An Edible Voyage

February 2021 When it comes to hot chocolate, the darker the better in my opinion, hence why my current favourite is the Mork 85% Even Darker hailing from Melbourne.  With 85% Peruvian cacao powder, combined with Venezuelan cacao liquor, it's advertised as for serious chocolate drinkers only, and I think I would have to agree! It's deliciously intense, a real pick me up for the gloomiest of days, so I was very excited when my new supply arrived on my door mat.  Inside was a recipe card for making salted caramel to whisk in to the hot chocolate - I had to try it!  Making the caramel was surprisingly easy, and I duly added it to the pan whilst heating the milk.  It added a whole new dimension - an even greater richness and a real depth of flavour that I couldn't have identified specifically as salted caramel in a blind tasting, but it really added to it - I didn't think it was possible to get any better.  Now I'm hooked, which is going to be dangerous! And the bes...

January 2020 Legend has it that a maid was cooking Lechada, a hot drink of milk and sugar, for a political meeting.    She was called away and the Lechada turned in to thick caramel.    She served it anyway and it went down so well that the political deal was sealed there and then.    After that, it became a national favourite.    To say it’s everywhere would be an understatement.    Ice cream, biscuits, pastries, pancakes, toast, enormous tubs in the supermarket, small artisan jars or just by the spoonful, it seems people can’t get enough of this silky smooth, sweet, rich caramel.    It is totally addictive – I had to gaffa tape my tub before I ate it all – just one more spoonful… Find it anywhere and everywhere.

January 2020 When Italians migrated to Argentina, they brought with them their love for gelato.    Ice cream is everywhere in Buenos Aires.    You won’t walk more than a couple of streets before you find a heladeria boasting a whole menu of chocolate flavours, another of fruit flavours, and of course, a whole menu of dulce de leche flavours, making it near impossible to choose.    Maybe it’s the choice of flavours, maybe it’s the heat, the local thing to do seems to be to buy quarter kilo tubs, but with so many heladerias, it’s difficult to know where to begin.    After consulting bar staff and taxi drivers, I settled on Volta and stuck to the basics.    The Chocolate Negro was a little disappointing – I was hoping for a serious cacao hit, the Dulce de Leche on the other hand was dreamy.    A strong caramel flavour, not too creamy, slightly salty, I could have savoured it for hours, but it was melting at a rate of knots!...