Archive for the ‘Gourmet Gifts’ Category

The Books at Gourmet Gift Store Savorique

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Savorique.com has started a collection of books, with the genuine purpose of entertaining and educating readers about the world of gourmet foods. In addition to the cooking books by Chef James Peterson, you will find unusual, thought provoking books:

  • Honeybee” by Marina Marchese not only tells the inspiring story of one woman’s intimate experience with honeybees but depicts fascinating and practical information about all aspects of bees, beekeeping, and honey, including life inside the beehive and the role of the queen, drones, and workers; how bees make honey; pollination and its importance in sustaining life; building a beehive; hiving and keeping honeybees; harvesting honey and comb; healing with honey and the practice of apitherapy; recipes for food, drink, and personal care…
  • Naked Chocolate” by David Wolfe basically teaches us about the power of raw, organic chocolate on the human’s body, mind and spirit. It tells us about the legends of cacao, the scientific and exotic properties of cocoa, and much more…

So read on, all our culinary books are signed by their authors!

I Hate Gift Baskets

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Do you like receiving gift baskets? I don’t. Usually they’re made with a pack of stale nuts, a hunk of low-quality Cheddar and some gross-tasting chocolate pretzels, inside a cheap basket.

Only recently have some really interesting basket makers come to light. They use quality/organic ingredients. They give you a great basket that can actually be re-used in the house or for another gift. Now, I don’t mind getting these at home or at the office…

Celebration Gift Crate

Celebration Gift Crate

Fruit & Salmon Gourmet Basket

Fruit & Salmon Gourmet Basket

Bond Street Chocolate Opens in NYC

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Last night saw the opening of swanky chocolate boutique Bond St Chocolate. The store has been opened for a while and we tasted their chocolates way back, but this was a ‘real’ opening, soothing Jazz music complemented the passed cardamon chocolate tuiles. Customers and friends could mingle freely and congratulate the staff and chef Linda Stern.
Linda’s creations have a rock n’ roll and ethnic feel to them, combining South-Asian spices and Buddha shapes with trendy skull-shaped molds and blood-orange flavors. We look forward to bringing them to you on Savorique.com, and if you are in New York’s East Village, be sure to stop by the store on 4th Street!

Linda and Stephan at the Bond St chocolate Opening

Linda and Stephan at the Bond St chocolate Opening

Chocolate Cookies & More

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Summer is gone, it is scientifically proven we get more depressed as days get shorter and darker. People living in Northern Scandinavia experience one of the highest rate of depression because of the lack of sun. We can fight it back by getting a good intake of stimulants-rich chocolate. We have put together a thorough selection of cookies, brownies, and shortbread that will help you cope with the colder days ahead.

Please do pay us a visit on Savorique, we won’t mind your curiosity.

Why Cocoa Price Falls

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

After two years of inflationary prices across the globe, cocoa supply gets cheaper at last.

This is a great news for many involved in the market, from producers of raw materials to end-consumers of finished chocolate products. High cocoa price penalizes producers, which are usually located in poor countries (Africa, South America), because more expensive supply means higher end-product price and lower demand, hence reduced market liquidity and stock turnover. We are committed to sourcing good value chocolate so that you can enjoy good quality chocolate at fair price. Moonstruck chocolates are the perfect illustration of a good value brand which we carry on Savorique.

The sad part of the news is that this fall in price illustrates the influence speculators have on global cocoa prices as they exit cocoa positions on the futures contact exchange (contacts for July delivery of cocoa). History has proven that sharp increase in cocoa price is not the result of cocoa bean shortage. Conversely, fall in cocoa price has not been the direct consequence of oversupply.

The danger lies in artificial price volatility which obviously has a very nasty impact on soft commodities such as cocoa. It is artificial because this unwelcome volatility is triggered by investors pouring massive amount of money in futures cocoa contacts, tempted by potential gains on the commodity market.

