Tasting the subtle nuances of gourmet chocolate
By Cathy Free , Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — Brian Ruggles won't be buying his wife, Carrie, a heart-shaped box of chocolates this Valentine's Day. He knows she'll view it as the "ultimate cop out."
When you're president of the Chocolate Society, every day is the perfect day to indulge in the food of the gods. So the pressure is on this year for Ruggles to come up with something original that doesn't involve cocoa beans.
It's a tough challenge for the 29-year-old manufacturing engineer, since second to Carrie, chocolate is his true passion. But you'll only find dark gourmet chocolate in Ruggles' secret stash. As his friends and coworkers learned long ago, anyone who dares to eat a Hershey bar in his presence is asking for it.
"I'm the biggest chocolate geek you'll ever meet," admits Ruggles, a pensive man with wavy dark hair who favors chocolate-colored T-shirts and jeans. "Particular, discriminating, snobby. Take your pick. Since trying the good stuff, I'll never go back."
As the founder of Salt Lake City's Chocolate Society – a group of dark chocolate afficionados who meet monthly at Tony Caputo's deli downtown — Ruggles devotes his taste buds and spare time to sampling every new gourmet bar that hits the racks.
His obsession started a little over two years ago when his wife surprised him with tickets to the annual Utah Chocolate Expo.
"I walked in and the first thing I saw was Caputo's chocolate wall with all these exotic packages from far-away places," he recalls. "Once I discovered the world of dark chocolate, it blew my mind. I'd never realized there was that much to know."
Ruggles started a chocolate club at his office, then formed the Chocolate Society with fellow chocoholic Matt Caputo. Members are required to take two gourmet chocolate classes — Intro to Fine Chocolate and Intermediate Fine Chocolate — before they can be inducted into the society.
So far, there are about 90 members who show up to blind-sample chocolate from around the world and offer their opinions on the aroma, texture and taste-bud appeal.
Eager to share his dark and deep hobby, Ruggles recently met me for a Free Lunch of salami and provolone sandwiches at Caputo's, followed by a quick palate cleansing and the main course: About a dozen varieties of fine Italian, French and American dark chocolate.
Bellying up to the chocolate bar — a curved glass display case filled with countless gourmet treasures arranged like rare jewels — we were served one round after another of decadent cocoa delights by chocolate barkeep Adam Kaessner.
"Can we try the Amedei Porcelana?" Ruggles asks in the same tone one might use to inquire about fine wine or gourmet cheese. "And how about the Pralus Chuao and the Amano Cuyagua?"
Amano chocolate bars are among his favorites, not only because of their complex flavors but because they're made down the road in Orem.
"A lot of people don't realize that the chocolate in Utah is better than anywhere else in the country," says Ruggles, who spends about $150 a month on his chocolate habit. He becomes meditative as he demonstrates the proper way to savor a dark morsel.
First, he says, hold the chocolate next to your nose and breath deeply.. "What does it smell like? Is it a classic floral aroma with vanilla or is it rich and roasty?"
After inhaling a sample of Amedei No. 9, an Italian bar that is made with nine varieties of beans and was recently voted best in the world, he bites off a small chunk to feel how it snaps between his teeth. Then, the final test: How the chocolate tastes.
"You want to concentrate on all those subtle nuances in the beans and all that melty goodness," says Ruggles. "Are you picking up a deep and rich, dried red fruit kind of flavor? I'm picking up cherries. This bar is incredible. If I had to stick with one chocolate bar for the rest of my life, it would be this one."
Lucky for Ruggles, he doesn't have to play favorites.
"Every bar is different and that's what I love about chocolate," he says. "I used to think that I just wanted what was good, but now, even that's not enough. I want my chocolate to take me on a trip. And I don't really care where it lets me off."
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