Having just returned from the AASLD Meeting, aka the Liver Meeting, in San Francisco it was only appropriate that we feature some sort of San Fran specialty at cake time. During a stroll through the renovated Ferry Terminal on the Embarcadero we came across Rechutti chocolates. One of the strollers, who now hails from the Bay area spoke very highly of them and said they were very unique. So what the heck why not pick up a few to bring on back.
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From San Francisco with love! |
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Recchutti products from the Ferry Building |
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The best selling Black Box |
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The product logo! |
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16 pieces at about $2.75 each. |
I settled on their black box! Partly because of the description of the contents but also because of the price. These are not inexpensive shall we say. Indeed the 16 pieces for about $44.00 brings the price per chocolate tidbit to about $2.75 apiece. The black box included a menu with a description of what was to be found inside. Several of them sounded very exotic...Star Anise and Pink Peppercorn, Tarragon Grapefruit, Lavender Vanilla, etc. The complete description with pictures can be found here:
http://www.recchiuti.com/101.html?area=01;id=NszmuHPp. If you scroll over the picture on the website you get a description of the item.
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The contents looked impressive |
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Ginger Hearts, Sur de Lago...interesting names! |
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Going for the Kona Coffee Truffle! Gold leaf and all! |
Clearly with such delectable sounding items these chocolates were to be savored. So despite the small size we opted to cut them up into smaller pieces so that the various flavors could be shared. There is no mistaking that these are very good. You could indeed taste the various items in the named of the various pieces and they made for some interesting combinations for sure. We were gradually getting through them all and were looking forward to each new one we could try. We did miss out on a few because a few colleagues, not realizing what these were all about, just walked up, grabbed a few and popped them in their mouths thinking they were Russell Stover or something similar. So we can't really say what the Piedmont Hazelnut tasted like because that one went down in one gulp. Pity, because it sounded good.
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The nut that started the whole Dragee craze - say what? |
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A bag of chocolate covered almonds... |
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...with a hint of burnt caramel! |
In addition to the Black Box we also got their signature burnt caramel almonds. From the website - Whole toasted almonds coated in dark chocolate with a hint of burnt caramel and finished with a light dusting of cocoa powder. It's the nut that started the whole dragee craze." These were also very good. We have had this type of almond before minus the "hint of burnt caramel." It definitely added a little extra something and resulted in a more interesting flavor for the chocolate. We have no idea what the whole dragee craze might be but although we enjoyed them I'm not expecting any crazes to break out in Providence sparked by these particular nuts.
All in all this was a good souvenir of San Francisco. One of our attendees was so impressed she said that these would be her Christmas presents for friends and family. We'll let you know if she follows through.