Old Country Charm

Had a lovely interview with two chatty old gals from Old Country Gift Shop in Roncesvalles on Friday. The two German sisters were the classic European Grandmother with their, "Eat, eat, your so skinny" and "Oh, you young people!" sayings. Don't let their age fool you, they had the vigour and whit of a young buck! The store has had some trouble with the construction woahs of the Roncey neighbourhood and I was more than happy to chat with these ladies and cover their store that has been around for 51 years. Its sort of an old ball of sorts but holds some European treasures in the form of gold bars. I won't bore you with the 50 syllable German names but the SCH-KA-KOLA stands alone. If your sensitive to caffeine turn away now. This European gem is a chocolate with a kick. Consider it the Red Bull of the chocolate world. It takes the natural caffeine from cocoa, coffee, and cola nut extract to give you energy and keep you awake. (I can see my faithful friends rolling their eyes). But seriously, after a long day of teaching dance today and the usual mid afternoon yaws that come with working 7 days a week (don't ask) I had two pieces and IT WORKED like a charm! The same effect of an espresso but without that harsh acid of a coffee. I certainly am not recommending this for everyone. There is a label on the tin, 'not for children or the elderly' that is slightly disconcerting. Not to mention the fact there probably is a good reason it isn't sold in Canada. Guh. Anywho.. checked it out online didn't find any major warnings lol. Check it out here: www.germandeli.com/4001743034013.html But of course go and see my gals, Helga and Karin at Old Country Gift Shop to pick up a tin if you are looking for a little boost. Nurses on the night shift swear by it.

OK where were we… Awe, yes- Old Country Gift Shop. Hear are some random, only blog worthy highlights from my interview. I love having chats with those wiser beyond my years. I am of the belief they have so much to teach us and are great observers of 'young people today'. But every now and again they can say something that makes me go wtf? So, we are chatting about the hand painted German wooden easter eggs in the store. And Helga says, "You can fill them with chocolates or pantyhose. " Huh? Who puts pantyhose inside easter eggs? Pure journalistic gold! OR the story they told me about the mother who came in with her son who, "didn't want to go to his party. He was having party troubles. So she bought him some of their chocolate covered figurines. And it worked." Now I am confused. What are they talking about? Party troubles? This little boy doesn't like to go to birthday parties. What is going on? They continue, "And the boy is now big and he still comes to the store today. They call him mister potty". Oh, potty! He was having potty troubles! Toilet training. And the mother used their chocolate to potty train the little boy. Ew. I think this is something that comes with age, talking freely about the private porcelain. Anyways, they begin describing how they often see four generations literally grow up with their store and their chocolate. I continue to get some great and useable stories (thank you very much) out of them and the article writes itself. I will be going back soon when my espresso crack chocolate runs out. I hope this has in some way intrigued you to do the same. They also sell beautiful hand crafted 'jumping jack' toys for children, Babushkas and real German beer steins that are nothing short of beautiful. Please support local and family run businesses. I will leave you with a great quote from Helga, "I say thank you so many times in a day I have lost count. You just don't get that anymore." Agreed.

Get Inspired

Inspiration can come in the oddest of places. Sometimes from that thing someone says in passing, an outrageous hair do or a classic canadian radio host. I wake up every morning to CBC radio one. I love, love, love talk radio.Well not all talk radio, sports and me never really got along. O.K. I know this makes me a huge nerd but I love me some CBC. So, when I met someone who's inspiration for chocolate was Andy Barry I knew immediately we were kindred spirits of the Anne of Green Gables variety. Leyla, owner of Art Square Gallery and Cafe moved to Canada from Istanbul and first started listening to CBC to get a sense of Canadian culture and help improve her English. Her love and devotion grew from there. She confessed, "We are kind of addicted to CBC". For anyone who listens to the same individual, daily, talk about culture, politics, and your city you start to befriend that person. I know I sound crazy but hear me out. For Leyla and I, Andy Barry is and sadly was that person you trust for your information every morning. And of course also someone you admire. "I like Andy Barry. He makes us laugh and sometimes cry." Leyla was so inspired by Andy, she made a truffle in his honour. She named her vodka, pure lemon oil and roasted lemon truffle the 'Andy Barry'. She even went to his farewell party with her daughter and brought him some personally.

Below: the Andy Barry.

Leyla has other truffles named after people who inspire her, the Sara Diamond (the President of neighboring OCAD) for her bubbly and curly hair- like champagne. See below:

Or the Frank Gehry, who despite what some people may think is actually born in Canada. So Leyla made sure to let people know it, with a classic Canadian chocolate pairing of maple syrup and organic Ontario wine. There a story behind most chocolates and I am beginning to learn behind most of the chocolatiers as well. Suddenly, I am getting a hankering for some chocolate with my morning talk radio.

