It's also kind of an ode to my hubby, who is a chocolate aficionado, but only if no milk or cream has come into contact with it. He likes it, like his coffee and beer, dark, complex, and bitter. Before meeting him, I didn't think I liked chocolate. But now I know better: I've learned to love the fruity, complex over and undertones of a piece of good dark chocolate. Scharffenberger's 62% is my very favorite.
Ode to Chocolate
I hate milk chocolate, don't want clouds
of cream diluting the dark night sky,
don't want pralines or raisins, rubble
in this smooth plateau. I like my coffee
black, my beer from Germany, wine
from Burgundy, the darker, the better.
I like my heroes complicated and brooding,
James Dean in oiled leather, leaning
on a motorcycle. You know the color.
Oh, chocolate! From the spice bazaars
of Africa, hulled in mills, beaten,
pressed in bars. The cold slab of a cave's
interior, when all the stars
have gone to sleep.
Chocolate strolls up to the microphone
and plays jazz at midnight, the low slow
notes of a bass clarinet. Chocolate saunters
down the runway, slouches in quaint
boutiques; its style is je ne sais quoi.
Chocolate stays up late and gambles,
likes roulette. Always bets
on the noir.
"Ode to Chocolate" by Barbara Crooker, from More
.
(emphasis mine)
(The Classic: I love this microplane for zesting citrus and grating spices like nutmeg.)
(Medium Ribbon: If you're not grating hard cheeses and chocolate with a microplane, you haven't lived!)
(The King of all pans. Deserted island + cast-iron skillet = just fine with me.)
(The King of the stainless pan. Seriously. All-Clad is worth the $$$.)
(San Marzano tomatoes make the best sauce. They're far from local, but at least they're organic!)
(This is my food bible. If you want the best recipe with exact instructions that has been taste-tested to perfection, the Cook's Illustrated folks are who you turn to.)
(My secondary food bible. I love how Mark Bittman makes everything easy and simple, and shows you how to take 1 recipe and give it endless variations.)
(The seminal work from Rebbe Pollan on how our current food systems do not work, and how we need to change.)
(The follow-up to The Omnivore's Dilemma that answers the questions you're left with after reading that book, "What should I eat? And how?")
(The book: My very favorite novel about food and eating. It is as lush and delicious as your favorite meal.)
(The movie: Amazingly, the movie version of the book is, in my opinion, actually better! I adore this movie. I laughed, I cried, I got really, really hungry.)
