Today will go down in history as the day of the birth of the greatest chocolate to ever grace the earth.
This morning I at last received my Christmas present from Leela - a trip to learn about chocolates from Miette in Stow-on-the-Wold, who are quite possibly the finest chocolatiers in all the land - nay, in all the world. And as you may be able to tell from the superlatives, I rather enjoyed the occasion.
My gift was a chocolate experience - two hours in the company of the proprietor and master chocolatier, who introduced me and Leela to many samples from around the globe, helped us understand what we were tasting, explained the differences, and described various techniques of turning couverture into chocolates with interesting fillings.
But after trying white, milk and dark chocolates made with beans from across the globe, the highlight had to be selecting one to use for a chocolate of our own invention. I nearly went for Caoba, a 41% milk chocolate from Venezuela, but although delicious on its own, we were advised that its smooth flavour wouldn't stand up so well to any additional flavours, so I went for one with a slightly stronger taste. After mixing it with cream to create a truffle base, and testing various flavour combinations, my creation was complete.
Terry's Chocolate Orange Nut Awesomeness is a hand-rolled truffle made with 43% Costa Rican milk chocolate, Cotteswold organic double cream, essential oil of blood orange and pure macadamia nut butter, topped with drizzles of Icoa 30% white chocolate, made with Venezuelan undeodorized cocoa butter. And it tastes good.
Sadly, the chocolate experience which I enjoyed today has now disappeared from their website, which suggests that I may have been their final experiencee. If that is the case, this is indeed a sad day for Britain - although not for me, because I've already been. And that's all that matters. That, and that on Monday they'll send me a massive box of the greatest chocolate to ever grace the earth.
Best. Present. Ever.
