BA Chocolate Week:..."Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony" or DO THEY??

[Donchadh]

A deep dive into making the wrong gastronomical choice...It's time to re-open the age old debate....Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate.  (And can there really be a wrong choice between these two)?

 

Before the debate starts and in true Brown Ajah fashion; a little chocolate history from that source of ALL KNOWLEDGE for our modern generation...yep, WIKIPEDIA.

Chocolate history according to Wikipedia (with hyperlinks thoughtfully removed)...

 

"The history of chocolate dates back more than 5,000 years, when the cacao tree was first domesticated in present-day southeast Ecuador. Soon after domestication, the tree was introduced to Mesoamerica, where cacao drinks gained significance as an elite beverage among different cultures including the Maya and the Aztecs. Cacao was extremely important: considered a gift from the gods, it was used as a currency, medicinally and ceremonially. Multiple cacao beverages were consumed, including an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting the pulp around cacao seeds, and it is unclear when a drink that can be strictly understood as chocolate originated. Early evidence of chocolate consumption dates to 600 BC; this product was often associated with the heart and was believed to be psychedelic.

 

Spanish conquistadors encountered chocolate in 1519 and brought it to Spain as a medicine. From Spain, it gained popularity among the European elite over the following three centuries, was debated for its medicinal and religious merits, and was understood as an aphrodisiac. In the 19th century, technological innovations completely changed chocolate, from a drink for the elite to a solid, milky block increasingly eaten by the public. That century saw the rise of Swiss and British chocolate makers, and production was industrialized.

 

Since World War I, chocolate has been developed further, creating couverture and white chocolate, while manufacturers added ingredients such as cheaper fats and lecithin. Chocolate production has increased dramatically, and new markets in Asia and Africa have opened. Attitudes towards the quality of chocolate, and the ethics of its production have shifted, as awareness of child labor has risen. As of 2018, the global trade of chocolate was worth more than US$100 billion, and production was concentrated among a small set of cocoa processors and chocolate makers."

 

And so...since WWI, the debate has begun...

Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate?

 

 

Which do you prefer? Why? What do you enjoy your chocolate with? And did you share any chocolate today on 14 ♥️ February?

 

 

[Andy MacLeod]

Enters the lecture while munching on an invisible chocolate

 

Ooh, I like this history, @Donchadh, thank you. 

May I ask a question? 

 

Soooo, imagine a novice who was raised in the White Tower but never saw any color at all... They would not be able to distinguish the different chocolates by their color. Wouldn't that be the perfect experiment to determine which chocolate is best? 

 

The full argument

Edited February 14 by Andy MacLeod
Edited to add correct video link.

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

Very interesting post 🙂 You may find though that the question is a rather emotive one around these parts, with rumours of past aspirants being thoroughly toasted for even suggesting that white chocolate is chocolate... but still it is all part of the White Tower experience. 

 

I don't think chocolate is for sharing, I mean, I'm all for unconditional love but let's be realistic here. Also chocolate is really expensive in these parts now. Prices have easily quadrupled in the last few years thanks to Tony's Chocolonely and its multitude of flavours, plain chocolate is actually getting difficult to get a hold of.

 

I prefer milk chocolate (Cadbury's is the best, don't care what anyone says about the cocoa content). White chocolate is a bit sickly, but I do like it in small quantities. Never used to like dark chocolate but I had a period of not eating dairy, and if that is the only option, it is quite good actually. Also the higher % of the cocoa mass does mean there is less room for sugar or other nastiness. Though again, only in small quantities. So if you are a buying me a kilogram bar, only milk please. 

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

  On 2/14/2025 at 7:38 PM, Andy MacLeod said:

The full argument

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Youtube is telling me the video has been removed for violating YouTube's terms of service. How far do you need to go to offend Google o.O

[Cross]

  On 2/14/2025 at 7:30 PM, Donchadh said:

can there really be a wrong choice between these two)?

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yes. yes there can. YES THERE MOST CERTAINLY CAN

 

white is the wrong choice. in case you were wondering. 

 

 

as per andy's question however, seeing no color does not denote seeing no tone. and tone is what you're really getting at when you're talking chocolate. like remove the browns and all the colors that make them. you'd still be left with a fundamental tonal difference between white and dark chocolate, even between dark and milk chocolate. the only true means to determine by taste is blindfolded. 

[LilyElizabeth]

I disagree with you, Cross. There is no wrong choice. They are all delectable.

[Cross]

oh my dear dear lily. clearly i can see its the white chocolate that made you the dark one. 😜 its all becoming so clear now.... 

