Chocolate

As the day of love approaches I thought I would take time to admire one of the best foods on planet earth. The reason that I thought of posting about chocolate was because of Valentines day but also because of the Bon Appetit article on chocolate. I'd say that my snobbishness with chocolate began after returning home from studying abroad in London. Suddenly Hershey seemed so...watery. And bless my lucky stars that I had managed to smuggle in two large Cadbury bars from the UK.
 When I say large, I mean, well really embarrassingly large. Every night my mom and I would break off one or two squares and eat them as we cleaned up after dinner. Then came the evening that I opened the cupboard and our remaining 6 squares had disappeared. Suddenly I turned green, grew 10 feet and turned in the Incredible Hulk. Stomping through the house, leaving my mom in the kitchen I yelled 'WHO TOOK THE CHOCOLATE!?' My dad sitting at the computer, turns and said 'Oh I thought you were done with that, I threw it out.'

We have not spoken since.

Since I have dismissed Hershey's from my life I have been able to taste other wonderful chocolates. Some good staples that are dense and creamy and filled with fun surprises are always Godiva Chocolates. What I love about Godive are their very informative cards and descriptors included in each box so you know exactly what you are eating. Nothing annoys me more then wasting calories on a chocolate filled with orange liqueur or rose petals. Ok maybe not rose petals, but you get the idea. Another one that is tasty once in a while are Lindt chocolates. And of course a little Ghirardelli never hurt anyone either.

Two chocolate brands that provide delicious bars of chocolate are Scharffen Berger and Dagoba. While at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco this year I stocked up on Scharffenberger to bring back for co-workers. One thing I really like about them is the packaging. Clean, crisp, and clear on what you are about to eat. My favorite was the salted chocolate with almonds (which I hoarded in my desk and did not share.) For Dagoba I tried for the second year in a row their lavender blueberry chocolate bar which tasted vaguely of potpourri. I gave it to co-workers to test and guess what they thought it was. They commented on the floral taste and subtle fruitiness. We neither loved nor hated it.

When I am not in the mood to have a chocolate truffle or a chocolate bar I reach for the hot chocolate. Last year I received two tins of Jacques Torres hot chocolate, the regular and the spiced flavor. I have yet to achieve the same thickness that the barista produces but soon enough I will get there.

And lastly...
About two months ago the podcast Spilled Milk did a piece on Dark Chocolate which I recommend listening to. Very entertaining. Especially interesting are the words used to described chocolate.