The Cottage Smallholder


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Chocolate treats

Photo: Chilli chocolate

Photo: Chilli chocolate

When I was very small my mum used to give us a sweetie bar on a Sunday morning. It was a well defined bribe. If we kept very quiet and let her have a lie-in we were investing in the reward of a treat for next week.

We’d wake to a bar laid on our pillows. We savoured the sweets and always tried to keep silent. Even the wrappers were opened with care. Nowadays there’s nothing like luxuriating in bed on a Sunday morning with the Sunday paper and nibbling chocolate very slowly to make it last.

I once went to stay the night with the Italian girl who looked after me when my mum was out at work. The idea seemed exciting and so grown up. But not having even started school I had no idea what to expect. We travelled to her flat on the bus. It was a long journey. Her large extended family welcomed us warmly. Of course they ate far later than I was used too and eventually I longed to go to bed.
“You must wait until my brother comes home. He’ll love you.”
“Can’t I meet him in the morning?”
“No he’ll be out at work early.”
Looking back they must have been working so hard.

In the end I totally lost it and demanded to be taken home (I was only about four after all). I can still remember the silence of the drive home. Cringing in the back of the car, knowing that I had made an unpopular move. I think it was the unfortunate brother who was at the wheel.

My mum opened the front door in her dressing gown. As she tucked me up in bed she murmured that she hadn’t got any sweets for me in the morning. I didn’t care. I was home. But I do remember glancing over to my sister’s pillow. There, in all its glory, was a bar of Turkish Delight.

Years later, when Danny was working away for a week at a time, I used to put a bar of chocolate on the mantelpiece for his return. Once he made a blunder and brushed past me to dive for the mantelpiece. He never made that mistake again!

Mike introduced me to chilli chocolate when I was working down in Saffron Walden last year. He had tiny individual bars in a bowl in his kitchen.
“It’s wonderful. Why not try one.”
I wasn’t at all sure what to expect. Having been brought up in San Diego, Mike loves very spicy food. How much chilli was actually in this chocolate?

I discovered that the combination of dark chocolate and a waft of chilli is the perfect combination. The elements transmogrify into something amazing.

My mum now buys us expensive chocolate treats regularly when I take her shopping. Danny is given milk chocolate which is guzzled fairly fast. I am given chilli chocolate. It’s secreted into Jalopy’s glove compartment and a square is savoured each afternoon. A perfect indulgence.


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11 Comments

  1. Ruthdigs

    Hi

    I can confirm the South Devon Chilli Farm stuff is excellent: http://www.southdevonchillifarm.co.uk/shop/index.php?target=categories&category_id=6
    The orange and chilli one is very good too, not tried the others – yet!
    Not sure how it compares as I’ve never seen the Lindt stuff but I’ll keep an eye out. Won’t have a Waitrose here in Exeter!

  2. Hey there, I made venison stew, with chocolate, the other night. IT TASTED EVIL I TELL YOU!, Never, ever, ever, will I make that again. Definately not a recipe that will make it to my recipe book.

    P.s bathroom pictures will be up tomorrow morning. comment lots on it please Fiona. I will even let you pick fault in the plastering! Lol

  3. Fiona Nevile

    Hi Pamela

    Thanks for the tip. My mum buys her Lindt from Waitrose. They don’t have a massive selection.

    Hi City Mouse

    I do hope that you can track down some chilli chocolate.

    So pleased that I’m not alone. This episode has stayed with me for many decades!

    Hello Jose Antonio

    You have me feverish to try the one with sea salt. I’ve never seen it in the UK but the idea has my taste buds zinging. Perhaps in the end I’ll have to make it myself? 🙂

    I’ll look out for the other two. I think that I’ve seen them on sale in the UK.

    Thanks for the chocaholic tips!

    HI JO

    Your Dragonfire gelato sounds superb. How clever to be able to create your own speciality flavours. I’m impressed.

    Hi Carol

    I look out for the The South West Devon Chilli Co chocolate. Thanks for the tip.

    Hello Gemma

    That’s such a wonderful memory. Thank you for sharing, it made me feel so good.

    Hi JuliaB

    That sounds absolutely wonderful. Thanks for dropping by.

  4. I had a dessert at Wagamama before Xmas which was a Pavlova with chilli flakes in the meringue. It was so delicious, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! I think the way to describe it would be “zingy” – not too hot but definitely a kick to it. Yum.

  5. 🙂 Brilliant! I am a really chocolate and sweetie fiend. Hubby isn’t so much but he will certainly eat it if it is there. My Nan used to send my Brother and I parcels from where she lived in London with our goodies for the week. They were actually lunch box supplies and often included things like raisins but we thought these packages were like gold dust. The excitement when the postman walked up the drive and then rang the door bell, we knew it was the parcels. Mum did try to explain to Nan that the postage cost more than the actual supplies so if she just sent money it would actually save her money (Mum knew that Nan had very little money). Her reply was – “where is the fun in that?” I think Nan got more out of knowing our excitement and having the thank you phone calls every week.

  6. I love chilli chocolate but the Lindt one isn’t strong enough for me – my favourite is from The South West Devon Chilli Co – I think that’s the name. My sons partner is from Mexico and she brought back some really head blowing chilli sweets last month – they are not for the faint hearted.

  7. Jo @ LittleFfarm Dairy

    Our ‘Lovespoon’ Seasonal Speciality flavour Gelato (luxury, traditional Italian-style goats’ milk ice cream) for St David’s Day this year, is Dragonfire:

    it’s a silky-smooth, cool, velvety dark chocolate gelato, laced with the sultry seduction of Mexican chillies….a marriage of plump, mild chipotle to the smoky fire of the ancho variety.

    Perplexingly hot & cold at the same time, it’s positively addictive – even I love it, & I don’t normally like anything with chillies…! But this is something so uniquely different in terms of flavour sensation – with the heat somehow intensified by the coolness of the ice cream – it just works like a dream. Yummy!

  8. José Antonio García

    Hi Fiona

    I love this chocolate! I usually buy this one and other two: the one with Sea salt and the one with arabica coffee.
    Try them if you like chocolate! Let them melt in the mouth and you´ll feel the small crystals of salt and small pieces of coffee
    And of course if you love chocolate, try the 99% bar.
    http://www.chocablog.com/reviews/lindt-excellence-sea-salt/
    http://www.chocablog.com/reviews/lindt-excellence-coffee-intense-redux/
    http://www.chocolat.com/browseproducts/Lindt-Excellence-Dark–99–Cocoa-Cacao.HTML
    Cheers
    Jose Antonio

  9. City Mouse/Country House

    I’m going to go have to find some chilli chocolate(s) tomorrow. We have a few high end candy stores around here that are sure to stock it. Also wanted to mention – you’re not alone. I left a backyard camping trip with my best friend and his father when I was five.

  10. I love chocolate but not chocolates. My family and friends have finally accepted that it is pointless giving me anything other than milk chocolate or caramel chocolates. But be careful with the chili choc; there are two versions of this from Lindt. One of them has the chili in the choc and the other one has a layer of chili cream/gel in the middle and is not as good as the other – so I am told by my mum. She first bought the nice one in Mauritius on a little unplanned side trip while we were in Seychelles a couple of years ago. On our return to Seychelles, the friends we were staying with had invited the Bishop for dinner and my mum got the chili choc out. It was very definitely a talking point! I like the Petits Deserts range of Lindt choc, especially the lemon meringue and creme brule ones but I haven’t seen them for ages.

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