things that make you go mmmmm....

Friday 15th May 2009

so what do i do when i've had a bad day? i head on down to the supermarket with pizzazz...also known as Bali Deli, where one can get a plethora of gourmet treasures, and treat myself to some chocolate. chocolate makes my world go round...and after a day full of dealing with over and above the normal level of what one should have to deal with...chocolate makes all the pain go away.

and of course, the best part of the pleasurable experience is in the selection. i mean, most women find joy in browing brands of shoes, bags, clothes...but for me...it's chocolate. i could spend forever, lingering with intent in the chocolate aisle...could that mean i might earn the label of chocophile???

anyway, i digress...today i decided i'd go local and try some chocolate from indonesia. i had heard of this brand called Chocolate Monggo and seen it for sale. this was chocolate made by a Belgian, but from Indonesian cacao beans. as it says on the website "This adventure begins in Yogya in 2001 when a Belgian man, 35 years of age, arrives in Indonesia without a plan in mind. Disappointed by the lack of quality chocolate in the shops of the world's 3rd largest producer of cocoa, the Belgian decides to take matters into his own hands and endeavors to make some specialties of his low-land country using limited resources."

i was attracted to the packaging - very earthy and recycled looking and figured ok, give it a go...i mean support goods produced in the country, right? rather than being a spoilt rotten expat who shops for all their favourites from home without a care less for local made produce.

i chose the dark chocolate bar...there was also a bar with cashew nuts and another with praline...but i decided on the pure form just so that i could get a feel for how the chocolate tasted.

on opening it up, the first bite was rather blissful (this might have been a combination of both taste and the release of a weeks worth of tension in a day!) the taste was good - strong and bitter, which is just the way i like my dark chocolate. there was that lovely, almost crumbly texture to the chocolate that one gets from dark chocolate. it was delicious. i was very content. and the best part, it was so rich, that my usual ability to finish a whole bar of chocolate in one go was stopped in it's tracks. i ate half the bar, and the other half was preserved for the next day!

the bar cost Rp. 31,000 which although sounds expensive, is not for chocolate here. a bar of Lindt chocolate will set you back over Rp. 50,000 and i am happy to spend the money knowing that i'm supporting a local enterprise...yeah, yeah, i'm happy to spend the money to get some serious chocolate pleasure and drive away all the stress of a day...what am i saying i'd have spent Rp. 130,000 for goodness sake!