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Hungry for a novel chocolate flavour – as tends to happen often with me – I went to a local chocolatier to look for something that would appease my curious tastebuds.After scanning the usual nougat truffles and dark chocolate selections, my eyes landed on a “Pure Origin Chocolate – From Around the World” display located on the corner of the counter. |
And thus began a memorable and truly unique adventure that suited my tummy just fine.
The collection of premium pure origin chocolate bars featured flavours from eight different countries around the world including Java, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Sao Tome.
I greedily (and immediately) wanted to try them all knowing that buying one by one would not allow me to compare them to my satisfaction.
As always however, with the unfortunate knowledge of my eyes being a hundred times bigger then my stomach and a pathetically empty wallet, I set about actioning my greedy plan through another style of attack.
“Would you consider undertaking a chocolate tasting session?”, I boldly asked the chocolatier. Zig, owner of local chocolate shoppe Daskelides (Westfield Mall at Bondi Junction), was passionate about sharing his knowledge about premium chocolate and therefore agreed to give it a try.
We arranged a reasonable price of $20 per person for tasting samples of each chocolate flavour plus one full sized bar of chocolate to take home and of course the chocolatier’s time.
On the evening of the tasting session itself, to complement the chocolate and clean the palate, I made sure lots of fruit (strawberries, bananas, pineapple), water and red wine would be available.
Zig started the session, which easily amassed 15 friends, with a secret chocolate taste test… to which he later divulge that it was non premium chocolate and that it would only get better from here.
Country after country, flavour after flavour, Zig offered the sweet samples around, each with a detailed review of the country’s chocolate culture and quality standards. His information was fascination and we learnt all about where the top quality chocolate generally comes (Ecuador, Venezuela) and where the mass manufacturers like Lindt get their chocolate from (Africa usually).
It was pure heaven.
And of course, the *free* chocolate bar to take home was simply the icing on the cake.
We all gave our sweet tooth a good run for its money that evening and all woke up with mild chocolate headaches the next day. (And all agreed that it was completely worth it, of course).
I can’t believe chocolate tasting hasn’t picked up as a popular social trend yet. Well, just keep an eye out for it… I’m sure it’s bound to happen very soon !