Darker than Black, C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER 2: Glick's Finest Choc-Chip Macaroons

[dorchadas]

Originally, I was just going to skip this week. Then I was going to use some candy that we had gotten in our Japanese candy shipment that didn't have any chametz in it, but did have mochi and strawberry and looked like it would be a pink explosion. And then, as we were walking by a display of Passover goods in Whole Foods, I saw these. Chocolate? Yes. Seasonably appropriate? Yes. Worth spending an entry on?

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER.

Coconut macaroons are a traditional Passover desert nowadays, because they obviously don't need to be made with anything approaching chametz and also because they're delicious. Traditional, of course, still meaning relatively modern, back to the late 19th century. It's not like you could get coconuts in the shtelt, or even in the Jewish quarters of the Ottoman Empire. But I love coconut and it's great in everything, so I'm not going to complain. And chocolate-coated macaroons are one of the best kind of macaroons and are great year-round but especially during Passover.


They do look delicious.
Unfortunately, dear reader, my gamble did not pay off. I was deceived.

That picture certainly makes it seem like these are chocolate-filled, coconut macaroons with a gooey chocolate-chip center that's leaked all around them after they're cooked and formed almost a crust. That's what I was expecting and what I was going to base my writeup on. But it's not true. These barely have any chocolate at all--at most one or two chips per macaroon, buried in the center like a pearl in an oyster. Rather than being a delicious chocolate core with an equally-delicious coconut shell, they're just...coconut macaroons, with the occasional chocolate chip that I could barely taste.

faylynne once made chocolate raspberry macaroons for a Seder and I ate probably a dozen of them. They were the most amazing macaroons I've ever eaten. Those would be worth writing about, but this is just...coconut. It's certainly a combo breaker, but not in the way that I intended.


The chocolate is those tiny black flecks, I think.
schoolpsychnerd's Opinion

I have to say I agree with dorchadas. I thought there would be more chocolate in the macaroons and there was like one chip per macaroon. They were good macaroons, but like definitely less chocolately than was promised or advertised. I'd eat them, but with very different expectations. At least they weren't super dry!

That is a good point. I've had macaroons that were more like a bunch of shredded coconut shoved together, and they were still good, but not as good as these. These were gooey in the way that good macaroons should be, so the problem is mostly that I was judging them by standards they couldn't hope to meet.

If you want macaroons, I recommend them! But calibrate your expectations, and don't believe that lying picture.

Comments

[princessofburundi]

I had never thought about kosher desserts/treats (are kosher and chametz the same?). I'm sorry that these were disappointing - on the package they look really delicious!

[dorchadas]

are kosher and chametz the same

Chametz is specifically the foods we're not allowed to eat during Passover--anything leavened made with oats, wheat, barley, rye, or spelt. So that immediately cuts out a lot of American desserts, though it helps that I don't like most cakes anyway, but there's a whole category of traditional Passover desserts: flourless chocolate cakes, jelly rings, macaroons, mousse, almond cakes...

The package does look really tasty...

[princessofburundi]

Thank you for the explanation. I've been fascinated with Judaism since I was a small child, and I always love learning more about it. One of my favourite books is How to Run an Traditonal Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg, which is an absolute treasure trove full of information about Jewish practices.

I'd never survive the unleavened food. Bread and lemon danishes are some of the best things in life, although mousse sounds pretty good, as long as it's chocolate!

[dorchadas]

You're welcome!

Fortunately we're a rice-eating household, so it's not a huge imposition for us. But of course, I only start wanting bread when it's not permitted anymore...

(We're definitely having hamburgers tomorrow for dinner after Passover ends )

[princessofburundi]

I hope you don't mind the question: do you put cheese on your burgers? I know that there are Jewish dietary laws that forbid the mixing of meat and dairy, but I don't know how kosher you are.

Forbidden food is always the best kind. It's like sneaking chocolate when you're supposed to be dieting. :)

[dorchadas]

do you put cheese on your burgers?

Sometimes. It's possible that the well-known commandment is mistranslated (though at this point, the weight of tradition has its own gravity), and it originally mentions only goats. So I won't eat goat cheese and goat meat, but don't sweat cheese and meat in the same meal. I mean, chicken Parmesan is traditionally prohibited even though chickens can't give milk...

Though usually, I put eggs on my burgers.

[alwaysbeenasmiler]

Yeah... those looked much better in picture on can then outside photograph. I would be severely disappointed too!

[dorchadas]

I mean, they were still good! But...not as good as I was hoping.