I am not sure how to justify this as a ‘local’ story, except to say that it is pretty amazing and will be coming to a shop near you in the next few months. What is it?
A new type of chocolate which is being called ‘Ruby’. This naturally pink confection joins dark, milk and white chocolate (invented by Nestle around 80 years ago). Actually, strictly speaking white chocolate is not really chocolate at all but a derivative.
The new Ruby is said to be genuine through and through (the above image is not of the pod as it comes off the tree). Genetically, the beans are nothing new – they come from the same species of cacao plant that begets the chocolate we already know. But, if I have understood correctly, some have a tendency to produce a pinkish bean and these have been selectively bred.
This chocolate doesn’t have any berry flavoring or red coloring. It is made from the “Ruby bean,” and “the Ruby bean is unique because the fresh berry-fruitiness and color precursors are naturally present”, says Barry Callebaut, a chocolate manufacturer based in Switzerland.
It’s a bit of a surprise that they haven’t just called it pink chocolate, that’s pretty much what it is, but Callebaut called it “ruby chocolate” which may be more elegant – but will the name stick?
And what does it taste like? Apparently it “offers a totally new taste experience, which is not bitter, milky or sweet, but a tension between berry-fruitiness and luscious smoothness.” Callebaut sells chocolate and other cocoa products to businesses, not consumers, so the company cannot say for sure when this new product will hit the shelves. It also says that it suits “hedonistic indulgence” and is a consumer need that “is particularly driven and requested by millennials”.
Well, I am not one of those but I would certainly give one of this pink aero a try. How about you?
