Who Knew?

Yes, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. and don't even bother complaining - everyone you try to find some sympathy out of will think you're crazy. Class was a chocolate tasting. sounds great, right? The first hour and a half we learned about the historical background of chocolate, the process of making it and the reasons behind different outcomes, the

biggest consumers (switzerland, belgium...ireland was #6) the biggest producers of cocoa (ivory coast, ghana, then indonesia), and the different types of chocolates. then, out came the plate with the first round of samples. they ranged from crunchy and unrefined to smooth and buttery to commercialized to a rare and pure, to a raw roasted cocoa bean to a milky chocolate drink. my favorite was the Domori Chuao (one of the most mythical venezuelan cocoa, a nearly pure criollo, coastal region west of Caracas, - 70%). biting in that little sample immediately brought me back to memories of ireland. it was the strangest thing. but a very pleasant experience. then came round two. these were the mixed chocolates - candied rose (yum) marc de champagne cream (yyuck) a covered squash seed (tasted like halloween), candied ginger (bitter and sweet) and (luckily) four of them contained either hazelnut or praline so i wasn't able to eat them. STUFFED.

19 samples later....it's taken me a while to even be able to look at my pictures, or talk about this tasting. i think it will be a while before i eat chocolate again. note: it would probably be a good idea to coat your stomach with something hearty and/or savory before consuming so much sweetness.

next week: two full days of field trips to pig farms and then two days of morning cheese tastings and afternoon cured meat tastings. ruh-roh.