TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — At the 2022 International Chocolate Awards (ICA), Evergreen Laurel Hotel Taichung took home a silver and a bronze medal with its sake kasu chocolate and passion fruit jelly-pepper chocolate entries.
The hotel announced its win on Aug. 22 and celebrated by offering 15% off on its chocolate products.
The sake kasu chocolate, which was awarded a silver medal at the ICA, is made with a white alcohol sauce composed of cream from France and sake kasu from the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation. With the addition of an award-winning daiginjo sake, the chocolate comes with a “unique” alcoholic aroma, according to Evergreen Laurel Hotel Taichung.
Meanwhile, the passion fruit jelly-pepper chocolate features a sauce that combines passion fruit from Nantou and peppercorn from Kaohsiung to produce a stark sour and spicy flavor. The black pepper’s flavor is further highlighted by the chocolate’s aftertaste.
ETtoday reported that Chang Chih-hong (張志宏), the executive chef who won the medal this year, won gold, silver, and bronze medals in 2020, his first time competing in the ICA. He said he spent over six months developing the chocolate’s flavors, exploring various Taiwanese ingredients including peeled chili pepper from Hualien and fermented bean curd from Yunlin.
Other flavors in the Evergreen Laurel Hotel Taichung’s “Black Gold Party Special Edition Chocolate Gift Box” include the black garlic chocolate featuring fermented garlic from Yunlin, milk chocolate, and rum panache from Jamaica, and the lychee rose chocolate featuring a mashed lychee and rose sauce ganache from Pingtung.
The set also includes a peach oolong chocolate featuring dark chocolate with Taiwan oolong and peach sauce; the blue Hawaiian chocolate featuring pineapple from Tainan, coconut sauce, and white chocolate ganache mixed with blue curacao and rum; the osmanthus plum chocolate featuring a thick sauce of smoked plum, Chinese haw, roselle, Chinese licorice, and osmanthus with a Swiss chocolate and osmanthus ganache; and strawberry kiss featuring strawberry from Taoyuan.
Evergreen Laurel Hotel Taichung announces its win. (Evergreen Laurel Hotel Taichung image)