Kallari Chocolate

I found this chocolate bar at Whole Foods the other day. The price was right and the packaging was appealing, so I went for it.

I've written before about my ambivalence towards Fair Trade products. Sure, I believe that folks should be fairly paid for their work, but I'm wary of some of the ways the label is used as a marketing tool, and I'm often singularly unimpressed with the quality of fair trade products.

This chocolate bar was interesting. (I say that even though I bristle when folks describe my food as "interesting". ) It was a bit grainy, and the flavor was kind of rough. But I couldn't tell whether the roughness was deliberate--like Michelangelo leaving some of his raw stone uncut for aesthetic reasons--or whether it was rough because the chocolatiers aren't as accomplished as some of the French processors who make a very smooth product.

Chocolate is one of the most complex flavors around. That's why it can be successfully mixed with everything from chiles, to cinnamon, to anise, to salt. It's lovely processed into a sleek, creamy bar, but there's also something to be said for a bar where you get to taste something closer to that magical, unrefined bean.