In January 2011, Suite101 was provided with samples of food products that are made by a small African family firm, Devine Foods, based in Rugby, Warwickshire. Within those samples were three different types of the company’s innovative chilli chocolate spread. In order to review them properly, they were put through an informal taste test. The overall result is that they are a gastronomic hit.
Devine Foods’ Chilli Chocolate Spread Packaging Declared “Sexy”
Amongst a parcel of sample products sent to this writer in January 2011, was a pack of three pots, each containing a different type of chilli chocolate spread. In order to provide a review based on a cross-section of people, an informal taste was organised which included the same people profile as that used in the article: Hot or Not? Heart-Shaped Chilli Chocolate Valentine’s Day Gift.
Emblazoned with the strap line “Devinely made. Heavenly taste”, the dark chocolate brown and chilli red design of Devine Food’s packet containing a trio of little pots of chilli chocolate spread was very distinctive and appealed to the majority of the people involved in the taste test. In fact, one person went as far as to describe the packaging and pots as “sexy.”
Three Types of Spread Tested
But how do they taste? There were three different types of spread offered. One based on milk chocolate with chilli, one based on dark chocolate with chilli and the third was milk chilli chocolate with roasted coconut added. For the purposes of the taste test, three different knives were used to avoid cross contamination along with simple, plain, savoury cracker type biscuits on which to spread them.
Everyone enjoyed the spreads once they got over the idea of having chilli with something sweet. The dark chocolate variety was popular amongst the serious chocolate aficionados with the milk chocolate being the favourite of those who didn’t eat a lot of chocolate. The spread with added roast coconut was deemed delicious across all tasters although somewhat unusual in concept.
When and How to Serve
One of the chilli chocolate spread testers has years of experience in the hospitality industry – particularly on the food and beverage side. When asked about the sort of function at which they could be offered (rather than just used whenever required at home), he felt serving them on blinis with a glass of champagne on the side or dipping strawberries in them was not the way to go.
However, he thought they would be excellent for a mid-afternoon snack with a cup of tea or spread on savoury biscuits or chunks of bread as part of a summer evening get-together and washed down with cider. Another idea that cropped up during testing was what the effect would be if a tablespoonful or two was added to a batch of home-made vanilla ice cream. But that trial has to wait for another day.
Overall though, all three chilli chocolate spreads and their packaging performed very favourably in the informal test and were indeed declared a gastronomic hit. To order your supply, contact:
Devine Foods Ltd, 2-3 Arches Business Centre, Mill Road Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 1QW, United Kingdom. Telephone +44 1788 570 075, email sales@devinefoods.co.uk.
Elaine Findlay - An expert cook, Findlay's passion for food is evidenced by the size of her kitchen and her library of old recipe books
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