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

You are making the Milky Bar Kid sad. Interesting to hear that the advertisers are ignoring the accent on the "e" of Nestlé, and giving it a British phonetic pronunciation. 

 

 

[Donchadh]

  On 2/14/2025 at 7:46 PM, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

the question is a rather emotive one around these parts, with rumours of past aspirants being thoroughly toasted for even suggesting that white chocolate is chocolate.

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Burn baby, BURN!   Emotions and fire are always a lovely combination.  Still, your advice is sound Aspirant @HeavyHalfMoonBlade ...I'll just stay near this wall.  🍪 and share this with you.

As for me, salted milk chocolate...yumm!

 

  On 2/15/2025 at 1:37 AM, Cross said:

yes. yes there can. YES THERE MOST CERTAINLY CAN

 

white is the wrong choice. in case you were wondering. 

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As you say @Cross Sedai, as I ponder the sagacity of your perspective ... let me share some ice cold milk ... and freshly bake WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP macadamia nut cookies.  As it melts in your mouth with utmost deliciousness... I'll make sure and save you a couple more. 

 

But you raise an interesting point ... a blindfold test.  Or a focus solely on the chocolate.  This raises so many interesting philosophical questions.  Would a sunrise still be as beautiful if you only saw the sun or does the mountains she rises above and the clouds she paints with her morning lights create the experience of beauty? 

 

I think @Andy MacLeod is onto something with her recipes and her thread ... context matters or does it matter?  Is the joy or the taste, we experience arise solely from the type of chocolate ... or do we, as the perceiver, the subject, add to the experience? 

Truly an interesting question for the knowledge seekers of the Brown Ajah...

 

[Cross]

as for the sunrise, things like that i believe the beauty is in the combination. because the combination is what generates the beauty. the play of the light off the mountain, the degree of moisture in the air affecting the hue, the mists generating rays of light etc. its all things together that make the beauty. strip it away, and yes a blank sky would probably still be beautiful but limited. when it comes to things like chocolate, in a sense its the same but also not. 

 

the taste is beauty, but that taste it determined by the application to make it. the type of cacao bean, its treatment, the amount of sugar or milk etc. unless its white chocolate and then its just bad either way. 

 

flavor wise, for me, even if i'd NEVER tasted chocolate before, didnt know what dark, milk or white was, and just tasted them i still wouldn't like white chocolate. and thats aside from it not even being chocolate (dont start with your dissection of solids and whatnot Heavy) 

 

what we perceive adds to it certainly, but in my opinion with chocolate only by smaller degrees. like would a beautifully sculpted piece of chocolate make that chocolate taste better? eh i dont think so

[Andy MacLeod]

I'm all for the placebo effect: if I'm making this chocolate taste better my investing my thoughts into it, perfect! 

 

Now could we go as far as an existential claim... by which I can make "allegedly not-chocolate" (aka white chocolate) not only TASTE like chocolate but also BECOME chocolate, by sheer will power?

 

Taps her lip thoughtfully... Hmm, would that be a question for the Brown Ajah? Or would it be for the Whites? And if we carry the metaphor, could we turn the White Ajah into the Brown Ajah by combining the (will) Power with a dash of placebo effect??

[Donchadh]

  On 2/17/2025 at 3:06 AM, Cross said:

like would a beautifully sculpted piece of chocolate make that chocolate taste better? eh i dont think so

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There are "earless" chocolate rabbits around the world that decidedly and vehemently disagree with you! 😂😂

 

  On 2/17/2025 at 3:06 AM, Cross said:

the taste is beauty, but that taste it determined by the application to make it. the type of cacao bean, its treatment, the amount of sugar or milk etc. unless its white chocolate and then its just bad either way. 

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I don't disagree, but...then I have a "white chocolate chip macadamia nut cooking from Ms Fields...and...if that's bad..then may I never taste good again!!

 

Perhaps the point is that variation and movement across the spectrum from "Ebony to Ivory" provides the experience that informs the taste ... and it's best to keep experiencing and gather new data...like new books for the library.

 

  On 2/18/2025 at 7:26 PM, Andy MacLeod said:

And if we carry the metaphor, could we turn the White Ajah into the Brown Ajah by combining the (will) Power with a dash of placebo effect??

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YES!! With enough experience (or books, or will power) change is possible. And we can find the deliciousness of all the chocolates...or at least have a helluva journey. 

 

Clearly, we just need more Chocolate...of all kinds!

 

 

 

[Andy MacLeod]

More chocolate... chocolate bunnies, mountains, and seas... chocolate everywhere!!