Pages

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Food Poem of the Month: Ode to Chocolate

My work has gotten CRAZY what with a 1,700-person event in one week, so for now I'll keep my posting simple and leave you with this ode to chocolate -- the darker the better.

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.

2 comments:

  1. have u guys tried the lindt 99% cacao bar? yum: http://www.lindtusa.com/product-exec/product_id/41/category_id/21/nm/Excellence_99_Cocoa_Bar

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awh, that's sweet! Both the poem and chocolates! Hehe, I like your style. I enjoyed your poetry, good job :-) Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete