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Alex Rast wrote:

> at Mon, 28 Nov 2005 18:04:40 GMT in
> >,
> (frood) wrote :
>
>
>>Near my little Mayberry of a town, there is a chocolate shop that sells
>>hand-made truffles ...
>>There is also another chocolates shop, but they
>>sell more along the lines of barks, cups (almond cups, PB cups, etc),
>>other candies such as jelly beans and those jelled things that are
>>supposed to look like fruit. They also sell "gifty" items. This places
>>smells so strongly of mint that the one time I bought a chocolate
>>confection there, it was tainted with artificial mint....
>
>
> On a related line, what is it that has made the "truffle" so iconically
> associated with "high-end" chocolate that invariably, the high-end
> chocolatiers are making these kinds of confections, while meanwhile, things
> like barks and cups have likewise become so associated with "low-brow"
> chocolate that invariably the only place you find these is in low-end
> chocolatiers? I'd kill for a truly first-rate chocolate bark or chocolate
> peanut butter cup, and yet these items are not found. I find it, honestly,
> snobbish and prejudicial to relegate these kinds of items automatically
> into the low-end category, and it puts artificially finite limits on how
> good these items can be. Yet high-end chocolatiers, even if they want to
> make such items, simply can't afford to because they won't sell well in
> their shop because of the image issue.
>
> Any thoughts on this positioning dilemma?

At one restaurant where I worked we made our bark with Guittard
gourmet bittersweet. It was worth using good ingredients because
we had a pretty big following when it came to our desserts.

In my area (SF bay) there's a good number of demanding dessert
lovers who want everything to be perfect, all the way down to
the bark garnishing their sundae. They'll notice every detail
so if you use cheap ingredients you'll end up hearing about it.

You're right though when it comes to shops. I haven't been able
to find a good bark in a shop either. Cups either. Both of these
I have to make myself. Good truffles are everywhere, however.

I think it has to do with the perception as you say. Truffles
beat bark every time, so people will pay a premium for one
and insist on paying as little as possible for the other.

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