We feel it is important to make you aware of how soft commodity prices are determined so you understand why your favorite chocolate gets more expensive or cheaper (in rare instances). It is also important you spread the word and even contact the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to share your concern. Staples (wheat, rice, cocoa…) should not be the subject of speculation. We know well it ends up most of the time by a price bubble, like the 2008 destructive real estate bubble.

Stay positive by eating flavonol-rich chocolates!

The Hot Chocolate Drink Miracle

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

We at Savorique love Lindsey Partos at Confectionerynews.com. She unveiled a small study in the UK which found that the naturally high content of cocoa flavanols (a class of flavonoids) contained in chocolate drinks “improved cognitive performance in arithmetic tests”. High levels of cocoa flavanols seem to increase cerebral blood flow which in the end improves performance on mentally demanding tasks.
Previous studies have showed cocoa flavanols’ health benefits with heart decease and stress for example.

No longer feel guilty for succumbing to our flavanol-rich hot chocolate collection!

Moroccan Food & Facts

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

We thought it would be fun to introduce a new honey and olive oil Master by sharing a few interesting facts:

  • 1375 picholine olives go into a bottle of Alili Morocco olive oil.
  • Olive is ubiquitous in literature. For Roman poet Horace “olives, endive and smooth mallows provide sustenance”.
  • Honey dates back to 2100 B.C. at least, mentioned by Babylonians. Honey has been used to make cement, in polishing and varnishing works, for medicinal purposes and as a currency.

This provider of super healthy Moroccan food deserved our attention and got some from Florence Fabricant, the celebrated New York Times Food writer, who gushed about their honeys, noting the floral notes and distinct flavor profile: “earthy,…unusual,… floral”.

After making you travel to Morocco and salivate, it’s time you laid an eye on this gorgeous collection of Mediterranean food here.

Julia Baker Chocolate Confections

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

In a sea of Chocolatier “wanna be’s” Julia Baker hand made chocolate truffles rise above all the usual suspects. These boxed hand cut artisan chocolates will give you an immediate understanding of what fine chocolate should taste like. Like cheese whiz or a ripe brie, this Cordon Bleu trained chef has it mastered. Available through www.savorique.com

julia baker red hat box

Julia Baker red hat box

Academy Awards 2009 Party With Chocolate

Monday, February 16th, 2009

Facts: In a really tight race between the 5 movie nominees, one could win it with 21% of the votes. The ballots are tallied by accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers and it’s all done by hand. Sometimes just a few votes separate the winner from the losers. The voting process is complicated.

The academy is made up of people from the film industry. It allows members to vote for their colleagues, as directors vote on directors, actors for actors etc., but everyone is allowed to vote for the best picture contenders and it is this process that provides the complications. All members may vote for 5 films, ranked by order of preference. A nominee must get the 1st rank by at least a fifth of the voters. Rarely 5 nominees cross that threshold. Then, the Academy takes the movie with the lowest No1 votes and reallocates those votes to the 2nd choices on the ballots. The complexe voting system continues until 5 movies have crossed the 1/5th threshold. Lately members have been finally casting their votes for a winner amongst the 5 nominees. The Oscar winner is whoever gets the most votes. So one can win with just 21%.

Chocolates brought by Wolfgang Puck at the Governors Ball Menu

If you are on the A list of invited guests at the Oscar’s Governors Ball this year, expect to dine on Wolfgang Puck’s best delicacies.

If not, make your own A list! Whether you host or are invited gather the friends around the TV and celebrate with a dessert’s befitting royalty such as O Magazine’s pick Red Velvet cheese cake?  Judge the pre-show fashions while noshing on Amedei chocolate’s, voted the World’s Best, for three consecutive years. Or be the original of the party with a bite-sized One Girl Cookies!

Healthy Raw Vegan Chocolate

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

Organic SuperChoc is the new black for chocolate enthusiasts. Gnosis Chocolate has this market cornered with bells and whistles, ie. this chocolate is chock full of goji berries, royal jelly, bee pollen extracts and sweetened with agave nectar. The kicker is that this raw handmade chocolate bar is a home run on taste as well! See all the flavors.

Gnosis Chocolate SuperChoc