100%
Salinae
Maris
Limone
Zenzero
by Dolceria Bonajuto
Impact
There’s ‘pizza’ & then there’s ‘pizzini’ (the Mafia sheep-code).
Henchmen of fugitive Sicilian Mafia head -- Matteo Messina Denaro, on the lam since 1993 -- ran a secret messaging system using a sheep-based code.
Denaro once commanded over 900 lieutenants. They communicated via the aged-old method of "pizzini", bits of paper containing messages often written in cipher. Messages were placed under a rock in a farm field of one member who rose every morning at 4 am to tend to his flock. Often destroyed on the spot after reading, these priceless literary pieces include: "I've put the ricotta cheese aside for you, will you come by later?"… a phrase apparently having nothing to do with dairy products. Or "The sheep need shearing... the shears need sharpening" & "the hay is ready”.
Ready or not, here he comes… Denaro, a former trigger man, reportedly boasted he could "fill a cemetery" with his victims who "disappear without saying anything".
To eat like a don, next time ordering that pizza, ask for some sheep’s milk ricotta cheese on it.
And now that their code has been cracked, maybe Cosa Nostra will switch to chocolate… like these bars also crafted in Sicily.
Henchmen of fugitive Sicilian Mafia head -- Matteo Messina Denaro, on the lam since 1993 -- ran a secret messaging system using a sheep-based code.
Denaro once commanded over 900 lieutenants. They communicated via the aged-old method of "pizzini", bits of paper containing messages often written in cipher. Messages were placed under a rock in a farm field of one member who rose every morning at 4 am to tend to his flock. Often destroyed on the spot after reading, these priceless literary pieces include: "I've put the ricotta cheese aside for you, will you come by later?"… a phrase apparently having nothing to do with dairy products. Or "The sheep need shearing... the shears need sharpening" & "the hay is ready”.
Ready or not, here he comes… Denaro, a former trigger man, reportedly boasted he could "fill a cemetery" with his victims who "disappear without saying anything".
To eat like a don, next time ordering that pizza, ask for some sheep’s milk ricotta cheese on it.
And now that their code has been cracked, maybe Cosa Nostra will switch to chocolate… like these bars also crafted in Sicily.
Appearance 4.1 / 5
| Color: | dark as the night that covers thee |
| Surface: | rustic |
| Temper: | none |
| Snap: | crumbles off |
Aroma 7 / 10
100%
coconuts
Salinae
coconuts hanging from leather strips on a palm tree
Maris
marine-cream
Limone
clear as windowpane cleaned with lemon-scented Windex®
Zenzero
Zen indeed… almost zero sign of ginger (the advertised add-in; zenzero Italian for 'gingetr')
coconuts
Salinae
coconuts hanging from leather strips on a palm tree
Maris
marine-cream
Limone
clear as windowpane cleaned with lemon-scented Windex®
Zenzero
Zen indeed… almost zero sign of ginger (the advertised add-in; zenzero Italian for 'gingetr')
Mouthfeel 12.2 / 15
| Texture: | sandy coarse grind |
| Melt: | quick & easy but outlasted by Flavor |
Flavor 43.4 / 50
100%
coconut in soil -> peanut skins -> ground nut -> brief white powdered petal (hmmm) -> rolls in a fatty-umami moment -> metal & mineral way in the back distance -> black coffee aftermath
Respectable for an unsweetened of relatively bulk seed stock & a vast improvement over its earlier, lightly sugared 90% sib.
Salinae
80% cacáo-content
roasted peanuts -> ground cocoa -> espresso
As the name indicates, a salted chocolate… super subtle salt which rounds more than brines the cocoa to a fine level for the 80% class.
INGREDIENTS -- cocoa mass, sugar, salt
Maris
35% cacáo-content
white chocolate -> umami hits all over the spot…. salted seaweed -> fish roe -> black pepper (none added)
Damn… ahem... 'interesting', to use a term on the List of Banned Words except here, in this case, it truly applies thanks to nori seaweed & botargo fish eggs. No simple confected dessert fare or trifling chocolate indulgence but more akin to a plated appetizer. The nori in particular really shows strong but nicely-weighted with chocolate. Creative concept & well-implemented.
INGREDIENTS -- sugar, cocoa butter, powdered milk, lecithin, vanilla, egg, gluten, peanuts, nori seaweed, & botargo
Limone
candied lemon -> coconut cocoa -> ground nut -> sugar-sugar
Vibrant & refreshing, as they say, the virtue of lemon peel. Nothing to puzzle over; just straight-on truth serum.
INGREDIENTS -- cocoa mass, sugar, lemon peel
Zenzero
65% cacáo-content
expecting a similar arc & trajectory as the Limone (above) but the ginger additive sits nicely / expertly tucked in the chocolate bed; beautifully measured & tailored, including the ~33% sugar count
INGREDIENTS -- cocoa mass, sugar, ginger
coconut in soil -> peanut skins -> ground nut -> brief white powdered petal (hmmm) -> rolls in a fatty-umami moment -> metal & mineral way in the back distance -> black coffee aftermath
Respectable for an unsweetened of relatively bulk seed stock & a vast improvement over its earlier, lightly sugared 90% sib.
Salinae
80% cacáo-content
roasted peanuts -> ground cocoa -> espresso
As the name indicates, a salted chocolate… super subtle salt which rounds more than brines the cocoa to a fine level for the 80% class.
INGREDIENTS -- cocoa mass, sugar, salt
Maris
35% cacáo-content
white chocolate -> umami hits all over the spot…. salted seaweed -> fish roe -> black pepper (none added)
Damn… ahem... 'interesting', to use a term on the List of Banned Words except here, in this case, it truly applies thanks to nori seaweed & botargo fish eggs. No simple confected dessert fare or trifling chocolate indulgence but more akin to a plated appetizer. The nori in particular really shows strong but nicely-weighted with chocolate. Creative concept & well-implemented.
INGREDIENTS -- sugar, cocoa butter, powdered milk, lecithin, vanilla, egg, gluten, peanuts, nori seaweed, & botargo
Limone
candied lemon -> coconut cocoa -> ground nut -> sugar-sugar
Vibrant & refreshing, as they say, the virtue of lemon peel. Nothing to puzzle over; just straight-on truth serum.
INGREDIENTS -- cocoa mass, sugar, lemon peel
Zenzero
65% cacáo-content
expecting a similar arc & trajectory as the Limone (above) but the ginger additive sits nicely / expertly tucked in the chocolate bed; beautifully measured & tailored, including the ~33% sugar count
INGREDIENTS -- cocoa mass, sugar, ginger
Quality 17.2 / 20
Despite the old-school ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ style, some fairly integrated flavors which touts Dolceria Bonajuto's skills in balancing the seed type, the sugar level, the roaster vis-à-vis the refiner, the added inclusions' compatibility.
A bravo mix.
Reviewed October 6, 2015
A bravo mix.
Reviewed October 6, 2015