| Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. With it comes the annual cultural nagging about romance and, in turn, those grumblings about commercialization encroaching on our private lives. It’s true that nobody likes to be told when and how to feel amorous, but nevertheless, self-righteous protests make me think you protest too much. Giving chocolate on February 14 does not make you a romantic cliché. First of all, chocolate is nearly an archetypal symbol of indulgence. Second, not all of it is created equally.
Your choice of chocolate says as much about you as it does about your Valentine. There are important decisions to be made about quality, production and packaging. But if you think this sounds like too much work, relax. No one is suggesting you melt down slabs of chocolate and hand-dip in your own home. (Leave that to home-lifestyle types with too much sanctioned time on their hands.) To help you choose the best for your beloved, the blindfolded members of the Sweet Teeth Chocolate Panel tasted various chocolates on the market and then sat back to visually judge the chocolate-packaging fashion show.
Of the drugstore variety, Laura Secord was the least favourite ($13.49 for 200 grams). Blindfolded tasters found a "fake chocolate chemical taste" that seemed to "strangely persist even though it’s gone down my gullet." No one was impressed that it is a private label of Ganong, the Canadian candy manufacturer who invented the heart-shaped box. In fact, the packaging had been "done a million times," was considered "pedestrian at best" and invited the question, "Who is this Laura Secord, anyway?" (Oh, just an 1812 mother-of-five Canadian war heroine is all.)
Olivier’s chocolate has been a favourite Calgary tradition for years. The tasters found its little morsels "good," "unpretentious" and "ideal for a workplace gift" (140 grams for $6.49). Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate a more romantic Valentine’s edition.
Our 230-gram heart-shaped box of Lindt Petits Desserts chocolates ($16.99) straddles two market areas: excellent quality that is mass-produced and readily available next to lower-profile chocolates, equalling exceptional value. Ideal for your more traditional Valentine, such as older members of your extended family who really know good chocolate and would find the "frumpy" and "old-school" packaging endearing. But something about the gathering of chocolates, family-photo style, on a doily was off-putting for our attending chocolate slickster.
Gourmet chocolate varieties are very popular for Valentine’s Day gifts. Bernard Callebaut is famous for his stylish contemporary packaging and exceptional high quality. Out of the 100-gram bag ($9.50) were chocolates considered "creamy and delectable, one of my favourites." A chocolate-smeared mouth asked, "Hey, can we have more of these?" Fashionably scarved Europeans in good sunglasses exchange these chocolates, not depressed bon-bon poppers in birth-control slippers. Pure chic.
Less familiar but very impressive were the locally handmade chocolates of Les Truffes. Two locations (Bankers Hall Downtown and Willow Park Village) offer 40 varieties of what is considered the crème-de-la-crème of chocolates: the truffle. Twice mistaken for Bernard Callebaut chocolate, these were categorized as "an amuse bouche!" (French for a small appetizer to wake the taste buds.) A tasteful and unique Valentine pouch offers seven different truffles and is valued at $14.95. A larger white box dons a festive ribbon, which was favoured by the females among us, but considered "overblown" by the males. This is the ideal chocolate treat for the Valentine who appreciates the quality of a handmade truffle made with no preservatives and absolutely nothing artificial.
Chocolate is decadent and sexy. It represents indulgence. Aztec king Montezuma took chocolate to be an aphrodisiac and was believed to drink 50 goblets of a liquid form per day. Don’t let your Valentine feel left out this year. And that goes for you too, ladies. In Japan, only women give chocolates to men.
If you’re going to take a stand on commercialized celebrations, then you had better refrain from the Christmas and birthday exchange of gifts. Chocolates are not cliché; contrarians are. Ever donned a costume in late October or been spotted drinking green beer at an Irish pub on March 17? Thought so.
I wish you the give and take of chocolate this Valentine’s Day. Blindfolds are recommended but sold separately. |
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