Chocolate + partner = Romance

Did you know that if you googled the word ‘Chocolate’ you get a whopping 141,000,000 hits? Chocolate has been part of our lives for a very long time. In fact the earliest documented use of the cacao bean dates back to 1100BC! There are lots of fact and figures out there about chocolate, and I guess you’d expect that with such a long history, but what we are most interested in is eating it right?! The Cleveland Clinic would even have us believe that there are health benefits in eating this seductively, delectable food group.

Now, I am a long way from being a chocolate expert. I know what I love and I know what I don’t. My husband is a choc-o-holic but only for dark rich chocolate. Me, well I like the dark, 70% cocoa solids too, but I also like a good, and I mean good, milk chocolate. Forgive me if I might offend here, but forget Hersheys, go and treat yourself or your loved one, to something a little more, shall we say, refined, this Valentine’s Day.

There are some well know high street Chocolatiers out there that will we  all be familiar, Godvia, Ghirardelli, Green and Black’s owned by the British company Cadbury (and bought just the other day by US giant Kraft) but also a growing number of businesses that are reaching out to us….and let’s face it, chocolate is still one of the top gifts given on St Valentine’s Day, to widen our taste buds. Let me introduce you to some of may favourites.

Izzybelle chocolate sauce has to be one of the closest to home made chocolate sauces I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. Made only from the finest cream, sugar, butter and chocolate, they say that there are 24 servings in each jar….. (humm that is if you don’t have a husband like mine.) Choose from Original, toffee, chili cinnamon, raspberry, orange, peanut butter or peppermint.

We have used the sauces over ice cream, in coffee and a spoonfull in a home made chili con carne gives rich and fullness to the recipe. If you are looking for more ideas then check out their recipe ideas too.

They are a Colorado company that will supply nationally, but not yet beyond the boarders of continental US. However,  if you are in the US of A you must try them. Seriously. But be warned this is one for the adults !

For those of you not in the US and unable to get your hands on Izzybelle, then you have to check out Chococo. A small husband and wife team located on the beautiful Purbecks in Dorset, UK. Claire and Andy run a small, yet formidable business that has won award after award. You only need take a brief look at their website to see how passionate they are not only about chocolate, but about the world in which we live.

Now here’s the good news, for those of you reading this in the UK, there are no hidden extras, the prices you see include delivery and gift card.

Unfortunately Chococo do NOT send to Spain, Portugal or Italy as they have found by bitter experience that their postal services take too long for the perishable chocolates to handle.

Same goes for the USA, Canada or the rest of the world for the same reason.

But if you have friends and family who like excellent chocolate elsewhere in Europe, then Chococo should be the first people you consider…my favourite was their Honeycombe Heaven and pretty much all their truffles. They are also my firm favourite when Mothering Sunday comes around!

May be you want to create something heavenly delectible for your loved one…. then let me point you in the direction of this book by John Scharffenburger and Robert Steinburger.

In The Essence of Chocolate, 100 mouthwatering recipes await you.

I haven’t had the pleasure of eating some their chocolate but I like their principal. SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Maker was founded with one simple goal: to create the richest, most flavorful chocolate by sourcing the best cacao in the world and using artisan chocolate-making methods. Their words, not mine, but I like it!

And if diamonds are not your gals best friend but chocolate is then may be you should consider this little mouthful of wonder….from Knipschildt

Chocopologie by Knipschildt

Cost: $2,600 per pound*
€2,173
£1,491
Can $2,992
Aus $3,500
Rs114,816
Where: Norwalk, Conn.
Web site: www.knipschildt.com

Knipschildt Chocolatier was founded in 1999 by Fritz Knipschildt, who got his culinary education as a chef in Denmark. The most-expensive chocolate he sells–a $250 dark chocolate truffle with a French black truffle inside–is available on a preorder-only basis. It’s made of 70% Valrhona cacao, which is blended into a creamy ganache with truffle oil. The truffle is then hand-rolled with a dark truffle on the inside and dusted with cocoa powder.

*Conversions are approximate.

A final, final! Celebrating by yourself this year? Then buy yourself a copy of Joanne Harris’s book, ‘Chocolat’, dramatised in the 2000 film staring the beautiful Juliette Binoche and yummy Johnny Depp, open your box of chosen choccies, pour yourself a nice glass of something and curl up and dream away of your one and only, true love.