Ode to Valrhona Gianduja

 


This is my absolute favorite chocolate because of its unique texture, taste, and quality.

I used to find it easily at the Whole Foods location in Bedford, MA. Individual bars are about 9''x2"x0.5" and wrapped in cling wrap. Around $10 each. Note that this is the milk chocolate version, not the dark chocolate version, which also exists. 

Lately, they've been hard to find at the Nashua location. It's usually in the baking section along with other baking chocolates. But since it is considered a specialty item it is placed at the discretion of the specialty foods department that manages the specialty cheeses near the deli in the back. On one occasion, the Nashua location had the bars in the wicker basket in the back near the deli. They said they didn’t have any shelf space for it. Probably because of all the Easter-related displays. On another occasion, I found them placed near the cash registers at the front of the store.

Have to be careful not to get the Jivera chocolate, which is also a Valrhona milk chocolate baking bar and looks identical to Gianduja, but Gianduja (pictured above) is slightly darker and more malleable. You can easily dent it like modeling clay by pressing on it. And you can break off a small piece with your hand with minimal effort.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Milwaukee Appliance Hand Truck

Image
Milwaukee Appliance Hand Truck, leaning against my shed Also known as a cart or a dolly. The model is HDA700. I paid around $120 for it. Here's a list of the features. Wrought iron frame 800 pound load capacity 6 inch non-marking wheels (solid, non-inflatable, never go flat) Stair climbers to help move loads up and down stairs and curbs Padding to prevent the cart from damaging the appliance (this is the white strip in the picture above) Belt or strap that goes around the appliance to secure it to the cart and keep it in place Manual ratchet belt tightener, the buckle-like part at one end of the belt (more on this below) Belt tightener handle (this is the red handle in the picture above) to add more tension to the belt once the manual ratchet has been used to the tighten the belt  I recently used this hand truck to move a big ass 320 pound refrigerator out of my garage (where it was delivered) and up a couple of steps to the deck, up one more step through the doubl
Read more

My Experiments with the PICAXE 08M2+

Image
PICAXE 08M2+ I generally prefer to do things the hard way. For example, you can either microwave a frozen dinner or cook from scratch. The microwave option is a good backup plan, but cooking from scratch has far too many advantages, as I outlined in a recent blog post on the do-it-yourself way of life. In the electronics and robotics world, the analogy of cooking from scratch is to build circuits using a bare bones micro-controller chip (e.g. the PICAXE ) rather than a fancy board (e.g. the Arduino ). Therefore, once I get a circuit working with the packaged Arduino approach (e.g. this robot I built recently), I usually try to replicate the circuit using more basic components like the PICAXE. My decision to consider the PICAXE was influenced by Charles Platt's coverage of it in his awesome book Make: Electronics . But essentially, I am a minimalist and I want to see how much I can get done with a bare bones chip rather than a bulky board-based micro-controller like the Ar
Read more

Utility trailer buying guide

Image
Introduction I recently bought a utility trailer . (I'll explain momentarily what that is and why you might consider buying one.) Going through the process (research, preparation, purchase, registration, setup and maintenance) has taught me that it's not a simple endeavor and very little good documentation exists in the public domain (e.g. on the Internet). Hence, this post. Research In dictionary terms, of course, "to trail" means "to follow" (or to trace the path of a primary vehicle). Alternately, Wikipedia defines a trailer as an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle. So, let's get acquainted with what a utility trailer is and why you might consider buying one. If you're a hardworking, blue collar American you probably already have one -- it's the back half of your pickup truck . Well not quite, but that's the reason Australians refer to a pickup as a utility vehicle. A pickup is characterized by the presence of a flat
Read more