Albanese Candy

Mmm, candy.  Gummy candy in particular I'm a fan of.  And thus, I've certainly heard of Albanese, a candy manufacturer known to have "the best" gummy bears.  Their claim to fame is that they invented a technology to allow for greater flavor release from gelatins, back in the 1980s, and it apparently makes all the difference?  While perhaps not quite as widely distributed as grocery and convenience store brands like Haribo, Albanese is all over the place, just, often without branding, e.g. in bulk candy shops.

Albanese makes a variety of gummy items, plus other confections, chocolates, and nuts.  The gummies sadly weren't winners for me, but I was quite pleased with some of the chocolate items I tried.

Gummies

I love gummy candy.  Yes, I'm an adult who takes gummy vitamins every morning, and does so with glee.  Sometimes I "sneak" a few real gummy candies alongside.  It doesn't grow old.  I love gummy candy.  And Albanese makes a LOT of gummy candy.  And they claim to be the best at it.

"If manufacturing gummies was an Olympic sport, then our World's Best Gummies would take home the gold every time; Soft texture, Intense Flavor, Gluten Free, and Fat Free."

Albanese offers much more than your standard worms and bears, or even fairly common peach rings and frogs ... they have butterflies, flowers, sharks, raspberries, and even "army guys" and fighter jets.  And that doesn't even get into the seasonal offerings like pumpkins, snow flakes, snow men, holiday trees, easter eggs, hearts, and more.

But it turns out, I have a type when it comes to gummy candy.

Albanese makes a particular style of gummy candy.  They make it in fun flavors, shapes, and sizes.  The flavors are good.  But ... unfortunately, the chew is not the style I like.

Spooktacular Gummies.
Fall Seasonal.

"Green broomsticks, purple cats, and orange jack-o-lanterns mix together to concoct this witchy brew. Festive, spooky, and tasty to boot, these fun gummies will have you cackling with delight!"

"A spooky assortment of bright, festive gummies in orange, grape, and green apple flavors."

The first kind I tried was a seasonal special, for halloween, the "Spooktacular" mix.  Fun colors and shapes, yes.

But not the candy for me, at all.  Exactly the type of chewy gummy candy I don't care for, no real flavor, and just too chewy.

**.

Gummi Snow Flurries.
Winter Seasonal.

"Keep your taste buds cool with watermelon, blue raspberry, and pineapple-flavored gummy snowflakes. Their chilly shape and fruity flavor makes them a treat for all seasons."

I moved on to a winter seasonal special next, the snow "flurries". 

I did not realize the flavors of these before I tried them.  But once I read the description I sorta panicked.    Watermelon!?  In blue or white gummies!  Danger, danger, and why make something blue or white watermelon colored!  Ah!  (I have severe watermelon allergy, and I'm usually on alert if things are pink or red ...  not that candy usually uses real watermelon ...).

Anyway, I tried a white one to start, excepting to not taste much, but I was overwhelmed with a blast of fruitiness, I guess, pineapple.  Very sweet, very fruity.  And luckily, NOT watermelon.

But it was the chew I really didn't care for.  Combined with the fruity intensity, it ate much more like a child's fruit snack than a gummy candy, at least, the type I like.

I didn't try the others out of caution for the watermelon.

**.

Red & Blue Raspberry Gummies.

"Our Red and Blue Raspberries bring together two incredible juicy flavors into one mix!!"

"A juicy medley of bright, bold red and blue raspberry gummies."

The last gummies I tried were not a special seasonal thing, just regular offerings, of blue and red raspberries.

The flavor of these was good, fruity, berry-like, but ... again, it was the chew that I didn't care for.  Again, more like a fruit snack than a gummy candy.

**.

Chocolates

So, the gummies were not a success for me, but I had hope for the next main category of offerings from Albanese: chocolate!

"Calling All Chocoholics! Do you love chocolate? I mean really LOVE chocolate. Well you've come to the right place. We invite you to try our fresh, beautiful chocolates made from the finest ingredients. We offer something for everyone. Favorites include Double-Dipped Peanuts, Milk Chocolate Raisins and Triple-Dipped Chocolate Malt Balls."

