CHOCKYWOCKY OOOH ERR
by Lea Harris on February 7th 2010
Lunch!
I’m not a great fan of commercial chocolate. Having said that, it is with a heavy heart to see one of our most iconic companies sell out to Kraft. We have all grown up with Cadbury’s purple wrappers and as a child, I would eat copious amounts of their confectionary; the other half still does while I savour, what he calls, ‘clever chocolate’. I have developed a taste for the high cocoa content variety.
Sneaking into the kitchen, quietly opening the cupboard, breaking a piece of dark gold from the bar, I happily let a lone square of single estate chocolate liquefy on my tongue. A guilty pleasure that has become part of my daily routine. There are numerous well-known brands that make some excellent, high cocoa content chocolate, but I’ve specialised; my contraband comes from local artisans. In Scotland, we are fortunate to have several chocolatiers who make some outrageously gorgeous chocolates. Edinburgh boasts two places that use organic ingredients and the presentation of their goods are just stunning.
Try something different
Nipping into the recently opened Chocolate Tree, www.the-chocolate-tree.co.uk for a decidedly fiendishly thick Spanish hot chocolate with a couple of Friederike’s chocolates or a slice of one of her handmade cakes, is sheer bliss in this chilly weather.
She crafts some wonderful moulded delights; Venetian masks, little ginger Buddha’s and filled absinth masks. My guilty pleasure, at the moment, is a bar of her winter spice with a minimum of 55% cocoa. Subtle hints of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, star anise and a faint whiff of cloves is enough make my lips curl into a secret smile.
Edible art!
Across the road is another favourite, Rebecca Knights-Kerswell’s, Coco of Bruntsfield, www.cocochocolate.co.uk When you enter this dinky little shop, the aroma draws you through the door on a cloud. I always find it difficult to choose because the range is so diverse, but the Earl Grey tea and bergamot is sublime as is the award winning, rose and black pepper, both are delectably dark.
If you’re not so keen on the bittersweet, equally delicious is the milk chocolate and I have it on good authority that the lavender is bliss while I’m rather partial to the salt and caramel. The balance between sweet and salt is addictive; this is the only bar that I can’t just have one piece, it has to be two or three and, if the greed mist takes hold, it could very well be the whole bar. Packaging is beautifully sexy and the little paper bags are never thrown out. Rebecca also runs a-hands-on one-day chocolate school where every aspect of chocolate from beans to bar is covered or alternatively go to one of her Chocolate Connoisseur Evenings.
Chunky lumps
If you find yourself in Oban then under no circumstances should you miss The Oban Chocolate Company, www.obanchocolate.co.uk Spitting distance from the ferry terminal, Helen and Stewart MacKechnie’s hedonistic place is a paradise for any chocoholic, with a café, shop and viewing window where you can watch the chocolatiers at work. The views across the bay from the squishy sofas are the perfect antidote for city life along with a tasting plate of half a dozen chocs that I nibbled while sipping a mug of hot chocolate. I was blown away by the strawberry and balsamic offerings, but who would have thought that a marmite ganache surrounded by smooth chocolate, could work? Even the most hardened marmite hater could find a place in their heart for this slightly salty and creamy morsel. The shop is a treat with slabs, bags, boxes and trays of all things chocolaty. Even humble rose and violet creams are enjoying a revival.
Lights! Camera! Chocolate!
If you caught Landward just before Christmas, you may have seen presenter Sarah Mack getting stuck in at Ruth Hinks’ chocolate workshop, Cocoa Black (www.cocoablack.co.uk) in Peebles. I was there too and I had a ball. Ruth’s fun to be with, her classes informative and, in my case, exceedingly messy. When it came to dipping our truffles, everyone elses looked neat and tidy. Mine on the other hand were misshaped, uneven and when lifted from my board, had alien like tendrils spiralling from the central blob! My creations may have made the rest of the class and film crew laugh, but I had more chocolate on mine and despite their rough looks, they tasted great. I’m looking forward to going back to perfect my technique.
Gone but not forgotten
Now I know it isn’t in Scotland, but Brighton is home to the wonderfully named Choccywoccydoodah, www.choccywoccydoodah.com famous for their highly indulgent cakes. I settled in the boudoir at Choccywoccy’s bar au chocolat and ordered lunch. It took me nearly an hour to polish off my piece of cake; think Christmas cake but instead of tooth breaking icing, it’s smothered in chocolate then drizzled with molten chocolate and a dollop of ice cream. To top it off, I was informed that if I didn’t lick my plate clean, I wouldn’t be allowed home. I did as I was told! The clientele who frequent this decadent café are as cosmopolitan as Brighton itself, everyone is made to feel welcome from suits to aging punks, grannies with school kids or in my case, a fading hippy; we are all there for the same reason - to overindulge in some form of chocolate, which we all did with relish!
Did you know…
- Cacao is related to the notorious smelling durian fruit.
- Honeybees don’t like chocolate as the flowers are odourless and the shrub doesn’t produce nectar.
- Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency, a rabbit would cost 10 beans and if you were a slave, you could be sold for a 100.
- If you ate about 22lbs of chocolate, it will kill you.
- You don’t get spots from eating chocolate.
- Flavonoids found in dark chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes, when taken in moderation.
- A glass of red wine provides about 400mg of antioxidants; dark chocolate has 2-4 times as many.