Chocolate

I was halfway through Mort Rosenblum's Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light when I told BF we should go shopping for some chocolate. "But it's 7 in the morning," he whined from beneath the covers. "Fine," I replied. "But that's our agenda for today."

My taste has gone from milk to dark to milk again. As kids, my sibs and I were lucky enough to fly to Europe every other year where, for two months, we'd tour and eat our way through two or three countries at a time. While I don't remember all the places we've visited, I do remember that we always had *really good chocolate.* It made me think of the little stores in Paris, or Geneva, or Madrid, or Brussels, where all we had to do was point out what we wanted to the ladies behind the counter and moments later we'd have a little bag of treats to keep us satisfied until the next day. ("You three were always so picky," my mother sighed. "The quality was always good, but sometimes I wish you just ate Smarties or Cadbury's.") Yet our childish lust for chocolate could swing from La Maison du Chocolat and Fauchon to Perugina Baci and even KitKat. And so it is today when I drive up to Comparte's in Brentwood for gelato, Leonidas in Santa Monica for truffles, or Teuscher in Newport Beach. I could just as easily pick up bars of Villars Swiss milk chocolate or Valrhona 65% Dark at Trader Joe's, Vosges and Milka at the nearby imported goods store..

Aside from the history of chocolate, Mr. Rosenblum touched on the side seldom seen by the public: the violence and corruption in those areas where one of the world's most favorite foods are grown. Hershey, Cadbury, Nestlé, and others were mentioned as "industrial chocolates" as opposed to fine chocolate giants such as Barry Callebaut and Valrhona. Then there are the smallest and the finest, the handmade chocolates that should be eaten the moment they're made. One such company, Amedei, gave Valrhona a run for their money with their chocolate. It turns out that Amedei and Valrhona sourced their chocolate (In the case of Valrhona, part source only) in Chuao, Venezuela. That a little company could push the buttons of a giant, and get away with it, only made me more curious.

I have to admit that there aren't a great many specialty shops in the middle of suburbia (albeit beach suburbia), and the first place I thought of was Whole Paycheck. You know who I mean. It doesn't have the most extensive chocolate selection around, but what they had should get me through the next couple of weeks, or is it days?

Clockwise from the center it's Green & Black's Organic Milk Chocolate (34% cocoa content--creamy but a bit sweet); Lake Champlain Chocolates' Dark Spicy Aztec (55% cocoa content--nice aftertaste); Scharffen Berger's Semisweet Dark Chocolate (62% cacao content--mellow dark, not too sweet); Endangered Species Chocolate Milk Chocolate with Rice Crisp (52% cocoa content, plus a good cause, plus rice crispies); and finally, a chunk of Chuao Bark Dark Chocolate with Hazelnuts and Cherries. Finding that was a pleasant surprise, and the lady at the counter gave me a broad smile when I scooped up one of the chunks. "You'll definitely come back for more of that," she said.

Would you like to share some chocolate favorites with me?

Food Blogworthy:
◊ I'm not familiar with the website Cooking with Color, but the chocolates they review in this post are some of the ones Mr. Rosenblum mentioned in his book. Should you be so lucky as to visit Paris, you'll find most of those chocolatiers there.
◊ David Leibovitz, former Chez Panisse pastry chef, blogs about life (and cooking) in Paris.

Photo Blogworthy:
◊ Construction of the World's Highest Bridge in France's Tarn Valley. Interestingly enough, there's world-class climbing and an annual climbing festival sponsored by Petzl there. You bet we're going.
◊ Incredible pictures of the Sumela Monastery, which was built into a cliff.
◊ Giant Frozen Waves. Scroll down. Amazing, eh?
◊ Beautiful images of Iran.
◊ NSFW? or SFW? Kama Sutra poses.
◊ Animal babies. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Baby meerkat!!!