Much like the gummies, Albanese has a large variety of goodies, including a slew of seasonal items.  Milk, dark, and white chocolate coated malt balls, nuts, dried fruits, pretzels, etc, etc, etc.  Clusters, toffees, peanut butter cups, caramels, nougats, cookies, popcorn, animal crackers ...  they make it all. 

The chocolate items fared much better for me than the gummies.

Triple Dipped Chocolate Milk Malt Balls.

"Not one, not two, but three sumptuous layers of creamy milk chocolate envelop crunchy malted milk balls to create these distinctively toothsome treats."

I started with the very ambitious "Triple Dipped" malt balls, milk chocolate version.

These were, indeed, quite wonderful malt balls.

I did not find distinct layers of chocolate, but, the chocolate coating was smooth, creamy, rich milk chocolate, clearly a decent quality, not waxy.  It was thick, but since the chocolate was so good, this was a nice thing.  And inside, a classic malt ball, easily dissolved on my tongue.

I really enjoyed these, likely the best malt balls I've ever had.  Leagues above Whoppers ...

****+.

They also make a triple dipped malt ball in dark chocolate, or "skinny" versions (dipped only twice), along with yogurt or peanut butter coated.  I'd love to try any of those.

Milk Chocolate Filled Peanut Butter Pretzels.

"Rich peanut butter encased in a crisp, salty pretzel puff and drenched in milk chocolate."

Chocolate and peanut butter.  Enjoyable combination.  Peanut butter filled pretzels.  Definitely enjoyable.  Chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels?  Why have I never had these before?

These were good, each element very dominant, in its own way.  The milk chocolate coating was thicker than I expected, decent enough creamy milk chocolate.  The pretzel was crispy, salty, and the combo of salt and chocolate was a nice one.  And inside, a very very generous amount of peanut butter, thick, creamy, very, uh, peanut butter flavored?

If anything I think there might have been too much peanut butter, it made these very rich, like a mini peanut butter cup crossed with a pretzel, so it was hard to eat many in a sitting.  Although ... perhaps that is a good thing!

****.

Milk Chocolate Cappuccino Biscotti Bites.

"Crispy, crunchy biscotti, with a cappuccino flavor covered in real milk chocolate. A treat for coffee lovers."

"Bite-sized morsels of coffee-infused biscotti covered in a rich layer of milk chocolate."

These were ... ok.  Slight coffee flavor, slight crunch from the biscotti, decent enough milk chocolate coating.  But not really an exciting item to me, particularly compared to the other chocolate items I tried.

***.

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Choux French Bakery

As you know from reading this blog, I have a thing for desserts and baked goods, but ... choux pastry is not a favorite of mine.  And yet, I sought out a French bakery called Choux.

"CHOUX is a French bakery specializes in French Cream Puffs and other specialty like Meringues, Financiers, Brioches, Cannelés and more."

The lineup at Choux is VERY french, all the classics, and, generally fairly difficult to make items.  They even have a curated box of goodies called the "So French Box", so, clearly I am not alone in thinking their offerings are "so french".  The cannelés in particular look great, and I wish I'd been able to try one!

Anyway, Choux is located in SF, in the lower Haight, and was started by a French pastry chef, the "Cream Puff Queen".  She's been successful, in business since 2013.

Packaging: Raspberry Choux.

Choux does deliver on the visual appeal of the packaging.

I was impressed the moment I saw the both pretty, AND functional boxes.  So many pastry boxes I had in Paris were beautiful, but, totally annoying to actually interact with (e.g.  the box with no structural integrity from Pierre Hermé!). This one slide open easily.  They get a point for that.

And the cream puff was delightful looking, perfectly iced, sprinkle of red dust on top. 

Choux

"A Choux, pronounced ''shoo'' is a french of cream puff, a sweet French dessert, carefully crafted with flaky pastry dough, filled with a unique custard and adorned with delicate icing."

The main offering at Choux, as you might guess, is the choux buns.  Available in 6 flavors every week, usually hazelnut, lemon, raspberry, chocolate, salted caramel, and vanilla, along with a seasonal flavor, like pumpkin chai in the fall.

Raspberry Choux: Side View.

For my goodie, I went for the raspberry, since no other flavor really called out.

