Haut Chocolate

Chocolate, sushi and olive oil are my biggest food expenses. Luckily I received an assortment of Vosges Exotic Candy Bars for Christmas from a very wise friend. Since we went to their storefront while I was last visiting her, the gift was even more special. Yesterday I snacked on the Barcelona Bar - truly extraordinary. 41% cacao with sea salt and smoked almonds. Now some may say you need darker chocolate - not when you want to taste the other components in the bar. The sea salt is crunchy and the almonds buttery. This bar had less almonds than the last bar I had but that's OK. It means it wasn't made by a machine and I'm happy to endure inconsistencies for artisan product.

I will note that smoked almonds are a little nontraditional for a Spain inspired bar. In Barcelona proper you'd find Marcona Almonds in the chocolate bars, commonly pressed into the back of the bar while setting. They combine 2 of my weaknesses as the almonds are fried in olive oil, salted and then combined with the chocolate.

All of the Vosges products (another great company that is owned by a woman) are interesting and unique. I consumed all of their chocolate covered toffee in one sitting. Considering the cost, that was an expensive 5 minutes. Their most 'out there' truffle is chocolate mixed with taleggio cheese with balsamic vinegar. On paper is may sound repulsive. The food adventurer in me said, "I have to have one!" While it was tasty, it was made on the safe side so the funky cheese wasn't very prevalent. I would prefer a chocolate covered baton of cheese, now that's haute chocolate.