Chocolate

The world is in love with chocolate. Its a simple bean, ground, and mixed with some things, (for the pure of heart) some more, for the more adventurous. It was this love that I was chasing down, as I drove for nearly an hour to get to a warehouse filled with stalls of chocolate. Thirty thousand square feet of space and about 40 stalls of chocolate vendors. Many people would describe this as heaven.


The place itself was huge, and geeks that we were, we looked around and noticed how it would be an interesting place to detect location, especially with the crowd moving around as it did. (Never mind, don't try, you may not get it). A slow amble around the place, was soon replaced by a quick determination. We were on a mission. There was chocolate in the room, and we were here to taste it all.

There were Belgian chocolates, Swiss chocolates, truffles, caramels, fruity ones, and nutty ones. Some were pure, some were baked, some were roasted, some were powdered. There were flakes, and there were chunks. And there was a crowd trying to get at it all.

I had never come across such a variety, and it was indeed quite fun. Some flavors that still linger on my mind? Well the list isn't that long.

• Orange-mandarin.
• Guava.
• Red Cayenne Pepper.
• Ginger root and ginger oil.

For the more traditional,

• 100% dark cocoa.
• Sage.
• Rosemary.
• Tea.
• Chamomile and Honey.

Even more traditional

• Milk.
• Hazelnut.
• Almond.
• Peanut
• 50%, 70%
  

Swiss chocolate, world renowned as it is, proved itself once more. The cup of hot cocoa that they served has etched itself in my memory, and may prevent me from ordering hot chocolate ever again. There was something in the lingering after taste that my brain cant process, and that puzzles the tongue.

Towards the end, we reached a point, that, and yes, I am ashamed to admit it, we could not get ourselves to have another sample. It was just too much for the system to handle. With that feeling, slightly light headed on cocoa and sugar, we headed out to the ocean.