It was filled with a thick raspberry custard, not a light and fluffy mousse or cream.  The filling was fine, fruity, but I really prefer something lighter.

The choux pastry was very eggy, light, airy, exactly the style I don't like, but I think is actually what it is supposed to be like.

On top was a sweet raspberry icing.

I think this really was a well made item, it just wasn't the thing for me, which I expected, but, hey, I figured if I was going to like a choux pastry, it would be one from the Cream Puff Queen!

***.

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Dr. Praeger's Fish Nuggets & Sticks

The frozen food aisle.  Not a place I visited, besides for the ice cream, much at all, until ... the pandemic.  Gone were my free office lunches, my travels around the world eating out, and in their place ... me, at home, needing to feed myself.  After the "novelty" of needing to source groceries, meal plan, and cook for myself wore off, let's just say, that frozen foods aisle sure looked appealing!

It was in that aisle that I discovered Dr. Praeger's.

"Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods has delicious and convenient frozen food options for just about any type of lifestyle and families of all ages."

I'll admit, I only paid attention to Dr. Praeger's because many of their products, aimed at kids, were actually, uh, kinda fun?

Dr. Praeger's makes a number of frozen food product lines, including fairly boring items like a range of veggies burgers and hash browns, but also some more fun things like "puffs" - think tator tots, but made from veggies like "kale puffs", "cakes" - think crab cakes, but again, made from veggies like brussels sprouts cakes, "littles" - bite sized, usually cute shaped, finger foods/appetizers like dino shaped sweet potato bites, bear shaped chocolate oatmeal bites, star shaped brocoli bites, and more, and a range of seafood.  You know, fish sticks.  It is this later product line I focused on.

Seafood

The seafood lineup from Dr. Praeger's is fairly extensive.  You could opt for standard fish sticks, lightly (panko) breaded, or go for the gluten-free rice crusted version.  Prefer larger pieces?  Opt for the breaded (or rice crusted) fish filets.  Want some thing more fun?  Go for the fish shaped nuggets (again, available breaded or rice crusted).  Even more fun?  The bites, available in "fish taco" (tortilla coated, Mexican flavor infused) or "buffalo fish" (carrots, celery, and buffalo sauce included in them!).

All are made with Alaskan Pollock.

Lightly Breaded Fishies.

"Crispy, tasty, fish bites that kids love."

The first product I tried was the little fishie nuggets, panko breaded version, not the gluten-free.  They were adorable.

These were very kid friendly, obviously, not only in shape, but in contents.  The inside was minced Alaskan pollock combined with potatoes, not very fishy, mostly like mashed potatoes.  It was very midely spiced.

As an adult, I didn't care for all the filler, but I see how it would make these more appealing to children.

Baked Lightly Breaded Fishie.

The crust I did like though, and they crisped up perfectly in the toaster oven as instructed (bake at 450* degrees for 9 min, flip, another few minutes).  It was well seasoned breading with a bit of garlic and onion.  I'm not really sure why they call these "lightly breaded", as the breading level was perfect. 

Overall, a fine product, but not for me.  I really liked the texture and crunch of the breading, but just not the mushy potato-y interior.

***.

Rice Crusted Fish Sticks.

"Wild caught Pollock fillet sticks in a savory, crispy rice coating. Gluten Free Fish Sticks."

I moved on to actual fish sticks, made with small fillets rather than minced seafood.  No filler for these, literally, just stick shaped fillets of pollock.  Mild, flaky, decent white fish.

These were gluten-free however, with a rice based coating rather than the crispy seasoned panko.

Rice Crusted Fish Sticks: Inside.

The cooking instructions for the sticks was similar to the fishies, same temperature, but for longer.  However, they didn't cook quite as easily.

The instructions say to put on an ungreased pan, which I did, but mine stuck when I went to flip them.  Why not greased?  The instructions also add in the word "carefully" before "flip", so clearly, I am not unique in having flipping problems.  I was careful, but, alas, the breading came off.

Flipping issues aside, I really liked these.

The texture and flavor of the crust was very different, but there was something about the rice version that I really liked.  A subtle ... mochi-ness.  Like the other breading, it got perfectly crispy in the toaster oven, and I enjoyed the crunch.

