Friday 17 December 2010

Christmas and Chocolate - 17th Window




I have made much of the wonderful specialist shops in the small town of Ludlow in the Shropshire Marches before. One of my favourites is the chocolatier. We can't afford to go in very often, every chocolate, hand-made from the finest ingredients, is priced in the region of a king's ransom, but at Christmas we do; we buy chocolates as presents for others, as gifts to take to dinner parties and even for ourselves. I'd almost be willing to commit a minor crime if you promised to pay me in dark chocolate coated orange peel strips;  whoever invented them has my undying gratitude. However, they are very expensive.




It is only a small shop but when you go in your nose is assailed by the aroma of real chocolate, spices, sugar and marzipan confections and standing at the glass topped counter, below which are several  shelves of tray upon tray filled with delectable and delicious truffles,  many of them laced with alcohol, I
salivate in anticipation.

If I were a dog, I'd slobber and drool.

"Two of this one and two of that and two of those at the back," is how I buy them; Slowly the girl fills a small bag for me. When I get them home they are put at the back of the fridge, well out of the way of any searching fingers. They are exclusively for us, we do not share the ones we buy for ourselves (and don't feel guilty at all) and we don't start eating them until Christmas Eve; not from the bag, mind you, but from a pretty dish. The Japanese tea ceremony has nothing on me and my chocolates!


WARNING - Be careful how much Christmas chocolate you eat!

Chocolate's reputation as an Aphrodisiac originated in South America over one thousand five hundred years ago, where it is known that it was thought to have mystical and aphrodisiac qualities by both the Mayan and Aztec cultures - the Aztec emperor, Monteczuma drank fifty golden goblets of chocolate a day to enhance his sexual prowess, it is said.  However, I recently came across this snippet of warning originating in 17th century England:

"The confection made of Cacao called Chocolate or Chocoletto, which may be had in divers places in London at reasonable rates, is of wonderful efficacy for the procreation of children: for it not only vehemently incites to Venus, but causes conception in women  . . . . . . and besides that, it preserves health, for it makes such as take it often to become fat and corpulent, fair and amiable."


William Coles Adam in Eden 1657

25 comments:

  1. friko i will eat almost anything coated in chocolate - white, milk, dark - anything!!! thanks for the droolworthy pics of the confectioner's shop. i wish this was a scracth and sniff screen! steven

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  2. Oh my!!! This is just toooooo good!!! Have a wonderful weekend filled with lovely, smooth, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate!!! Cathy

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  3. Dear Ursula,
    I really do enjoy your blogs. Have a happy Christmas and all you wish for in 2011.
    Love,
    Bob

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  4. My mouth watered reading this post, Friko. Chocolate is happy food. The theobromine that it contains has therapeutic qualities, I believe.

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  5. If chocolate's going to make me amiable , then surely it's my duty to eat some . In fact , the more amiable one is at this time of year the better , I would have thought .

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  6. "Dark chocolate coated orange peel strips." That sounds so good that I could swear that I am smelling it and tasting it here in Maryland, thousands of miles across the pond. Merry Christmas!

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  7. I'm slobbering and drooling - and I'm not a dog!

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  8. Aren't those little shops the best. I made marzipan kartoffeln and rum balls but think I'll go visit a new little Chocolatier that just opened in our village to see what they have on offer. Mind that the bag in the back of the fridge doesn't get thrown out before the 24th.

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  9. Oh, I hope we will get a chance to see your chocolates arrayed on a pretty dish!

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  10. And perhaps you will be listening again to The Sixteen as you savor your chocolates. Coming to your post today served as a reminder to go back and look them up. Am listening as I write. Lovely music, indeed.

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  11. 'causes contraception in women'? Oh well, I'm beyond that so does that mean I can eat all the chocolate I want?

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  12. Well, I'm salivating and drooling, regardless of my species! And I dug out my old recipe for chocolate dipped orange peels. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend. If I don't slip in my own drool and fall, hurting myself before then.

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  13. I can't think of a better way to ward off a winter chill than chocolate. I would love to be a mouse at your house.

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  14. I would tempt pregnancy for any dark chocolate!

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  15. I am just imagining the fun that your chocolate brings to the good souls of Clun!!!

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  16. Don't go turning to a life of small crimes for expensive chocolate. I love to get out the movie "Chocolate" from the box in the garage and romanticize on the plot. If I come to your house, I head for the back of the fridge. Ha
    Manzi... Happy Holidays

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  17. Oh, chocolate dipped orange peels - I have some organic oranges in my fridge right now, waiting for the peel to come off and be candied. One of my favourite Christmas treats!
    Delectable post, Friko. Time for a tea break, I think. (with a bit of dark chocolate)

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  18. I LOVE the smell of chocolate but don't like eating it ;-) Love your photos.

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  19. I'm so glad I read right to the end of this. I'm not fair, but I fit all the other criteria. Funnily enough, though, I don't like dark chocolate, only milk (or white). That is, however, the ONLY foodstuff I don't like. Pity.

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  20. sweet and smart post.
    I am glad I don't eat candy that much.
    Happy Friday!

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  21. Those Swiss dark chocolate oranges,
    that break into fruit sized slices
    are temptations to demon and
    cherub alike. You could not have
    written a sweeter tribute for the
    17th day. Chocolate is sinfully
    good, and probably an aphrodisiac.
    I certainly feel like I'm in lust or
    love while wolfing down, or nibbling
    choco wonders.

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  22. Give me a good quality dark chocolate and I'll follow you anywhere... yum!

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  23. wahrlich, eine echte Geniesserin bist Du, und Deine Bilder sind sehr verlockend! Ein Post mit einer echt weihnachtlichen Stimmung!

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  24. What an image to leave me with ... Friko salivating, slobbering, drooling and aphrodisiac-ing on Christmas eve!

    I, too, love orange peel covered in dark chocolate. They are actually very easy to make and have done so myself on occasion - must less pricey than at the chocolatier's shoppe.

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  25. "dark chocolate coated orange peel strips" -- do you need a partner in crime?

    The warning from the 17th century is true today: give most women chocolates and good things happen to you! (Dear husband, please note!)

    You have amazing will-power if you wait until Christmas Eve and only eat your chocolates from a lovely plate.

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