The Girl is Bad, the Girl is Dangerous..

Feeling adventurous? Feeling daring? Perhaps experimental? Welcome to the world of mad science that is Xococava. Black olive chocolate, fennel pollen, szechwan peppercorn and black trumpet mushroom truffle. No I am not making a pasta, this is experimental chocolate at it's best. If you like danger, delve into a periodic table of chocolate adventure. No seriously, their chocolate menu is a periodic table of chocolaty elements. My classic- only peanut butter and chocolate loving- partner would cringe. I am getting into the habit of bringing home experimental chocolate pairings, not telling him what it is and just leaving them out on the counter. I am slyly making him be a chocolate risk-taker without his knowledge ;) I peak out of the corner of my eye but haven't seen any sour faces yet. So be courageous, bold and daring and step outside your caramel sea salt chocolate world and try something new. You just might surprise yourself. Who would have thought such an edgy chocolate place would be at Yonge and St. Clair but go figure.

Drum roll please...

Newsflash- chocolate doesn't make you fat! I met a wonderful chocolatier Simone Marie, from Simone Marie Belgian Chocolate who laughs in the face of the North American notion that chocolate makes you fat. She explains to me that in Belgium this is definitely not the mentality. Chocolate is a way of life in Belgium and it is not out of the ordinary to partake in good chocolate everyday. "I am eating chocolate everyday, I don't think that I look very overweight," she giggles. It's true. Her slender frame is evidence to a chocolate balanced lifestyle well maintained. If there is nothing I love more, it's a balanced lifestyle. I love food and at the same time am a self-proclaimed gym rat. I never want to feel guilty partaking in a well deserved chocolate treat. I can always hope to sweat it out later. So when someone tells me chocolate won't make you fat, you're my new love. Simone Marie goes on to explain that chocolate is good for you, but it has to be good chocolate. None of those added fats and fillers that you get in your average bar. Those certainly don't pass Simone Marie's test. She offers her simple advice, if the list of ingredients is long- it should be gone. So next time when you take a look at the back of the dreaded ingredients listing and you see added fats like canola oil, palm oil, sugar, and on and on... then it's simply not good chocolate. And will only add to that muffin top. If the list is short: cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar- it's the good stuff. So heed Simone Marie's advice and enjoy her guilt-free authentic Belgian chocolates.

We Are What We Eat!

In the stomache of the food movement things are beginning to stir. Consumers are becoming thirsty for knowledge about the products they consume and support. Where does the food I purchase come from? How does it get from the ground to my plate? What can I really do? Now don't get your stomach all in a knot. You don't have to become a detective to sort all this out, it just takes a little street wise and a thing we call google. If there is anything I have learned from School House Rock, "It's great to learn because knowledge is power!" There are a few chocolate warriors in the depth of the 'socially just' chocolate movement. ChocoSol stands out in the front lines of the movement in Toronto. ChocoSol is not your average chocolate supplier, but a learning community and social enterprise. It works with horizontal traders and chocolatiers to produce chocolate that remains a symbolic product, not a commodity. It looks to ancient Mexico and draws inspiration from the tradition of chocolate as the food of the gods. ChocoSol works directly with 20 different indigenous communities in Southern Mexico. They allow the farmers of the cacao bean to make a dignified living growing the food of the gods. That means a fair price for their beans. The relationship is more of a friendship and an exchange (the chocolate traders behind ChocoSol actually know the names of the workers, their families and the local community). The chocolate is made in the same tradition as used by the Mayans in ancient Mexico and uses horizontal trade (the beans are shipped by boat from Mexico to Canada and the good old pedal power of the bicycle to your local business too) to get the chocolate to your plate. They even have a bicycle powered bean grinder- now that's green. I know what your thinking, "Thanks Hillary, but is there chocolate actually good?". Oh, my yes! Two green thumbs way up for their 5 chilli bullet chocolate. Dark chocolate that's soft on pallet but leaves a lingering kick to awaken your taste buds and fills the entire mouth with flavour. But don't be mistaken, ChocoSol isn't your average treat. ChocoSol chocolate wants to be known as a chocolate food as opposed to a candy or commodity. O.K. hippie dippie, what does this mean exactly? It refers to chocolate as a rare, spiritual food and experience. A rich, refreshing and nourishing food, not a sweet candy. Something that you savour, not gobble up in one go. Biting into ChocoSol chocolate satisfies your chocolate urge but leaves you feeling energized-content. And knowing that all of ChocoSol’s chocolate practices are socially aware just makes it all the more sweet. Or should I say refreshing and nourishing. ChocoSol prides itself as being one of the lowest food miles and low energy footprint than any other chocolate carrier in Canada. If you bring your own Tupperware your purchase will impressively have had no food waste or plastic wrapping associated with the chocolate (from bean to bar) at all. OK so how can I get it? Check out your local Farmer's market or keep your eyes peeled at your local organic cafe. To my delight, one of my local haunts in the Junction has a jar of it at the counter! So indulge, it's hard to feel bad when all of your choices have been sooo good! If you want to learn more about how ChocoSol got started, check out my article coming soon to our website!

