisticated palate.
   
   :: Clay

   Posted by  on  10/10  at  05:24 AM
8. If you were having a chocolate tasting. Could you name 10 high quality chocolates in bar form, that I could buy, that would give my guest an idea of what they like and don't like. Thank you, Barry

   Barry,
   Here are 20 bars that meet your needs. All are named-origin,
   which means that the origin of the beans used to make the bar is
   specified. All of these should be available through http://www.chocosphere.com
   with the exception of the Felchlin Cru Sauvage, which is only available
   through my site, http://www.chocolateco-op.com.
   
   Amedei       Chuao, Porcelana
   Bonnat       Chuao, Hacienda El Rosario
   Cluizel      Haciendas Los Ancones, Concepcion, Tamarinda
   Domori       Porcelana, Puertomar, Puertofino, Sambirano
   Felchlin     Cru Sauvage
   Dagoba       Conacado
   Pralus       Java, Trinidad, Madagascar, Sao Tome, Ghana
   Theo         Ghana
   Guittard     Ambanja
   
   :: Clay
   

   Posted by Barry Stuppler  on  10/22  at  01:13 AM