Divided Loyalties

Well here they are as promised - my hard won pictures of the Koko Black chocolate box! (I will not go into detail about my fight with the photo shop woman, but just let's say there's a certain camera store that won't be getting any more of my custom. But I digress).

So yes indeed, this is the lovely box brought to me by the lovely L. who was in town last week and kindly brought me (okay, us) a gift of Koko Black chocolates - an amazing selection. Now I tell you, I didn't quite know what to do. You see - I love chocolate. That's a not a surprise to anyone who reads this blog. But I also have a weakness for handbags, 'specially Spencer & Rutherford ones.

Chocolatiers have sprung up all round the CBD in the last couple of years, but since I traded the suit for an apron, I don't spend much time in the city. Recently I was in Southbank with visiting relatives who wanted to check out the city centre. We wandered up through the Block Arcade and after spending some time in Haighs, I mentioned "Oh, there's Koko Black up in the Royal Arcade and I haven't been there yet". So we decided to go have a look but the other girls were bedazzled by the taffy pull at Suga. I was familiar with it and was champing at the bit to get to the chocolate, so I said "I'll head on up to Koko Black and if I'm not in there, you can find me in the handbag shop".

I walked up the arcade, pausing to look at some necklaces, and then I stood there at the top - staring at Koko Black. Staring at where my favourite handbag shop used to be. I was dumbfounded. How could this be? I stumbled in, dazed and confused. Yes, there was chocolate, great big chunks of Valrhona and Callebaut, truffles, chocolates, bars, but where oh where were the handbags???

The girls found me in this perilous condition and escorted me from the building but I hadn't resolved the issue in my mind. Could I support a store which had annexed my favouritest handbag store in the world? Did it make a difference that I hadn't been there in a couple of years? And would it help it the chocolates were really really good?

Well, as it turned out, I didn't have to solve this quandry. L. presented me with this box and I've sampled most of these myself as the Figman has been on an avowed health kick (avoiding butter and chocolate but not copious amounts of cheese - go figure). I managed to stretch it out over almost a week, so it's hard to remember all the details, but I have to say that my favourites were definitely the mint - the dark triangular one in the middle - it has a triangle of soft minty centre, yum! And the two in the middle on the far left - one with a crisp walnut half on top and the dark one next to it - gorgeous gorgeous raspberry! And very odd that these three include the two that Niki and Cin mentioned, but hey, maybe bloggers just have good taste. Ahem.

It was an interesting experience working through a chocolate box blind. I mean, normally with something like Cadbury's Roses, you can identify the chocolate from 100 metres just by the colour of the wrapper. But this was very sensory - sniff ... taste ... is it? ... ah ha! ... yes it is! Some centres were obvious, but others I really had to ponder. But they were exquisite. Reminded me of what can really be done with chocolate when imagination and talent are applied. And I think I'm going to have to just get over my divided loyalties. I mean, you can't eat a handbag, right?