Vosges Calindia Bar

It's been a while since I tried a Vosges product and I was feeling like something exotic. Even in the wide Vosges imaginarium (is that even a real word?) of flavors, the Calindia Bar stands out.



The bar features Indian green cardamom, organic California walnuts, dried plums and Venezuelan dark chocolate. The only ingredient I am not so sure about is the walnuts. I am not a fan of walnuts, no matter how good they may be (and I have never met one I considered good). With that caveat out of the way...



The bar has a warm, spicy aroma that reminded me most of ginger. And since cardamom is a member of the ginger family, that is not surprising.

The first flavor is the strong dark chocolate. Even thought it is only 65% cacao, it tastes stronger and darker. It reminded me of a shot of good espresso. Deep, roasted and a little intense, but not so much that it's bitter.

I wish that the bits of dried plum had been bigger. They are sweet and just a little chewy. The flavor is not quite raisin, and sadly there is not enough of the plum to really get much of a sense of it. I love the idea of plums and chocolate, but there just aren't enough of them in this bar to feel strongly one way or the other whether it was good or bad.

The walnuts: this was, again, the part of the bar I was most worried about, because I just really hate walnuts. With that in mind, and trying to be impartial about it, I can say that the pieces were very small, but quite crunchy and fresh tasting. If you do like walnuts, you will probably love them. I know that if it had been a nut I liked, such as...oh, any other nut on the planet...I would have found them a nice addition.

Walnuts aside, I generally liked the bar -- although I do wish there had been more plum. This is one of those bars in which all the ingredients come together really well, even if one by one they don't tend to stand out.



PURCHASED FROM:
Zabar's (New York City)