I'll gladly eat more of these, obviously not a gourmet item, but, good little fish sticks, when you want something easy.

****.

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Morano Gelato, New Hampshire

Every once in a while, you discover a gem where you least expect it.

Morano Gelato, in Hanover, NH, is one of those discoveries.

It is no secret that I love ice cream, froyo, and other frozen desserts.  I eat them daily.  In my hometown of Lebanon, NH, I have my go-to place for ice cream: Dairy Twirl, as I adore soft serve ice cream, and soft serve is just not something we have much of on the west coast.  I've tried everywhere else around town, like the more economical soft serve at Ice Cream Fore-U or the froyo at Swirl & Pearl, but in the summer, Dairy Twirl is my common destination, and I only go elsewhere if I happen to really dislike the weekly flavors at Dairy Twirl, or I'm sick of the standards vanilla and black raspberry.

Well, all of this used to be true.  Until I discovered Morano Gelato.  It isn't in Lebanon, but is in the town next door, a bit of a trek from my parent's house.  Unlike the aforementioned soft serve shops, it is open year round.  And they don't have soft serve, rather, they serve house made gelato.

At this point, I know this still doesn't sound very interesting.  "Sure, you can get frozen dairy products in the winter if you drive 25 minutes, you can get those at the grocery store too!", is perhaps what you are thinking.

Let me cut the chase: Morano Gelato makes the best gelato I have ever had in the US (Sydney still has better gelato).

I remember the first time I visited my family, soon after Morano Gelato opened.  The hype all around the small town was huge.  I didn't believe it.  How would a little gelato shop in New Hampshire really even be worthy of consideration?  Sure, they have options like Nepalese (Basecamp Cafe) and Indian (Taj-E-India) too, that doesn't mean they are good.  The gelato would likely be no different: novel to the locals, but not actually very good.

And then I had Morano Gelato.

Seriously.  Best gelato.  Not that I'm a gelato expert, but, if you look it up, you'll find legit critics who are gelato connoisseurs, and they too will tell you this is the best gelato in the United States.  Yup, in Hanover, NH.

The story behind it?  The owner grew up in Hanover, moved to Italy, worked in gelaterias, and decided to move back and introduce us to real gelato.  She started by selling just at the local farmer's market, and, well, was more than successful.  Within 8 months, she had a storefront.  2 months later, she expanded.  The next year brought further expansion, more seating.  3 years later, she franchised, now with 2 other locations.  All this, since 2010.  Success, and for good reason.

Gelato and sorbet at Morano are made fresh every day, starting at 8am, 12 or so varieties, and they change daily.  Flavors are categorized into "Classics", "Chocolate", "Fruit", "Traditional", and "Nut", and they make over 200 flavors total.  You can find out what they are serving every day via social media.  If you arrive earlier in the day, not all options may be available.  Same if you arrive late, as they aim to sell out of all of it every day.  2pm is the sweet spot.

The menu also includes espresso drinks, but, gelato is what it is all about.

Small.

I do not have reviews of all the visits I made in the 7 years that Morano was open.  I took some brief notes, on some visits, but mostly didn't take extensive notes, nor did I plan on reviewing it.  But some aspect don't require notes.  They are just so memorable.

First, the texture of the gelato.  This is what sets Morano apart.

Just looking at the above photo, you can probably see how the consistency of the gelato is just amazing.  Soft, smooth, creamy, rich, light as air, perfect, really.  Served at the proper gelato temperature, warmer than ice cream.

The texture of this gelato really is a thing of wonder.  I had never experienced anything like it before my first visit to Morano, and, still haven't.

Second, the dark chocolate gelato.  I'm not a chocolate ice cream type, but, the dark chocolate at Morano is like the best chocolate mousse ... turned into soft perfect frozen dessert.  It is soo intense, so rich, and just amazing.  It is best served with another flavor, like, hazelnut or another nut flavor, and you can combine bites of pure magic.

I also dug up an e-mail I sent a local friend, when I went in December, 2011: "My mom and I went the other day, and ZOMG it is still amazing!"  I think that sums it up well.  Every single time I visited my family, Morano Gelato was on the "must do" list.  At least once.  Even in the depths of winter.  It was a place is worthy of a detour.

