Where it's easy to keep kosher (if not to your diet)
Rows of candy line the walls at Sweet Satisfaction, the all-kosher candy store on Harvard Street. Twenty-four flavors of jelly beans border a rainbow-colored array of candies shaped like Lego blocks, Swedish Fish, and five different flavors of rock candy on a string. To the right, chocolate cordials (chocolate balls with creamy centers) and candy bars fill the bins and shelves. Owner Emily Stein said her goal in opening the store last April was to have something sweet for everybody -- including herself.
''Who doesn't like chocolate?" said Stein, 45, a Brookline resident. ''I like chocolate. Handmade chocolates and truffles have an elegance to them. I wanted the store to have something for everybody, like hard candy and dipped fruit. Everybody walks in and says it smells so good in here. The beautiful colors of the candies really make it an inviting place."
Sweet Satisfaction is one of only two all-kosher candy stores in Greater Boston, according to the Rabbinical Council of Massachusetts in Boston. The other kosher candy shop, Sweethearts Three, is in Sharon.
Located in the back of the Arcade Building, Sweet Satisfaction specializes in kosher candies, including non-dairy and sugar-free items, 24 flavors of jellybeans, and at least 10 types of truffles. The store also custom-makes gift packages.
The only difference between kosher and non-kosher chocolates, explained Stein, is that the former are produced under rabbinic supervision.
''Everybody can eat it, but they happen to be kosher, so that people who keep kosher can enjoy them as well," she said.
Many national brands -- like Hershey's and Reese's -- already receive kosher certification from the Orthodox Union, one of the major certifiers of kosher products in the United States. She added that new items are always appearing on the market, like kosher truffles made by Chocolate Renaissance in Hudson.
Dvorah Buhr, owner and chocolatier at Chocolate Renaissance, added that for kosher chocolate, it's all about the ingredients. For example, she said that for a recent batch of 1,200 gianduia (hazelnut), orange, and rum truffles, she needed to experiment with different types of kosher creams to find the one that would add the right amount of creaminess and gloss. She said that she also needed to use an acceptable type of fat, so as not to mix dairy and meat.
Stein said a vision of a store filled with six kinds of malt balls came to her during a 2002 visit to New York. She recalled stepping into a kosher candy store in Brooklyn and realizing what was missing from Brookline.
''We are a large Jewish community," said Stein. ''We don't need to fly chocolate in from outside places. I wanted to start my own business. It's more the old-fashioned neighborhood store. It's like a throwback with rows and rows of apothecary jars." Sugar-free candy is also for sale.
''In Brookline, a lot of people are on more South Beach diets and not allowed refined sugar; a lot of elderly people watch their sugar intake because of diabetes. The sugar-free ones are some of my best items," she said, laughing.
Customers agree. Mimi Cerier of Newton, came into the store to find candy for her grandchildren who are allergic to nuts and dairy products. She customized six bags filled with rock candy and other sweets for them.
Cerier asked to taste the sour gummy worms and red licorice Scottie dogs. ''There is no difference" from non-kosher candies said Cerier. ''It does very well."
Her part-time employees, sons Natan, 13, and 
