Life is Like a Box of Chocolates!

I'm crazy about all things French but there is something that the French enjoy that I don't. Can you guess what it is?  Not sure what you guessed, but the answer is CHOCOLATE! Yep, I do NOT like chocolate. People really have a hard time believing me and I've been told over and over again that....EVERYONE likes chocolate.  And, well certainly the French do. So today we will talk about French chocolate.


When people think about chocolate, France is probably not the first country that comes to mind. France's neighbors, Switzerland and Belgium get most of the chocolate press but the French think that they have a delicious secret which they have happily kept to themselves for decades. 


Chocolate was introduced to France in the 17th century by Princess Anne of Austria when she wed King Louis XIII. It was first introduced as a beverage, which everyone loved. Only sold in pharmacies, It was hailed for its therapeutic, digestive and aphrodisiac properties.  


By the time of the Industrial Revolution chocolate businesses were making chocolate bars and cocoa beverages accessible to the masses and chocolate was quickly becoming a French passion. And you know the French, they could never be satisfied with just any old chocolate!

The French pallet is very demanding. Chocolate is tied to the French lavish and often extravagant sense of style. So it is with their wine, so it is with their chocolate as well. The French indulge in high quality chocolate with a definite preference for dark chocolate. Each morsel is a delicate combination of pure chocolate (obtained from carefully chosen cocoa beans) along with a variety of quality ingredients, including exotic fruits, and spices from around the world.

France even has a Chocolate Academy which was established in 1901. The "French Academy of Chocolate and Candy Making" comprised of 40 chocolate experts. The Academy edits a dictionary of chocolate which strives to define the vocabulary of French chocolate making.

At the Salon du Chocolat, on the catwalk the models dresses, hats and shoes are not only dazzling but scrumptious as well!

I'm Just Sayin