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Sweet Delights
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13973 |
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LIFE
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2 / 1988 |
1,163 Words |
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Adrianne Marcus
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In the back of a closet, a red cardboard heart, long emptied of contents, survives. Its remnants of frills and gaudy satin have long since faded into a dustier color, and one side is battered, having been hastily packed during one move or another. The red rose that graced its lid is a mere memory that disappeared ages ago on a costume for one of the children.
Chocolate has always been dear to me. I still remember the giddy joy of opening my first box--the doily only partially hiding its contents--and the discovery of each gleaming dome. And even today, thousands of chocolate boxes later, a new box is received with the same kind of anticipation. What is inside? What will it taste like?
There is a world of difference in taste--for chocolates have national boundaries. There are Swiss, Belgian, Russian, French, English, Norwegian, and American chocolates, to begin with. Each country's chocolate has a distinctive taste, and every country declares that its chocolate is the best. Even in America we have many chocolate tastes. According to a major chocolate manufacturer's survey, on the West Coast we tend to like lighter, milkier chocolates with fruit and nuts. On the East Coast, bittersweet is the chocolate of choice, with smooth, creamy interiors preferred.
Over thirty thousand miles of worldwide chocolate-related travel has taught me there is no single chocolate that fulfills everyone's desire. This is great, since it means there are still some out there to be discovered. Years ago, when I wrote The Chocolate Bible, few knew where to find fine chocolates. It was such that I would enter a new city and a friend would whisper, "Have you tried? ..." and she would name a new store that I hadn't tried or known about. And so, country by country, I gathered the information (and chocolates) and brought them back with me.
I covered most of Europe, enjoying at least two forays into Switzerland and an absolute glut of chocolate in Belgium; experienced a tiny chocolate frenzy in Japan; and tasted offerings in Russia, South America, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. I can report that each country has something wonderful to offer the chocolate adventurer from as little as three dollars a pound to well over thirty-five dollars a pound. Of course, the more you are willing to spend, the more luxurious the chocolates are likely to be.
Which are best?
One question always arises when people find out that I have tasted chocolates around the world: Which chocolates are the best? This is like asking which of your children do you like the most. It depends on the day and the behavior. Instead of making a one-stop judgment, let me take you on a chocolate tour. This way, wherever you are, the joys of the world's finest (and sometimes most expensive) chocolates can be at hand. And there is no better place to start than in the country that gave the world milk chocolate: Switzerland.
When buying chocolate in Switzerland, you can do no wrong. Whatever chocolates you buy will be great. Most cities have hosts of truffles, and Zurich has Confiserie Honold, where you must save room for at least one or two chocolate-covered walnut creams. In Geneva, my heart belongs to Rohr. His griottes, which are cherries marinated in kirsch then covered in
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