Chocolate Stash

Did I mention I like dark chocolate?

This is just part of my stash. Too bad chocolate doesn't keep like wine does. Maybe I need to buy one of those cryogenic freezers to store my chocolate. Then I can serious start to justifying 'collecting' chocolate. I'd buy those Valrhona Grand Cru and Michel Cluizel bars, divide them into 5 or 10 gram pieces, wrap them, and store them in the cryogenic freezer.

Maybe they will start producing 'vintage' chocolate -- single plantation chocolates are all the rage now, so why not label them with the year of the harvest?

Maybe I'm crazy, but I do like dark chocolate.



Pete bought this in Italy on one of his many business trips last year. I finally opened it. We don't have a well developed vocabulary for describing chocolate like we do for wine, but I'll give it a try. This chocolate is intense, a good balance of sweet and rich chocolate flavour. It's very smooth.

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Last week, I finally had the Dagoba Xocolatl bar. The name, borrowed from the Aztec's word for the beverage made with cacao beans and water, and from where we get the word chocolate is appropriate. Besides the addition of cacao nibs, the most important addition to this bar is the chilis, which hint how chocolate might have tasted when it was first served with spices when brought to the New World.

This chocolate makes me feel happy -- it's like a rush that goes right to the very crown of your head.



Finally, Lindt's entries into the single source chocolate scene. Of all three, the Madagascar is my favourite. It's the smoothest, smoother than the Cuba, which is labled "fine", and much more flavourful than the "mild" label would have you believe. The Ecuador 75%, is good, but just a little too strong to enjoy on its own for general eating. (If you like it though, maybe you want to try some 99.3% I have.)