moscato and cheese with chocolate please
We have been enjoying Amedei chocolate since the first time we had it at Corso 32, but had never done an actual tasting. We joined Aaron Flamini (Amedei), Gina Marghella (Italian Centre Shop) and chef Rogelio Herrera (Alloy, Calgary) on Zoom to learn more. Amedei Tuscany is a bean to bar chocolate maker, sourcing beans from quality plantations, started by Cecilia Tessieri in 1998. The name? Cecilia named the company after her grandmother and where she makes the chocolate, in Pontadera, near Pisa. They don’t use soy lecithin, colours or preservatives, preferring to rely on quality beans and artisanal production techniques. First up was the Toscano Black 70, in its distinctive black wrapper, a signature blend of three beans. Aaron couldn’t tell us what they were, it’s a recipe known only to Cecilia, maître chocolatier. A beautiful bar with complex flavours of tobacco, citrus and malt with balanced sweetness and an evanescent limey bitterness—absolutely delicious. We tried it with a chunk of Pecorino Toscano, as great chocolate deserves great cheese. Toscano Black was followed by Toscano Red, which may become your go-to-bar, studded with freeze-dried Tuscan cherries, raspberries and strawberries. Is this the perfect bar? The Toscano Blonde with freeze-dried apricots and peaches was the ideal match with the delightfully fizzy and aromatic Massolino Moscato d’Asti. We sampled the toothsome Nocciole (hazelnuts) milk chocolate with 30-month old Parmigiano Reggiano. The surprise of the tasting was the Pistacci, white chocolate with Sicilian pistachios. “It’s the best seller at chocolate shows, because it’s so different and delicious,” says Aaron. Aaron gave us some great tips on how to taste chocolate: check the snap (high-quality chocolate has a lovely snap) chew two times, then let it melt. Words of wisdom. Find Amedei bars at the Italian Centre Shops.
national nursing week is May 10-16
What would we do without nurses? Our world would be a very different place, especially this year. The theme, #WeAnswerTheCall, celebrates all the roles nurses play in everybody’s health-care journey. Heart of the Home celebrates on May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, with 15 per cent off anything in the store. Show some love to your favourite nurses and check it out.
hello spring!
Pick up the May/June issue of the Tomato at over 200 locations or read online at thetomato.ca.
