Barking Mad Choccy!

Oddly enough today is the last day of both National Chocolate Week and of National Curry Week so when better, I ask you, than to write about, ta da ...

I kid you not, I saw this mentioned on Twitter a few days ago and made a comment of some sort – I think I may have said “you buggers!”, and shortly afterwards was offered an opportunity to try a sample. After my happy acceptance I received a message saying ...

"3 flavours of choccy have left the building. Don't worry they are all barking mad but do work, enjoy!"

I was a bit nervous but like the staunch foodie I am gave them my best shot!

With each flavour I put a bit in my mouth (did you guess?), closed my eyes and concentrated on the texture and flavour as per the chocolate tasting instructions given by the Independent Newspaper here.  The only thing I didn't do was try tasting with others as this sort of interesting, exciting food is really not my real man’s sort of thing.  Luckily.

The Results

The chocolate in all three bars is lovely high quality Belgian chocolate and melts smoothly and lusciously in the mouth.

Pina Colada – the most normal of the three

As the chocolate melted I immediately thought "Rum" (mind you I often do!!) which was followed by a pleasant fruity taste, I couldn't quite identify coconut and pineapple (the other pina colada ingredients) but the overall effect was a bit tropical and certainly very pleasant. 

Bubblegum

I’m afraid I don’t like bubblegum and I didn’t really like this but I didn't chicken out. I think that it is pretty true to the taste I remember as a child and if you like bubblegum then maybe this is for you! 

Orange Jalfrezi 

This was gorgeous – honestly!  A very orangey start with a hot spicy curry finish which sounds incongruous and wrong but certainly isn't.  It contains cumin, coriander, paprika, onion, salt, chilli, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, bay leaves, turmeric, garlic, ginger and black pepper no less and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

These surprising chocolate are made by Choc Amor award winning chocolatiers with tea rooms, The Chocolate Rooms, at Tarleton in Lancashire. They also have a shop at Botany Bay and luckily it’s the Botany Bay in Chorley just off the M61 rather than the Australian version.  I don’t have a list of their flavours but have read that they include things as chilli & lime, peanut butter, banoffee pie, salt liquorice & lemon meringue.  All very good ideas but nothing to rival the lovely Orange Jalfrezi Chocolate

By the way ... Two for the Price of None!

"219 Cooking Tips& Techniques you might find useful!" 

(Especially as it’s Free)

plus link to “Easy Ways to Pimp your Food” which is also free!

Marmite's Very Peculiar Chocolate and 2 others

So sorry I haven’t posted for a while; my real man and I have been romantically sharing a bout of ‘flu.  Sadly the experience was somewhat marred for me by some very scary chocolate lurking on my bedside cabinet and looking at me  …

Marmite Very Peculiar Chocolate

As the many hundreds of avid readers of this blog may remember I have been looking for this very peculiar chocolate for some while and eventually found a bar in, of all places, Miss Selfridge. Until today, however, I have not felt strong enough physically, mentally or emotionally to try it.  

However, having at last tasted a bit here are my thoughts …

~    There was nothing to be scared of.

~    On opening the pack I was surprised (I’m not very observant) to find milk chocolate.  I had just assumed that Marmite would be paired with dark chocolate and perhaps the colour of the wrapper may have encouraged me in this delusion.

~   A Marmity whiff exited the packet on first opening.    

~   With my first piece I could taste very little but the bar is slim (to put it politely) and the squares are small,  I then shoved in 3 squares together and could taste medium quality milk chocolate with tiny salty crystals which certainly went well with the chocolate but I could not in truth say tasted of Marmite.

~   The 100g bar of chocolate cost £3 and I think you can get either a lot more or lot better chocolate for this amount of money.  On the other hand it is an interesting and by no means unpleasant novelty and I might take some back to the islands next time I go; frighten some Americans who are notoriously Marmiteophobic.  ( *** I urge you to see below for another brilliant phobia.)

2 Other Peculiar Chocolates

This morning, it being Easter, I gave my darling a little something in the chocolate department …

I only bought it for him because he is a joiner and good at construction but, having read the warning on the packet, he decided to just eat the contents of the flat pack un-assembled. Probably he is not the only one as it says this on the packet ...

“IMPORTANT NOTICE: The makers of the amazing Flat Pack Chocolate Easter Egg^TM offer no warranty either explicitly or implied as to the success of your endeavours when attempting to assemble this product.  As you can imagine, working with chocolate is not easy and requires a high level of skill.  Therefore your chances of complete the task to a satisfactory standard a rem in a word, slim.  We've never managed it.”

A third bar of chocolate that deserves a mention here is one that my sister gave me to eat on the bus back from my visit to her on Mersea Island.

This one reads  ...

“Get a triple feel good hit from the coffee, white chocolate and ark chocolate! Don’t blame us if you can’t sleep at night, however!”

This is very yummy, the contrasting white and dark chocolates are made even deliciouser by little crunchy bits of what may well be instant coffee granules.  No offence, if I am mistaken, whatever they are I approve!

***  My niece Holly recently delighted me with news of a phobia, Anatidaephobia I think its called, which is the fear that wherever you are in the world and whatever you are doing a duck is watching you!  

Please click here to tweet this, it might help someone!

Hopefully now I am back on my feet I shall be creating some leftovers soon and will let you know what then ensues.