Chocolatiers Round 2

I want to remind everyone that I will be picking a reader to join me for a meal on my Erie ’s Favorite tour of local foods. To enter for a chance to eat with me, all you have to do is send an email with your name, address and telephone number to Akochirka@goerie.com.

Last week, I visited Finney’s, Romolos, Pulakos and Stefanelli’s to sample and compare their milk, dark and white chocolates. I also got a great sampling of their in-house specialties as well as some of the overall favorites. I got a few duplicates from some locations, but overall, I had quite the selection.

I will start with a local favorite, sponge candy. There is a lot of speculation about where the origins of sponge started, but one thing is for sure, it is a regional craze, loved by many from Rochester, NY to Erie. I love it because of the opposing textures between the soft chocolate and the crunch of the sponge. The only location we did not sample sponge candy from was Finney’s. We started with a piece from Stefanelli’s. The first few bites were actually not that good. The sponge was soft and just compressed instead of cracking and dissolving away. I am convinced it was only that piece because everything else out of the same bag was just right. Aldo, the center did not seem as sweet as some of the others. Our second sample was from Romolo. The chocolate surrounding the delicate center was so rich and creamy; it made the sugary crunch that much better. For the third sample, I had both the milk and dark sponge candy from Pulakos. The milk chocolate variety was good, but the dark chocolate covered sponge was fantastic. The bitterness of their dark mixed with the sweet sponge was awesome. My favorites were the milk from Romolo as well as the dark from Pulakos. I cannot wait to try the dark from Romolo next time I visit.

Another thing we got from every location was a caramel. Stefanelli’s gave me a plain, milk chocolate covered caramel while Finney’s, Romolo, and Pulakos gave me salted caramels. One of my favorite candies as a child were Rolos and that is exactly what Stefanelli’s caramel reminded me of. It was a deliciously fancy Rolo. The caramel was soft and had a great pull with each bite. The salted caramels were a little more my style, however. The salty punch really balanced out the sweetness of the caramel. Finney’s salted caramel was delicious. Their rich dark chocolate enhanced the salty flavor and really made it pop. The same went for Pulakos. The dark chocolate seemed to be especially smooth around the caramel and melted as soon as it was bitten into. The caramel and chocolate really became one and had a fantastic flavor. I got to try a few different caramels from Romolo. The varieties I had were: milk and dark plain salted caramels, a milk Fleur de Sel caramel (French grey salt) and a dark Hawaiian caramel with Alaea salt. My favorite of these was the Hawaiian caramel. The pink Hawaiian sea salt gave me the best salt flavor mixed with the caramel; the large grains of salt really helped with that. It is too tough to pick a favorite of these, but I definitely enjoyed the salted caramels enrobed in dark chocolate better. The salt and bitter cocoa went best with the creamy caramel.

All the other specialty items I received from each location were very different. I sampled a lot from each chocolatier and had favorites from each, besides the sponge and caramels of course. I only tasted what was mentioned previously from Stefanelli’s. From Pulako’s, my favorites were the raspberry creams, chocolate caramel cashew claws, and the Caramallows (chocolate covered marshmallows and caramel). Romolo had some great choices as well. The peppermint patties, almond toffee and chocolate coconut were my favorites. I think Finney’s had my favorite overall choices. Emily’s Peanut Butter Melt-a-ways, Lucy’s Lemon Drops, the hand painted Raspberry and Hazelnut ganaches, Uncle Myrton’s Maple Peanut clusters and Aunt Irma’s Butter Crunch. I realize these names don’t mean much without a description, but the only way to know just how incredible they are is to go down to Cambridge Springs and try them for yourself.

The milk, dark, and white taste test last week gave me a fantastic base to start from. The specialty test this week was an incredible finish. Everything was amazing and you are bound to find something great at any of the local chocolatiers. Please remember that these are just my opinions on the chocolate I was given and tastes do differ from person to person. I enjoyed meeting and talking with Bill and Cheryl Kent from Finney’s, Joe Hilbert, John Zack, Ellise Peake and Samantha Williams from Pulako’s, Tony Stefanelli from Romolo, and Jalena (on behalf of Frank DeDionisio) from Stefanelli’s.

Until next time,

Andrew – Beard vs. Food