Chocolate in Brazil

Before moving to Brazil one of the things I thought would be easy to find here was good chocolate. Although, most of today’s cocoa comes from Africa there is still some produced in Brazil and other countries in South America. Unfortunately, I’ve been very disappointed so far.

First we’ll start with cocoa. I can’t find it anywhere in the grocery store. Granted I haven’t looked in every supermarket in Maringá, but so far it is no where to be found. They have to have something similar because they bake chocolate cakes in the bakeries here. (We’ll discuss those later.) So I’m disappointed that I can’t even make some brownies to satisfy my chocolate craving.

Believe it or not, I could live without cocoa, but what I’m struggling with the most is the quality of chocolate, as in chocolate bars. They all taste like candy chocolate. You know, the kind of chocolate that coats peanut butter cups and is found inside M&Ms. It is good in those candies, but if enjoyed alone it would be really sweet and without real chocolate flavor. They aren’t lacking in variety here. There are all kinds, most of which are milk or white chocolate. Cashew, raisins and cashew (my favorite of what I have to choose from), crispies and peanuts are all available in the chocolate bars.

The problem is that I consider myself a true chocolate lover. Most of the time, I would rather have one small square of quality dark chocolate than a whole chocolate dessert. I like the really dark stuff. The kind that is good for your heart. The less sugar and fat added the better. I love chocolate that is between 70 and 80% cacao solids. I won’t break the bank on it, but I will pay a little more for quality. So far the best dark chocolate bar I’ve found down here is one from Hershey. Yikes, I know, Hershey! They sell their Special Dark fancy addition chocolate down here.

Perhaps I’ll get lucky in traveling to other areas of the country. Maybe it is more available in the north, more near the Amazon where some is produced. There is a chance I might go there next summer.

As for the chocolate desserts here, I can pass on them. We recently attended a birthday party which had an elaborate cake from a local bakery. It really was beautiful, covered in chocolate shavings and strawberries. After we had a piece the first question we got was, “Did you like it or was it too sweet?” I guess a common response to desserts here from foreigners is that they are too sweet. At first we thought it was a strange question, the cake was very good. However, after having some more chocolate cake creations for my recent birthday and at a BBQ, I understand the question. There is no rich chocolate flavor to the cakes, they are just sweet. So, either they don’t like rich, dark chocolate here, or they don’t have good cocoa to make it.

So, I’ll continue my quest for good chocolate in South America. I’ll let you know what I find. Now, don’t think I’m starved for desserts here. That is hardly the case. Nothing can beat the passion fruit mousse; the chocolate cake just needs a little help.