Toffee vs. Taffy

Judi and Jim brought us some Vern’s toffee from Colorado and it was excellent. The toffee was topped with almonds and had just the right crispiness to know that it was something really special, special enough to bring it to us all the way from Colorado.

Actually, I never tasted toffee before, I never thought I wanted to try it. Chocolate was always my candy of choice.  This photo shows Vern’s toffee, as it looked when we received it.

Taffy is different. We always had taffy of all different colors and flavors, wrapped up in little papers you pull to twist apart. Salt-water taffy was popular in Michigan, it was cheap and easy to eat.

When we received Vern’s toffee, David thought it was taffy and he said he never liked taffy, it got stuck in his teeth. “What’s the difference”, he asked.

Well, you pull taffy and toffee has nuts in it, right?  No, taffy is chewy and toffee is crunchy.  Taffy comes in round, squarish cubes and toffee comes in a sheet, like a flat block. Any other differences? How about taste? Which is easier to make? After all this discussion, I decided to make each kind of candy and decide for myself.

This is the toffee recipe I used for Chocolate Almond Toffee:

2 cups butter (1 pound)
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup sliced almonds

Cover a large cookie sheet with foil or a Silpat baking mat.  Cook butter, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan until it reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Pour onto the baking sheet and top with 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips.  When the chips melt, spread chocolate and pat on sliced almonds with a plastic bag over your hand. Cool completely and break into small serving pieces. Store in an airtight container.

My toffee was really good, maybe even as good as Vern’s, especially since I topped it with chocolate. The next time I make it, I’ll spread it out a little thinner.

This is a photo of my Chocolate Almond Toffee ready for gift giving.  When my sweet tooth returns again, I’ll make some taffy and tell you how I did it. Enjoy the toffee!

Finally, a Saucier

As a self-proclaimed “gourmet cook”, wouldn’t you think I’d have a saucier?  Every “gourmet cook” has a fine collection of cooking utensils, kitchen equipment and serving items, but this one totally escaped me.   I’m hosting a “Guest Chef” series in my kitchen and one chef asked for this utensil to use in her class. Oh, no, I jumped on Google and got immediately educated into the style and art of cooking using a saucier, a cooking utensil that no French kitchen would be without.

On the Merriam Dictionary site, I read that Saucier is a town of about 1,300 folks in Mississippi, that out of 100 million people, 4,000 have the last name of Saucier, that the word “saucier” is used 20 time a day at Amazon.com and that ” saucier” rhymes with “glossier”.  However, the saucier I was looking for is last definition of the word, “a collectible specialty cooking piece with rounded sides that allow for easy, more efficient whisking”.  This was it, I just had to have a saucier.

Prices for a saucier on the internet run from Farberware $19.99 to AllClad $115.00o to LeCruset in 8 colors for $159.95, but to get one sent to Panama just didn’t seem necessary, I was sure that I could find one here.

The quest to find a saucier began in Boquete.  Since I never knew a saucier existed, it’s possible that our local department store La Reina would have one.  But no, their pots and pans came only in sets and none included a saucier.  The next step was to drive 45 minutes south to David, the capitol city of Chiriqui Province.  The drive went quickly and soon I was searching my favorite kitchen store, Mundial Rawsa, located on the main street leading into downtown David.

The owner, Ms. Tedman, showed me 10 different styles of pots and pans, she seemed to know what I wanted but couldn’t interest me in anything similar.  It had to be a saucier, nothing else would do.  I did find a real Wilton candy thermometer there, a real important find for a “gourmet cook” who doesn’t have a candy thermometer.

My last resort was ERA, Panama’s only commercial kitchen supply store west of Panama City.  Yes, they had a 1 quart, 18-10 stainless steel, “professional” saucier, as pictured here.  The price was $41.00; it gleams, it has a thick bottom and it just feels good.  Keep checking TBG for some good-tasting recipes I make in my new saucier.