{"id":305,"date":"2006-04-21T10:13:38","date_gmt":"2006-04-21T17:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nerdseyeview.com\/blog\/?p=305"},"modified":"2014-01-05T13:17:09","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T21:17:09","slug":"mozart-and-the-chocolate-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nerdseyeview.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/21\/mozart-and-the-chocolate-factory\/","title":{"rendered":"Mozart and the Chocolate Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in January when we went to visit our friends in Germany, we asked them what we should bring from Austria. The answer? Mozartkugeln. Mozartkugeln (literally, Mozart Balls<\/a>\"\") are an Austrian national treat, a chocolate covered bomb of nougat, marzipan, and in most cases, pistachio marzipan too. They’re delish.<\/p>\n

Here’s the deal, though. We weren’t sure what kind to buy. At the time, we were aware of five documentable varieties. We bought four and off we went to Germany. We ran some taste tests and each came to our own conclusion. Meanwhile, I was doing research to find out which, exactly was the right Mozartkugeln.<\/p>\n

I was fairly satisfied with my results until today when, wandering the Salzburg old city, we went right past the Konditorei Holzermayr<\/a>. There in the window, wrapped in silver and blue, sat an untried version.<\/p>\n

This was annoying. I thought I had it sussed. I had eaten Mozartkugeln from, in ascending order of preference, Reber, Victor Schmidt, a generic store brand, Mirabell, and finally, my favorites, the ones from Konditorei Furst<\/a>. The Furst Mozartkugeln kicked some serious butt, being a true handmade truffle that melts in your mouth. (And the car, if you leave them there.) All the others were production chocolates, though I do like the Mirabell Mozartkugeln<\/a> quite a lot.<\/p>\n

We bought a bag of six Mozartkugeln from the Holzermayr and stopped in at the Reber<\/a> shop too, because husband likes those best. I will not quibble with his taste, it is preferable to have a spouse that does not like the chocolates I prefer. Back at home I looked up Holzermayr on the web, of course, and learned that they started making Mozartkugeln back in 1890 and then later, in 1913, they were sold commercially.<\/p>\n

\"Ubi<\/p>\n

Husband in the Reber store, dressed to match the product<\/em><\/p>\n

Furst has been making Mozartkugeln since 1905 and, unlike Holzermayr, Furst still makes theirs by hand. The Furst Mozartkugeln is dark chocolate, the Holzermayr uses milk chocolate. Norbert Furst, the current proprietor, sued Reber over the use of the brand \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Original Mozartkugel — and won — now everyone else says their balls are genuine or real or anything but <\/em>original. Only Furst has original balls.<\/p>\n

If you’re in Salzburg and want to get your balls at the source, go to the Furst. Their balls don’t travel well, but they are superior in all other ways. Next up, Mirabell, and those travel just fine. Mirabell makes vast quantities of production chocolate, though you cannot visit the factory to see them make their balls, I asked. After that, it’s up to you. I didn’t care for the balls from Reber or the Holzermayr, they taste too strongly of bitter almond and I think they cut their marzipan with coconut.<\/p>\n

The ratings haven’t changed, nor has my advice. If you want the best Mozart Balls, head to Salzburg where Mozart was born and get them at the source. I’m still satisfied with the results of my survey, however, I worry. What if there are others out there that I haven’t tried?<\/p>\n