The Chocolate Connoisseur
To the chocolate conniosseur, tasting chocolate is an art.
Like a good red wine, allow the chocolate to come to room temperature of around 20 -25 Celsius, or 68 -76 Fahrenheit. Chocolate should be eaten slowly, in small amounts, for it brings most pleasure when eaten properly.
Plain Chocolate
Place the chocolate in your mouth for a few moments to savour the primary flavours and aroma. Then, as you bite gently, chew it slowly to release the secondary aromas. Let the chocolate rest against your palate and the sides of your mouth to experience the full range of the flavours. Enjoy the lingering taste as the chocolate slowly melts in your mouth. Finally, swallow.
Filled Chocolate
Allow the chocolate to sit in your mouth for a few moments, again to release the primary flavours and aromas. Then chew it gently – at least five times – to mix the chocolate and the filling. Now allow the mixture to melt slowly so that you experience a new range of flavours created by the mingling of the filling and the chocolate. Allow the taste to linger before swallowing.
After a Meal
Chocolate is an ideal way to finish a meal, but don’t combine chocolate and wine. They don’t mix. The lingering intensity of the chocolate will compete with the flavour and aroma of the wine.
Chocolate is truly a food of the gods.
I am amazed that after all these years I finally learn the proper way to appreciate chocolate. Your blog interests me because at 54 it feels like I have been going through menopause forever and I like reading how others deal with it. Thanks for taking the time to comment on my post as soon as I get the entrecard experience under control I’ll be taking more time to enjoy the great blogs that I have been finding.
I agree completely. The finer the chocolate, the more you savor it. Like Chef Keem’s Expresso Sea Salt Caramels. Sloooooooooooooly.
Dark chocolate is my favorite kind of chocolate. Chocolates have some natural antioxidants too.~*,