Amedei Porcelana is a dark chocolate bar made by the Amedei luxury chocolatier of Tuscany, Italy. It is often known as the world's most expensive chocolate. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] It has won various awards from the "Academy of Chocolate", including "Best Bean to Bar", "Best Dark Chocolate Bar", [6] [7] and the "Golden Bean Award." [8]
The cocoa in Amedei Porcelana is from translucent white [2] cocoa beans of the variety "Porcelana", named for their porcelain-like color. This cocoa bean, a genetically pure strain of the highly-prized Criollo, is native to Venezuela and may have been grown there in the pre-Columbian era. [9] [10]
Porcelana cocoa was called "Maracaibo" in colonial times, since it was primarily exported from that Venezuelan port community. Along with a few other Mexican and Colombian cocoas beans, Maracaibo cocoa was classified as one of the world's highest quality cocoas until the 1920s. [9]
Today, many of these Mexican and Colombian cocoas have disappeared and have been replaced by more disease-resistant hybrids. [9] Maracaibo, or Porcelana cocoa is grown on small plantations in Venezuela. Amedei produces about 20,000 bars a year from this cocoa bean. [10]
Amedei Porcelana is sold in individually-numbered packages [4] that have been called "the reference standard for the industry on how to package a chocolate bar."
A 1.8 oz Amedei Porcelana bar sells in the United States for between $19 and $22. [11] The often-quoted price of this chocolate is $90 a pound. [1] [3] [4] Amedei Porcelana has often been described as the world's most expensive chocolate, and has been recognized as such by the Guinness Book of World Records. [1] [2] [3] [5]
Porcelana is included in the Golden Opulence Sundae, a $1,000 dessert sold at the Serendipity 3 restaurant in New York City and mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records . [5] Porcelana is also used in making the most expensive cupcake, the Golden Phoenix, which is made by Bloomsbury's, a boutique cafe in Dubai. [12]
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring in other foods. The cacao tree has been used as a source of food for at least 5,300 years, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later, Mesoamerican civilizations consumed cacao beverages, of which one, chocolate, was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
A chocolate bar is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily breakable, chocolate bar is also called a tablet. In some varieties of English and food labeling standards, the term chocolate bar is reserved for bars of solid chocolate, with candy bar used for products with additional ingredients.
The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is an American confectioner, wholly owned by Swiss confectioner Lindt & Sprüngli. The company was founded by and is named after Italian chocolatier Domenico Ghirardelli, who, after working in South America, moved to California. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company was incorporated in 1852, and is the third-oldest chocolate company in the US, after Baker's Chocolate and Whitman's.
Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved or melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener. It is often garnished with whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate made with melted chocolate is sometimes called drinking chocolate, characterized by less sweetness and a thicker consistency.
Kit Kat is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, England. It is produced globally by Nestlé, except in the United States, where it is made under licence by the H. B. Reese Candy Company, a division of the Hershey Company.
Scharffen Berger is an American chocolate manufacturing company, which was a subsidiary of The Hershey Company after it had been acquired in 2005. Scharffen Berger was established as an independent Berkeley, California-based chocolate maker in 1996 by sparkling wine maker John Scharffenberger and physician Robert Steinberg.
Reese's Take 5 is a candy bar that was released by The Hershey Company in December 2004. The original name of the candy bar was TAKE5 but common usage among consumers added a space. In June 2019, when the candy bar became part of the Reese's family, the name was officially changed to Reese's Take 5.
Chuao is a small village located in the northern coastal range mountains of Venezuela, founded in 1660. The village is famous for its cacao plantations, Diablos danzantes and San Juaneras. The village is surrounded by mountains and dense rainforests to the south and the Caribbean Sea to the north. The nearby Henri Pittier National Park is the oldest national park in Venezuela, created in 1937. The village is only accessible by travelling via boat from nearby Choroní, and is approximately 4 kilometers inland.
The Santiago Mariño Municipality is one of the 18 municipalities (municipios) that makes up the Venezuelan state of Aragua and, according to the 2011 census by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 211,010. The town of Turmero is the shire town of the Santiago Mariño Municipality and Chuao where some of the finest cocoa beans in the world are produced. The municipality is named for Venezuelan independence hero Santiago Mariño.
Serendipity 3, often written Serendipity III, is a restaurant located at 225 East 60th Street, between Second and Third avenues in New York City, founded by Calvin L Holt, Patch Caradine and Stephen Bruce in 1954. It also served as a boutique that sold one-of-a-kind fashion and artistic items and hosted famous artists and popular culture figures. The restaurant has been the scene of several films, including the 2001 romantic comedy Serendipity. American singer and actress Selena Gomez has an ownership stake in the restaurant.
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans mixed with fat and powdered sugar to produce a solid confectionery. There are several types of chocolate, classified primarily according to the proportion of cocoa and fat content used in a particular formulation.
Amedei is a premium artisan chocolate manufacturing company located in Pontedera in the Tuscany region of Italy, considered to be one of the finest chocolate producers in the world.
William George Harcourt-Cooze is a British-based chocolate maker and entrepreneur. He came to public prominence in 2008 with the airing of the Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall documentary, Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory, which centred on his efforts to grow, import and produce his own chocolate.
TCHO is a chocolate maker based in Berkeley, California, US that promotes itself as working with cacao bean farmers and cooperatives to improve growing, fermentation and drying methods. Its factory and headquarters were formerly located on Pier 17 along the Embarcadero, in San Francisco's historic waterfront district, but are now located in the West Berkeley section of Berkeley, California. In February 2018, it was announced that TCHO would be bought by the Japanese confectionery company Ezaki Glico.
The Cocoa Processing Company Limited is a Ghanaian cocoa processing company. They are listed on the stock index of the Ghana Stock Exchange, the GSE All-Share Index. It formed in 1981.
Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer based in Springfield, Missouri.
Amano Artisan Chocolate is an American bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer based in Orem, Utah.
The Golden Opulence Sundae is a sundae that is served by special order at the New York City restaurant Serendipity 3. In 2007 it was listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive sundae in the world at a price of US$1,000. The restaurant has stated that they sell approximately one per month. It was created to celebrate the eatery's 50th – "golden" – anniversary in 2005. Owner Stephen Bruce states that a notice 48 hours in advance is needed when requesting the Sundae, since the ingredients must be flown in from different parts of the world.
Dark chocolate is a form of chocolate made of cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. Without added sweetener, dark chocolate is known as bitter chocolate or unsweetened chocolate. Dark chocolate, above white and milk chocolate, is valued for claimed, albeit unsupported health benefits and for being a sophisticated choice of chocolate. Like milk and white chocolate, dark chocolate is used to make chocolate bars and as a coating for confectionery.
The chocolate industry in the Philippines developed after the introduction of the cocoa tree to Philippine agriculture. The growing of cacao or cocoa boasts a long history stretching from the colonial times. Originating from Mesoamerican forests, cacao was first introduced by the Spanish colonizers four centuries ago. Since then the Philippine cocoa industry has been the primary producer of cocoa beans in Southeast Asia. There are many areas of production of cacao in the Philippines, owing to soil and climate. The chocolate industry is currently on a small to medium scale.