Outside Seating.

The space had seating inside and out, but when I first visited, inside seating was virtually non-existent.  It didn't matter, people were happy to stand on the sidewalk with their treats.

Catering: Cioccolato al Latte Gelato, Citrus Sorbet, Fior di Latte Gelato.

Sometimes, my job is "hard".  Like when I'm asked to do a recruiting event at Dartmouth, e.g., "go visit your home town, on us", and host an ice cream social, e.g. "go eat ice cream".  I wasn't even responsible for any logistics, I just had to get myself there, and attend.

The plan, per the organizer, was to pick up ice cream from the grocery store.  I quickly suggested that we get gelato from Morano instead, and, the host agreed to my suggestion (and, luckily, Morano does catering).

We were provided with 3 flavors (one of which was a sorbet to accommodate non-dairy), in big tubs.  These were not the flavors I would have picked, as they were all a bit ... boring.   Clearly, intended for mass appeal. But still, this is amazing gelato.

Cioccolato al Latte (Milk Chocolate) 
I'm not generally a fan of chocolate ice cream/froyo/gelato, so the milk chocolate wasn't a favorite for me.  It was creamy, smooth, nice mild milk chocolate, but not the flavor I'd ever pick.  (The dark chocolate on the other hand ... swoon.  More on that soon).  ***.

Citrus Sorbet
Sorbet is not my thing, but I tried the citrus sorbet, for completeness.  It was ... fine.  Creamy, good citrus flavor, but, still, sorbet, and citrus is not a flavor I actually like in my desserts. **+.

Fior di Latte (Sweet Milk)

Fior di Latte is at least more interesting than vanilla, but is still fairly plain.  The thing is, this gelato is so good it doesn't matter.  No toppings, plain flavor, and it is still amazing.  The texture.  I just can't get past how smooth and perfect it is, even when served as catering. ***+.

Classic Flavors 

• Crema Fiorentina (Vanilla Custard with Citrus):  very creamy, lovely texture, but the flavor was lacking, no depth nor distinguishing flavor.  ***.
• Tahitian vanilla: great flavors from rose and saffron, soft, great consistency. ***+.
• Salted Caramel: pretty good, both salty and sweet.  ***+.
• Malted milk: meh, just there, no real distinct flavor. ***.

Chocolate Flavors:

• Cioccolato al Latte (Milk Chocolate): creamy, ok chocolate flavor. ***.
• Cioccolato Fondente (Dark Chocolate): so intense!  This was incredible, in both flavor and texture, like rich, airy chocolate mousse.  My favorite.  Goes great paired with a nutty flavor like hazelnut. ****+.  [ Other notes: The dark chocolate and hazelnut are always winners, particularly if you get them together.  The dark chocolate is insanely intense on its own but it is fantastic with the hazelnut (if you like nutella sorta things). - Dec 2011 ] [ Dark chocolate one was still insane actually, so intense" - June 2012 ]
  

Fruit Flavors:

• Passionfruit: I don’t like passionfruit flavor!  I like passion fruit, the real fruit, but this, like many things passionfruit flavor, tasted fake.  **.
• Blueberry: great soft consistency, but flavor not very intense. **+.
• Raspberry: great soft consistency, very strong raspberry. Not my thing, but well made.  ***.

Traditional Flavors: 

• Zuppa Inglese (English Pudding with Sponge Cake): Boozy, creamy, pretty good.  ***+.
• Zabaione (Marsala Wine Custard): nice flavors, complex. ****.

Nut Flavors 

• Nocciola (Hazelnut): Very good, good hazelnut flavor.  Goes great with dark chocolate.  One of my favorites. ****.
• Mandorla (Almond): Good almond flavor, tiny chunks of nuts, really nice. ****.
• Pistachio (Sicilian Bronte Pistachio): chunks of pistachio, great flavor.  One of the more intense flavors, really truly tastes like pistachio.  One of my favorites. ****+.

Other:

• Maple: not nearly as maple flavored as I’d like, very sweet. ***.
• Coconut Cream: bits of coconut in it, very rich, almost too sweet though, but good mixed with chocolate. ***.

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