Amedei Porcelana, a dark chocolate made by the

Amedei Amedei is an artisan chocolate manufacturing company located in Pontedera in the Tuscany region of Italy, considered to be one of the finest chocolate producers in the world. Their products range from chocolate bars to truffles and pralines. The ...

chocolatier of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, was called the world's most expensive

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

.
''New York Times'' December 3, 2003
Food of the Gods: Amedei Chocolates from Tuscany
Good Times
CNN: Chocolate
World’s Most Expensive Ice Cream — Golden Opulence Sundae It has won various awards from the "Academy of Chocolate", including "Best bean to bar", "Best Dark Chocolate Bar",
Academy of Chocolate Awards 2008 and the "Golden Bean award."

Manufacture

Amedei Porcelana is made from translucent, white

cocoa bean The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances ...

s of a variety now called "Porcelana" due to its

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

-like color. This cocoa bean, a

genetically Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working in ...

pure strain of the highly-prized

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

, is native to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and may have been grown there in the

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the Migration to the New World, original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, w ...

.
Fine Dark Chocolate 2008
''New York Times'' December 19, 2004 Porcelana cocoa was called "

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

" in

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

, since it was primarily exported from that Venezuelan port community. Along with a few other

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n cocoas beans, Maracaibo cocoa was classified as one of the world's highest quality cocoas until the 1920s. Today, many of these Mexican and Colombian cocoas have disappeared and have been replaced by more disease-resistant

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

s. Maracaibo, or Porcelana cocoa is grown on small

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s in Venezuela. Amedei produces about 20,000 bars a year from this cocoa bean.

Packaging

Amedei Porcelana is sold in individually-numbered packages that have been called "the reference standard for the industry on how to package a chocolate bar."

Price

A 1.8 oz bar sells in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for $19-$22. The often-quoted price of this chocolate is $90 a pound. Amedei Porcelana has often been called the world's most expensive chocolate

Golden Opulence Sundae and Golden Phoenix Cupcake

Porcelana is included in the

Golden Opulence Sundae The Golden Opulence Sundae is a sundae that is served by special order at the New York City restaurant Serendipity 3. In 2007 it was listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the most expensive sundae in the world at a price of US1,000. The restauran ...

, a $1,000 dessert sold at the

Serendipity 3 Serendipity 3, often written Serendipity III, is a restaurant located at 225 East 60th Street, between Second and Third avenues in New York City, founded by Calvin L Holt Patch Caradine and Stephen Bruce in 1954. It also served as a boutique that ...

restaurant in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and mentioned in the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

''. Porcelana is also used in making the most expensive cupcake, the Golden Phoenix, which is made by Bloomsbury's, a boutique cafe in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Brand name chocolate Italian brands Italian chocolate