Snack Exchange gives the chocolate experience from around the world

What is your favorite type of chocolate? For me, I like it dark but I also like milk chocolate, with fruits, nuts. Nothing goes to waste with chocolate. The food of the gods that was discovered 5000 years ago was initially used by the Aztecs for medicinal purposes rather than a delicacy.

To celebrate the goodness of chocolate, SM Snack Exchange provides a variety of chocolate confections from around the world -- cream-filled bonbon to praline; from signature melt-in-your-mouth chocolates to the single-source dark chocolate bar; and from colorful chocolate candies to fruit-dipped chocolate.

• Switzerland is known for its cheese, mountains, and its smooth and creamy milk chocolate. In 1887, after many attempts. Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter created the original formula of what was to become the first successful milk chocolate. Before this, chocolate was not considered a delicacy but was more of nourishing medicinal food. Two ingredients, milk and cocoa butter, which make the chocolate melt at body temperature, are a big part of the reason why Swiss chocolate is so famous.
  
  One can find premium Swiss chocolate brands at Snack Exchange - Lindt, which started in 1845 and has 370 shops around the globe; and Toblerone, the unique triangular shaped chocolate bar inspired by the Matterhorn, with its heavenly taste of Swiss milk, filled with natural honey, finest cocoa and almond nougat.
  
  
  
  
  
• Belgium has been called the “Chocolate Capital of the World" and you can’t go to Belgium and not go to a chocolate shop. There are more than 2,000 around the country. Belgian chocolates are known to have a higher cocoa content, and filled Belgian chocolates such as truffles and molded pralines are very often in a fanciful shape and filled with buttercreams and ganache.
  
  
• 
  
  
• Italy is passionate about its cuisine as it is for its art and culture. What makes Italian chocolate so good is that Italians care so much about the purity of ingredients, and have amazingly combined the sophistication of dark chocolate and all the decadence of milk chocolate.
  
  Discover this with the Ferrero and Nutella lines at Snack Exchange founded in 1942 by Pietro Ferrero, a Turinese milkman. He created the famous Ferrero Rocher, crunchy chocolate with hazelnuts on the outside of a wafer and a chocolate and hazelnut filling, wrapped in gold paper.
  
  
  
  
  
• Britain has been a nation of chocoholics since the 19th century, considered the golden age for cocoa-based creativity in the UK. It was during this time that Fry & Sons produced the first solid chocolate bar in 1847, and Cream Sticks, the first filled chocolate sweet in 1853; and Cadbury introduced Dairy Milk in 1905 using a higher proportion of milk. Soon, other brands like the Mars bar in 1933; Milky Way and KitKat in 1935, Maltesers in 1936, and Aero and Smarties in 1937, made the UK a chocolate lover’s haven.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• American chocolates are sweet and delectable, and in the US, are a way of saying “I Love You”. Chocolates were even considered comfort food for the masses when Milton Hershey produced large masses of chocolate milk bars known as Hershey’s Milk Chocolate or “The Great American Chocolate Bar” at an affordable price. during World War, chocolates were being rationed with the soldiers.
  
  
  
  
  
• The Philippines was the landing point for cacao in Asia, making consummate Filipinos chocolate lovers. For generations, they enjoyed a piping hot chocolate drink with the tableya is a small chocolate tablet. Through the years, the government’s initiative to rehabilitate the cacao industry started in the emergence of small-scale chocolate makers like Auro Chocolate who created world-class bean to bar chocolate rooted in Filipino Heritage and traditions, and can be found at SM Snack Exchange.
  
  
  

Other Asian countries have since developed their own chocolate treats Japan has Meiji, with its bean-to-bar and organic chocolates for the health-conscious; while Korea has Lotte’s Pepero, a thin cookie stick dipped in chocolate. More treats and snacks from Japan and Korea can also be found at SM Snack Exchange.

Shop at home and celebrate Chocolate Around The World as The SM Store Snack Exchange is now available online at https://www.thesmstore.com/collections/snack-exchange or order via The SM Store Call to Deliver services at #143SM (#14376) and have a personal shopper assists you. For more updates and exciting deals, follow The SM Store Snack Exchange or check out their online Catalog in Viber https://bit.ly/3aXdXax.

Read More

Heart-crafted chocolates from Red Hat Cacao

What makes a great chocolate? While I am a fan myself, my favorite will always be dark chocolate. It was a luxury before in Europe and was a currency in Central Americas in ancient times. But with all the different kinds of chocolate that we see in stores, hotels, and more, it is always a privilege to know more wonders about our favorite dessert, especially if we discover that we can make a variety, locally.

Gladys Hernando, a head writer for a TV network, happens to own a cacao farm in Quezon and also a chocolate enthusiast. Learned to make chocolate from scratch as a passion also opened doors to venture into business. A heart-crafted chocolates has gained the attention of celebrities like Janno Gibbs, Phillip Lazaro and her colleagues while bringing samples on set just for enjoyment. She wasn't prepared for the attention but an endeavor that she wouldn't complain, she says.

Red Hat Cacao, a trademark by accident just by wearing a red hat while harvesting her cacao. Now she's exploring different kinds of products she can make. One of which is her slab of dark chocolate topped with nuts and dried fruits. Bittersweet combination that you can't stop eating when you start at first bite. Almost a kilo of chocolate costs around Php 2,950 but it is very good for those in diet because there's not much chocolate fat. Of course, we know that dark chocolate is better than milk chocolates.

She does everything on her own and a whole chocolate bark is almost 12 hours to make. The hardest part is tempering, Gladys says, as chocolate requires a very specific temperature to achieve such consistency. Soon, she will be flying to the US to study more about chocolate properties that she can bring back home and try on her products as well.

Red Hat Cacao is also an ideal Christmas gift. You can get packs from the slab and give it to your loved ones. It is perfect to pair with coffee or wine and you can eat fruits on the side too for a healthier snack.

Did you know that she also makes ginger chocolate? She loves putting chocolate to whatever and ginger chocolate is one amazing product also made by accident. A cure for cough and colds with the lovely taste of chocolate.

For more information about Red Hat Cacao, you may check out redhatcacao.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram (@redhatcacao_ph). You may buy their products every weekends of October at the Chocolate Fest in Eastwood City.

Read More