In search of the perfect chocolate

As one of the world´s largest producers of cocoa beans, Brazil might be expected to produce some of the world´s best chocolate. Unfortunately for chocoholics visiting Rio, that´s far from the case.

The vast majority of chocolate easily available in Rio is extremely sweet, low in cocoa content and with a strange greasy aftertaste. Maybe it´s the chemicals added to stop the chocolate melting in Rio´s extreme heat (watch in wonder as street vendors hawk their chocolately wares all day in 40 degree temperatures without their chocolate bars turning to mush), but there´s just something unpleasantly synthetic about most of the chocolate on sale here.

Brazilians doñ´t seem to have any cause for complaint, happily paying more than UK and US prices for their oversweetened confectionary, but real chocolate lovers might find themselves pining for something a little less cloying.

As a fan of dark chocolate with a high cocoa content, I find most of the chocolate bars on sale in Rio virtually inedible. Even chocolate marked as ámargo´, which translates as ´bitter´and is used to refer to dark chocolate, is usually very sweet. The one exception I have found is the 72 per cent cocoa, lactose-free bars sold at some branches of the wholefood store Mundo Verde (there are branches all across the city). It´s relatively inexpensive at R$1.40-2 per 20g bar, and is a reasonably satisfying nibble for dark chocolate lovers.

For those who like milk chocolate, the city´s many branches of Cacau Show are great places to find chocolate in all manner of shapes, sizes and varieties – all nicely packaged and making great gifts. The prices are reasonable, and the quality somewhat superior to the standard brands you´ll find at the corner shop. Be warned, even opting for a familiar name will not guarantee you chocolate satisfaction, familiar faces such as Twix and M&Ms have been given a makeover, resulting in that familiar sweet, cloying taste.