Chocolate

I just learned that one of my friends is allergic to chocolate... Woww... allergy to chocolate.. how do you live with that? I would be depressed if I am not able to eat chocolate... I cant imagine my life without chocolate... it is my inspiration, it is my joy, it is my hope, it is my antidepressant and it is also my way of indulging myself in good things in life...

Yup that is true, I often indulge myself in chocolate.... take me to a confectionery  and in-spite of all beautiful pieces of art, I am most likely to set my eyes on chocolate cake or pastry... in an Italian cafe, my drink of choice was always a hot chocolate, I can still smell and feel that thick creamy hot chocolate I used to get in Padova... compare it to boring chocomel in the Netherlands... how many times I have repented having ordered hot chocolate in the Netherlands... as a friend once reminded me... 'I am inviting a disaster for myself... Netherlands and chocolate do not go together'...... I have treated myself almost every alternate day with Belgian chocolate for three months when I lived in Leuven... I did not put on any weight because chocolate was the only thing that I was eating in those days... hoping that it would give me a serotonin boost... and what about those Churos in the open air market in Amsterdam with thick chocolate sauce on top of it... I have burnt my tongue many times just by being impatient... Winters in Amsterdam were special because Nuria used to make hot chocolate for me, thick and dark with a generous amount of cinnamon.... and how can I forget Mike and his amazing brownies... I have hogged them in each new year party that he threw...one of my favourite things to eat is fresh strawberries dipped in hot chocolate sauce... I actually had tears rolling down my face when I ate it for the first time... the tastes, the textures, the aromas and the way it made me feel... it was a life altering moment... on my graduation in Italy 2 years ago, Leen, a girlfriend in Leuven sent a box of Belgian chocolate with a postcard of a woman with the title 'Death by chocolate'.. I seriously die with chocolate and die with a big smile on my face.. that card always makes me smile... when Margreet baked a birthday cake for me, it was a two layered chocolate cake rich in dark chocolate... it was just amazing.. and the fun part was I could witness its process of making.. and I could eat as much I wanted to...... Only thing with chocolate that did not work well for me was a body lotion with strong chocolate fragrance to it.... it almost drove me nuts.. as every time I smelled myself.. I had urgent desire to binge on a chocolate....

The city where I grew up, is famous for its 'Dairy Milk' chocolate production plant... as a child, I remember going for walk around that area with my father at times when there will be definite tinge of chocolate in the air.. I used to sniff that air as much as I could just to absorb the chocolate in particle form...Fortunately our parents never stopped us from eating chocolate.. only condition was that we had to brush teeth... so  Cadbury's dairy milk, five-star, Kit-Kat, Eclairs.. I grew up with these... the problem was each chocolate had to be shared with everyone around me and I hated it.. for example a medium size bar of 'Cadury's dairy milk had 8 pieces in it, and if I had to share it equally, I got only 2 small pieces.. and they would just be gone... in no time. But that is all we could afford... I distinctly remember, the first time when I bought myself... the same bar of dairy milk... while in medical school... I was determined to eat it all by myself... I started opening the bar with racing heart...  I had tears as I bit into the bar... it was all mine, I did not have to share it with anyone.. but few more bites and I could not eat it any more.. It just did not feel the same... and then I realized it was as much about the tradition of sharing it as it was about its taste...

Entry of dark chocolate in my life is much recent, 2006 to be precise.. I was studying in Bangladesh.. One of our teachers was travelling to Europe and he asked us what we would like him to bring back for us.. I did not know how serious was the question but I screamed at top of my voice.. 'chocolate...' He came back with a box of 'Lindt's thin slabs with 70% Cacao exclusively for me... I still have the empty box at home.. I had never tasted chocolate like that.. it was bitter, it was different.. but it was nice and in no time I got hooked on to dark chocolate.. by then even in India, they started producing so called dark chocolate but it was far from real dark chocolate.. over last few years, I am seriously flirting with chocolate.. chocolate with chillies, chocolate with orange, different pralines and truffles, chocolate with liquors.. I have been game to try it all...I also learned over time what I like and what I don't when it comes to chocolate... I don't like milk chocolate that much.. but I definitely don't like nuts in my chocolate.. for me chocolate has to be smooth, no crunchy things in it.. it just has to melt in mouth... and not need some nut cracking...

and as life would have it, now I live in Switzerland, the chocolate land... I can indulge in the best of chocolates as much as I want... chocolate is all around me and I am on a serious chocolate tasting drive while I am here.. I read a lot about chocolate production in Switzerland... and I eat a lot of chocolate... I may not have fresh vegetables in my refrigerator all the time but I definitely have some sort of chocolate or the other in my kitchen... My friends in Switzerland are fuelling this passion of mine each day... recommending different chocolates, sharing their personal favourites and sometimes just bringing the chocolate extravaganza straight into my life... within the first month of my stay in Switzerland, I was ceremoniously introduced to fabulous Sprüngli chocolates, truffles and Luxumburgerli...., another Swiss celebrity was kind enough to share a few special chocolate miracles from his box of Vollenweider chocolate, I proudly retain the empty box of that chocolate now.. and someday will definitely indulge more of those.. even their website is killing.. with all that chocolate art..check it out (http://www.vollenweiderchocolatier.ch/).  I am experimenting with a variety of Lindt..  at the moment, I am eating a lot of their Lindors.. these are my favourites for the season.. I have bought these in loads as presents for my friends outside Switzerland... and soon I will have bags full of Swiss chocolate as I fly home to India... while studying chocolate industry in Switzerland, I recently learned that Cailler is the only Swiss chocolate which uses real milk while making their milk chocolate, all others use condensed powdered milk instead... on a locally conducted study of blind tasting of swiss chocolates by both Swiss and Expatriates, it was Cailler that made it to the top.... interesting, I thought.. so for the days ahead, I have set my eyes on tasting Cailler... the good news with Cailler is that they also have guided tours of their chocolate production plant.. I guess I will go insane if I go there now.. I just need to eat some more chocolate, get bored with it a bit and then I will go and visit the production plant...

As I am raving about chocolate while writing this post, I have eaten 'P' of dark chocolate... something that I got from Sinterklaas... I am so glad, I am not allergic to chocolate.. otherwise my life would have been sad and boring.... who knows I might dream of chocolate tonight.. provided I manage to sleep.. as craving for chocolate is quite capable of keeping me awake... all night through...

signing off for the moment from chocolate wonderland.... but don't forget to tell me about your favourite chocolate... and why is it your favourite...enjoy the chocolate... and I will do the same...