Morinaga Carre de Chocolat Praline

Back when David Letterman was on NBC hosting their "Late Night" show, one of his regular guests was fitness freak show Richard Simmons. One of the things that Dave and Richard used to do was play out a little gag where Dave was mean to Richard. Mr. Simmons then would act wounded and the audience would feel sorry for him. At that time, I wondered why Richard Simmons subjected himself to Letterman's mean-spirited ribbing, but now I know that it was all an act on both of their parts.

Back in those days, Dave had a lot of "repeater" guests who came along when he couldn't book a bigger ticket interviewee. Tony Randall was his "fill-in" guy when someone bigger canceled. Richard Simmons seemed to be the empty slot fellow. Both of these men appeared on the show quite a lot back in those days because Dave wasn't nearly the icon he is now and the 12:30 talk show slot was more of a dead zone than it is now.

Why am I talking about all of this on a Japanese snack blog? Well, I wanted to offer some background for my readers when I say that the first time I ever heard of a praline was from Richard Simmons. I want you to understand that I was a cool college kid watching David Letterman back when he was edgy and unpredictable, not some bouffant-wearing chubby housewife with a penchant for "Sweatin' to the Oldies." Simmons was telling Letterman a story and said that before he became a fitness guru, he sold pralines in Louisiana. (Jokes aside, I think Simmons has actually helped a lot of people, but his public persona is undeniably goofy.)


At that time, I didn't know what a praline was. Though Richard Simmons explained it, I didn't visualize it well. These days, I'm a bit more familiar with it, though you don't see them often in Japan. This chocolate by Morinaga is made in what I presume to be a more European way than an American one. That is, ground up sugared nuts are used as a component in a smooth result rather than the nuts being visible.

I picked up this 40 gram (1.4 oz.) box at Okashi no Machioka for a mere 69 yen (75 cents). It was discounted and the regular price is closer to about 100 yen ($1.10). It contains 8 flat little discs that are individually wrapped in gold foil. Each is about 3 cm (1.2 in.) square and contains 28 calories. The ingredients include hazelnut and almond paste.

You can't really taste the nuts as individual components, but they mix together with the chocolate to create a rich, complex chocolate flavor which is smooth and sublime. If you've had Nutella, this is akin to that lovely hazelnut paste in flavor. It's super smooth, and melts nicely on your tongue if you hold it in your mouth for awhile. Though these smell like any other Japanese chocolate, the taste is much better. Notably, it lacks that somewhat bittersweet element and the coffee-like aftertaste that comes with mainstream Japanese chocolate bars.

These are a little on the sweeter side, but there's a good balance overall as long as you don't eat too many at once to get a build-up. Personally, I recommend eating two at a time, slowly, and savoring every moment it's on your tongue.

Airs Felicio Praline Cream

"Airs" brand chocolates by Lotte have been around for awhile and I've largely ignored them. Part of the reason for this is that they tend not to be sold in flavors that I favor and perhaps the other part is that paying for chocolate with air intentionally introduced into it is less attractive than paying the same price for chocolate which is solid. The one type I did try in the past was some weird Chinese fruit pudding concoction. The texture was odd and the flavor very strange. That particular variety was a "regular" type. The "Felicio" variety, which is just a few letters away from being a hilarious "Engrish" name for a product, is a premium version. It not only comes in a fancy box which is almost impossible to photograph well because of the shiny, highly reflective areas, but cost 58 yen (about 55 cents) more than the mundane variety.


The concept of the "Airs" chocolate is the same for all variations. A "cup" of aerated chocolate is filled with some sort of flavored filling then a little more chocolate is poured on top of the flavoring to complete it. This makes the chocolates look and feel cheap when you compare them to some of the better-looking molded chocolates. Because the chocolate is full of air pockets, the candies are very light and probably a little lower calorie than a dense chocolate of the same size. Each piece of this was 23 calories.


These chocolates are full of praline, which is to say hazelnut and almond paste. They smell sweetly of chocolate and have an intense chocolate flavor. Mainly, you can taste the chocolate shell when you bite into this at first. It takes a second bit to reveal the flavor of the filling to a mild extent. This is rather disappointing as I love praline and I feel that the chocolate flavor, which is actually very good, overwhelms the taste of the filling. There are 2 ways in which you can get a really good sense of the center's flavor. One is to hold the candy in your mouth long enough to melt off the exterior coating and leave only the center blob to be tasted largely by itself. Since there is a good amount of cocoa butter in this, letting them melt in your mouth is a decadent experience. The second is to keep eating more of the candy until your taste buds start to lose their sensitivity to the taste of the chocolate shell. This happened around three chocolates for me, but it also started to reveal a subtle aftertaste in the candy which I uniquely associate with Lotte's Airs brand.

Despite the subdued nature of the praline filling, I liked these a lot. The flavor is really deep and rich. There are 12 candies in each box and they cost 158 yen (about $1.50). This makes them somewhat expensive, but if you're a fan of praline, I'd certainly recommend picking them up at least once and giving them a try.