Café-Tasse, a Belgian outfit, makes a number of chocolates they label chocolat fin artisanal. Some are delicious, but I must confess to being completely thrown by their Noir Cannelle edition, which is dark chocolate flavored with cinnamon. It is deeply troubling. I am not sure if the rules of combination for chocolate have been fully worked out by the gastronomic sages, but I rather think cinnamon is not a working prospect for chocolate. I have never met anyone who says they like it. Perhaps it has something to do with the things they sprinkle on top of capuccino and whatnot. Since both chocolate and cinnamon can go on top of milk foam, therefore...
I have eaten this Noir Cannelle just once - actually, I devoured the whole 3 ounce bar in a fit of pique. When I recovered my senses, I knew I would not be eating it again any time soon. But some weeks ago I bought another bar just because I happened to see it in a store. It's somewhat rare, and I thought I had better keep one on hand in case I'm ever challenged to prove my tale.
Now I have this thing in my bookcase, and I don't know what to do with it. It is wrapped in dark green paper. The paper is coarse and lettered in old-fashioned type. It's extremely attractive. I only fear how I may feel in the morning if I do what is in my mind.
Albert_Herring asks about people eating 99% pure chocolate.
In my days as a pre-med after college, I always carried a single square of baking chocolate in my backpack. Baking chocolate is completely unsweeted, and very strong. The library study hall was open until 2 AM most nights, and there were strict rules about bringing food in. I used the baking chocolate in place of strong coffee, which would have been too visible. Just a tiny nibble would give me an enormous burst of wakefulness. I used it all year my first year as a pre-med, and got A's in most of my classes, including the hardest math class I have ever taken (differential equations).
Then my fiancé arrived from Taiwan, and I stayed home nights, and was fed sweet desserts. That semester I got a C- in organic chemistry, and before much longer I switched to graduate school in Chinese. I've never looked back, and since then I've never needed baking chocolate, except for cooking.