After being informed by a Stansted Airport cafe (expert on Italian cuisine) that the Italian style of hot chocolate is bland, watery, and tastes vaguely of dirt (See old entry here), I decided to investigate the matter myself. following somewhat extensive field research in Rome, Naples, Venice, and Florence, I am prepared to reveal my findings.
In Rome I sampled a type of hot chocolate that must be eaten (not drank) with a spoon. With numerous varieties ranging form the basic milk chocolate to dark chocolate-chili pepper to white chocolate with lemon and pine nuts, served in a large mug, this chocolate was way too thick to drink -- the consistency resembled pudding more closely than it resembled a drink. This thick consistency, along with the strong flavors allow this cioccolata to stand far apart from its Stansted representatives.
In Naples, the hot chocolate returned to a more familiar liquid form, though very hot and quite rich in chocolate. Venetian chocolate held true to this form - drinkable straight from the cup, yet very flavorful (that flavor being of chocolate, not of mud).
Florence was an interesting new style, and quite possibly my favorite. The hot chocolate was melted pure dark chocolate, with no more than the tiniest possible amount of milk to allow it to keep a semi-liquid form as it cooled. Still, the liquid thickly coated the spoon, and did harden somewhat upon cooling. The color was the same as one would see upon unwrapping a good bar of chocolate - rich, dark brown.
In summary, italian-style chocolate is being misrepresented in Stansted Airport. Lawyers should be dispatched to London to clear up this misunderstanding (nay - slander) as soon as possible. Also, to any mothers who argue that a shade of chocolate milk darker than the standard milk-carton version is too chocolaty -- take a trip to Italy and see how the masters do it!
No comments:
Post a Comment