Side Note

Just a quick side note, I have filled an entire notebook full of chocolatie rich notes!! Now moving on to book numero duo!

Sneak Preview

Just a little preview from a chocolate supplier that has landed on MY Toronto top 5 best chocolate in the city. ChocoSol is not your average chocolate supplier, but a learning community and social enterprise. It looks to ancient Mexico and draws inspiration from the tradition of chocolate as the food of the gods. You wont find any candies here, but chocolate foods. And knowing that all of ChocoSol’s chocolate practices are socially aware just makes it all the more sweet.

The Lure of the Dark Side

To dark chocolate or not to dark chocolate that is the question. Since the beginning of this chocolate experience, I realized it was time to explore the darker side of chocolate. I was always a milk chocolate kind of gal and very rarely do I opt for dark. Then and again before I started this project my most recent chocolate fix was a Twix bar (gasp). I saw a co-worker indulging in one in private and I thought to myself, man that looks good. But now, after being given sample after sample of only the best European fine chocolate and the artisan, local, organic, fair trade variety- boy, have my tastes changed. Out with the Twix bar (I am almost embarrassed I even ate this, oh the shame!) and in with a whole new world of taste and flavour combinations. Suddenly, I am looking to the dark source and asking from which cacao bean this chocolate originates. Now, I am not going to go and poo-poo on the local mars bar consumer but don’t you find yourself unsatisfied after eating one? Almost like, man I want another? After having a square of a true dark chocolate, without the preservatives and oil, you feel merely satisfied. I guess when you take out all the fillers you begin to taste the chocolate in its purist form. And let me tell you dark chocolate is where it`s at. Most recently, I met with Leyla the owner of Art Square Gallery and Café and she greeted me with a frothing Americano (sorry you don’t make friends with tea, as far as this gal is concerned.) She then left me alone for a few minutes with a plate of pistachio dark chocolate. I am hooked. I went back recently for more and to pick up some to give to my Mother for a pre-mothers day treat. And needless to say the bag didn`t last nearly two minutes. You see I grew up in a household where cheese, chocolate and fresh bread are gone before they hit the table. If there is a wheel of brie in my house, it doesn’t last long. Picture vultures and a fresh carcass. So, I was hoping there would be some pistachio dark chocolates left over but much like the brie it vanished never to be seen again. I guess I will have to visit Leyla at the Art Square Gallery and Café again for a very urgent interview (wink, wink).

Chocolate, meat bacon

I once had a friend who could eat a whole package of bacon in one sitting. In the generation of 'Epic Meal Time', (see the 'Slaughterhouse Christmas Special', think a grotesque, meat filled, testosterone enhanced ginger bread house, only less gingerbread and more meat) it was only a matter of time that meat found its way into chocolate. This has been an ongoing trend for those chocolatiers brave enough to try it. And Tim English is just that guy. Tim owns Chocolateria, the latest addition to the Roncesvalles neighbourhood. Tim isn't scared to try new things and is willing to just about dip anything into chocolate. He once dipped a big round of brie into dark chocolate with caramelized almonds, a man after my own heart. But back to the great meat debate. I apologize to all those vegetarians out there, perhaps now is the time to shield your eyes in terror. I dared to jump into the chocolate-meat-market and see just what this trend is all about. A peanut butter bacon chocolate bar was my very first experience. I was a skeptic but it is a sinful and stunning combination. It’s the perfect mix of rich melt-in-your-mouth chocolate, smooth peanut butter and the subtle saltiness of the aftertaste of the bacon. Who knew. I am not alone on this one because they are flying off the shelves. Chocolateria is not the only one experimenting with chocolate meat, Xococava is also on board. They have a chorizo sausage chocolate truffle but Xococava is known for their mad science approach to chocolate. Take to their periodic table of chocolates for the ideal pairing of imaginative and indulgent flavors. And for you veggies gasping in the crowd, Daniel Le Chocolat Belge does a fake meat bacon truffle. Although I can't help picturing those doggie bacon treats I feed my dog. Who knows whats in those. So take the pludge and explore the new meat trend in cuisine. You might just be pleasantly surprised. Happy chocolate meat hunting.

Your faithful chocolate hunter,

Hillary