Sunday, October 17, 2004


belles lettres

marquisethose of you who may have studied french will recall the marquise de sévigné, a noble lady whose warm and charming letters to her daughter are not only classics of french prose style, but wittily reveal so much about life in her time.

long-time readers will note that i've been chasing this chocolate for years now. in fact, i'd completely forgotten about it; i'd long ago given up, abadoned hope.

it's not exactly a rare chocolate; it's just that circumstances had also worked to my disadvantage. a website wouldn't have it in stock when i was ordering; my colleagues coming back from paris would forget to pick me up a bar, etc.

so today -- a chilly, windy day, a snappy breeze off the harbor in the afternoon -- i go to yoga, as usual. the pizza dough is resting in the fridge, as usual.

i discover i'm out of fresh basil and so i dash up to the garden of eden. as i cruise by the usual chocolate bar suspects that hang about the counter, a bright blue box catches my eye. . .

and of course, it's the divine marquise, 70% noir. and how does it taste?

it reminds me very much of old favorite bernard castelain, but not as dry. with a beautiful aroma, the marquise has at first a powdery, intense chocolate taste, and then a fruity almost coconut feeling (i wonder if this comes from the lecithin?).

you can't help but alternately chew it and then let it just melt away. . .nice finish, good sheen, strong snap. i like it! at last!

clearly my chocolate karma's on the up-and-up. . .

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