What are pralines?
In Belgium, pralines is a general term for chocolates (a.k.a. chocolate candies) with centers that are whipped and creamy. Elsewhere, pralines refers to a particular kind of chocolate candy, one with nuts in them. In most of this web page, I’ll use pralines and chocolates interchangably. However, you should probably differentiate between the two when talking to salespeople in the U.S., to avoid confusion. • What’s a ballotin? This is the box a box of pralines comes in. Nice ballotins are deep and have big flaps on them. • What is a chocolatier? I guess it’s someone who makes chocolates. • What distinguishes gourmet pralines from regular chocolates? Taste and price (better and higher). And oh, I guess also nutritional impact (which is bad bad bad). Ah, the benefits of cream and butter; Gregg Easterbrook calls Belgian pralines “depth charges.” • What goes into good chocolate? As a general rule of thumb, good chocolate should have a high percentage of cocoa. Chantal Coady feels 55-75% to
