So much of life is, frankly, mundane. There is traffic, the unloading of groceries, telemarketing calls at dinnertime, doing dishes, paying bills, spam, spam and yet more spam. To counterbalance the commonplace, we must occasionally indulge ourselves in the motivational value of life’s luxuries. Allow me to elaborate.
Ugg’s slippers: Like walking on a cloud.
A feather-light cashmere sweater: Like being hugged all day long.
And speaking of feathers, a goose down comforter: Toasty in the winter, cool in the summer.
A spectacular sunset: Proof positive that it is possible to be intoxicated by color.
A perfect day in the Caribbean: It makes you feel madly in love.
A perfect day snowboarding: Any day snowboarding is a perfect day!
I admit it; I am a fool for the luxuries listed above. They woo me. They make me glad to be alive. But what can compare with the delightful decadence of dark chocolate truffles? It’s incomparable, I tell you! But it must be dark chocolate. Milk chocolate is defiled and diluted, unworthy of consumption. “White chocolate” is a misnomer. Like Napoleon Dynamite’s ligar, there is no such animal.
My favorite chocolatier is a Belgian fellow in Abbotsford, Canada who produces the most breathtaking, mind-blowing combination of chocolate and Kyoto cherry rose, chocolate and ginger, chocolate and rooibas tea, chocolate and Arabic coffee, chocolate and cinnamon, chocolate and lavender… These truffles are as beautiful as they are delectable.
The outer shells are deliciously delicate and the fillings are like velvet and silk. I cannot explain to you how incredible these truffles are. Wim Tas is the name of the gifted artist who produces these little jewels. Wim was once the personal chocolatier to the royal family of Belgium. Now he is the best kept secret in Canada. His company, Chocolatas, can be found online at www.chocolatas.com. It has been almost two years since I have savored one of Wim’s tiny masterpieces. I lament my misfortune.
To console myself this evening, I had my second favorite truffles… from the new G collection by Godiva. They are a distant second, though still fabulous. The Salt Caramel is sensational and the island-inspired Tahitian Vanilla is sultry. To conclude my choco-blog rhapsody, I shall leave you now with three quotations about my favorite little luxury. Enjoy!
"Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power. It is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits."
- Baron Justus von Liebig
"Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it I wash my mouth out with chocolate"
- Charles M. Schultz
"Researchers have discovered that chocolate produced some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana. The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two, but can't remember what they are."
- Matt Lauer, on NBC's Today Show