Gone Chocco

Anywhere quaint, historical and with a fair sprinkling of bed and breakfasts invariably has at least three vendors selling fudge and Tasmania firmly adheres to this ‘They’re here to have fun…and fudge’ rule.

The most common fudge is made by the House of Anvers, located on the Bass Highway at Latrobe in a rather nice white bungalow.  Now, unlike Cadbury, Anvers do not charge an entry fee and you get to see inside their factory, enjoy some samples of their truffles and fudge flavours and buy some at cheaper prices found anywhere else. 

I’ll admit to not actually craving fudge at any stage in my normal life.  If it’s offered to me I’ll take it but it doesn’t rule my mind, fantasies, taste buds and exercise regime the way chocolate does.  That said, I bought the Orange and the Mocha Walnut fudges to take home (or, in our case, a cabin at Strahan) to try.

Belgian owner and founder of the confectionery company, Igor Van Gerwen, wasn’t there when we visited, so I’m not sure if the chocolate (64% and 35% cocoa solids respectively) is Callebaut or not.

As for Igor himself, the website tells us that he established Anders in Tassie in 1989, having progressed on from the intriguingly-named ‘Institute of  Foodstuffs’ in Antwerp.  He ‘has found the Tasmanian cream and butter to be the richest in flavour of any in the world, ideally suited for truffles and fudge. He believes the reason for this is that the pastures in Tasmania’s pure environment stay green almost all year round, eliminating the need to feed the dairy cows on grains.’  Gosh, that seems pretty specific.

After removing the fudge from its flaccid packet, cutting it up for sharing with Love Chunks and Sapphire (there’s no hiding chocolatey goodies when you’re sharing a small space on holidays) and reading the list of ingredients, I started to realise that Igor might be on to something.  Both fudges have chocolate as their first ingredient followed by cream and butter.  I didn’t dare read the nutritional information.

The orange fudge uses milk chocolate on the outside and white chocolate inside with noticeable (and nice) pieces of glace orange for additional flavour.  The white chocolate blends in ideally with the ultra-sweet cream and butter-rich fudge and two pieces (totalling 30 grams) are enough. 

The mocha walnut consists of dark chocolate on the outside and the milk chocolate inside combines well with walnut, coffee and vanilla.  The walnut flavour is the first to emerge, biting through a sort of ‘mud cake’ texture before the subtle tones of coffee are evident.  Again, two pieces were enough.

Fudge fans will love these and Anvers have many more flavours to choose from.  Prices vary from $4 for the standard 85 gram slab to $6.95 at tourist-oriented gift shops.  Whichever one you select, make sure you enjoy it with a cup of tea because these babies are saliva-suckingly sweet.