Deep dark silk melting slowly; enticing your palate with nuances of earthiness, berry, dairy, nut, vanilla. Chewy, crispy, crunchy, creamy centers accentuating and puncuating their smooth velvety chocolate robes.

It wasn’t until this past holiday when my Fiance received a two pound gift box of Gowell’s ‘Most Requested’ chocolates, that I realized I had been living my life in a sugar vaccum. I explored that box of chocolates like Christopher Columbus encountering the New World. Semisweet coatings, milk chocolate drippings, cocoa dustings mingled with buttery caramel, cashew and almond studs, lush flavored fillings. Each piece a luxurious one bite respite from my day’s long list of tasks. It dawned on me that it had been years since I had indulged in such a well crafted confection. Fine chocolate itself can be compared to fine wine hinting exquisitely of the terroir in which the cacao beans were grown.

This chocolate epiphany beckoned me to quest for a portal into the artisanal chocolate world. I surfed the web over to discover two incredible websites that fit the bill. First there is chocolate.com, which is packed with boxed artisanal chocolates from all around the United States and Canada. The second website is chocolatetradingco.com which is a bit more international, bearing pages of single origin chocolate bars and gorgeous chocolate assortments from the likes of Michel Cluizel, Bonnat, Almedei and Domori. These world famous chocolatiers will capture your imagination with their alluring varieties.

Chocolate Chocolate

Have you ever had the need for a chocolate fix and headed to your nearest 7-11 for a candy bar. I have suddenly realized that my chocolate palate has been jaded by the mundane! Profundity: It is more satiating for me to fill my chocolate cravings with a small artisanal selection stashed away for emergency chocolate longings than to fill my needs with a Milky Way.

So, I offer you the following suggestion. Valentine’s day is right around the corner. This is the Mother of all Chocolate Holidays. Before you go to a drugstore to purchase a box of run of the mill candy or a chocolate rose take a look at chocolate.com and chocolatetradingco.com. Artisanal chocolate for gifting to someone else or yourself is exquisite on many different levels. It acknowledges the ‘kid’ in us in an ‘adult’ way! Every box or bar is an invitation to a new world of sublime flavor and texture. Fine chocolate is also an incredibly social gift: who receives a sumptious gift of chocolate and does not invite anyone else who might be around to share in the box’s delights!

Again, Chocolate!

Enjoy the fruits of the cacao bean! Appreciate the many interpretations of flavor, fillings and shapes which are created from them. Visit chocolate.com even if just to drool over these wonderful pleasures. I still have a dark chocolate cashew turtle and a pure raspberry filled cream left in my box. After I have savored them I am headed for the Menakao Bars on chocolatetradingco.com!