Monday, July 21, 2008

Dagoba Chocolates and a Schizophrenic's Holiday


Ever have one of those days where you get up and go to work but feel like something's missing.....like your clothes? I had to pat myself down to make sure I was wearing pants this morning. I've been having this feeling for the past few days and it just dawned on me what it was, I forgot to write my blog! Sorry about that. 

I went out of town this weekend to visit with the family. I'll spare you the gory details but my grandmother had surgery about a week ago. I thought I'd pay her and my grandfather a visit to see how they were holding up. I told her that I would bring some of my truffles but ran out of time and couldn't make them (sorry grandma). So I did the next best thing and bought some bars that I personally think are excellent.  

I wanted her to try Dagoba organic chocolates. I'm rather fond of their 37% milk chocolate Chai Bar with its bits of ginger and chai spices. I really dig Dagoba for their ethics and sustainability practices. Dagoba was founded in 2001 by Frederick Schilling, who at the time, was a 30 year old chef looking for a career change. I'm not gonna fill you in the details, but feel free to check out their website for more info.

Grandma has complained in the past that commercial chocolates taste too "waxy" for her palette and I tend to agree with her. But, I wanted her to experience some decent chocolates being made today that have a wonderful snap to them. I also wanted her to taste some of the new combinations of spices that are being added. The concept of percentages and different flavors seems kinda overwhelming, so I figured I'd take her a few bars from different regions and she could make her own distinctions. 

We spent the afternoon on her bed methodically tearing wrappers and eating chocolates. It was cool to watch her furrow her brow and try to guess the ingredients. She would put one down saying she didn't like it only to pick up again, take another bite and exclaim that it was her favorite. I really enjoyed our time together....not to mention sharing her chocolates. Thanks grandma if you are reading this. 

3 comments:

Christine said...

Best of luck to your Grandma :)

I saw the chai Dagoba bar in the store the other day and was really intrigued. Next time I'm there, I'm buying it.

Yes, my complaint with "regular" chocolate is that it has a waxiness to it (especially Hershey's milk chocolate bars...), which is why I'd rather eat less of the good stuff than more of the rest.

Thistlemoon said...

Hope your grandma is feeling better soon! We missed you though! You have got to email me back about the Fl foodies gathering....:)

buttonwillowsix said...

I love Dagoba hot cocoa, especially the kind with chilies mixed in. It is rather hard to find the spicy kind in SoCal, so I bought one of the Dagoba bars with chilies in it to get my fix, and to also see if I could figure out how to recreate it using their regular hot cocoa mix. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the hot cocoa, but it was nice!