Sweet Confections: Kopinko, Hopjes and Chocolate

Kopinko in SE Asia

A wonderful and intense-flavored coffee drop named Kopinko is made in Indonesia but is available in Thailand as well as Vietnam. We bought as much as we could carry in January ’05. A fellow traveler who had lived in Thailand clued us in.

The deep flavor is not to be believed. A 150-gram bag cost about 70¢ in Vietnam; larger bags were a better value.

SKIP SIEGEL
West Bloomfield, MI

Dutch Hopjes

Although we have found wonderful chocolates in various places in Europe and even at a chocolate factory in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, I became addicted to a coffee-flavored candy on our first trip to Europe in 1960. In the Netherlands, we were introduced to Hopjes, small, sugar-cube-size hard candies made only by Rademaker.

These treats always come individually wrapped in white paper bearing the trademark in black and yellow and including the words “Koffie” and “Holland.” The ingredients also include a bit of cocoa, so although coffee predominates, there is a hint of mocha — delicious!

Originally marketed in tall bright red tins, they are usually found today in tourist shops in flat red cardboard boxes. On several visits to Amsterdam, I found them sold from a bin in bulk at a candy store about a quarter of a mile from the central train station, but that shop was no longer there in the early 1990s. Most recently I have found them on supermarket shelves in various towns around the Netherlands or in Dutch places such as Aruba; the cost was about two or three dollars for a bagful. (In Aruba, there is a supermarket not far from the cruise ship dock on the street “behind” or inland from the main shopping street.)

Back home, I used to buy them at a Dutch souvenir-type shop in the Village Fair in Sausalito, California. It is no longer in business, but they might be in other shops of this type or in international markets of various kinds. I am always on the lookout for a new source of my favorite hard candy.

BETTY PEX
Belmont, CA

Baci from Italy

My favorite chocolate with hazelnuts is Baci made by Perugina. It is available everywhere, but the bargain place to buy it is at the grocery stores in Italy. Standa is the name of one of the chain stores.

Marsha Caplan wrote about the type of chocolate called “salami” with hazelnuts (May ’06, pg. 54). I have seen something similar at Whole Foods (formerly Fresh Fields) stores here in Maryland.

Another wonderful candy, Mozart, is all over Vienna and Salzburg. Individually wrapped pieces each have a picture of the composer on the wrapper.

BARBARA STROUD
Silver Spring, MD

Chocolate in Ireland

On a trip to Ireland in May ’03, a friend and I happened upon, and fell in love with, the Skelligs Chocolate Co. (The Glen, Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry, Ireland; phone + 353 66 9479119 or visit www.skelligschocolate.com).

Lovingly founded by Michael and Amanda McGabhann, the factory is based at the tip of the Iveragh Peninsula, in the spectacularly breathtaking and secluded St. Finan’s Bay, southwest Kerry, Ireland. It lies only minutes from the water’s edge and has a direct view of the Skelligs (two small islands, 10 miles out to sea).

Modern technology has made it possible to operate the business from a very rural area, and the company is an important part of the local community.

We watched the workers dip the chocolates and wrap them by hand. They invited us to sample, which we did with delight, and of course we bought several packages as “gifts” (not forgetting to gift ourselves!). My favorite was a caramel-centered chocolate, but apparently they are famous for their champagne truffle. They also have beautiful hand-painted boxes.

VICKI SCHELL
Pensacola, FL