Chocolate

Well, like every other food blogger in the universe, it's time I did a post about chocolate.

I'm not a major fan of it, usually. There's so much rubbish chocolate out there, and half the time, it's the sugar that you crave and not the cocoa. I find most chocolate too sweet and too milky.

So the stuff that I like is the 80% cocoa and the stuff with nuts, as they tend to cut the sweetness. Fruit and nut doesn't even bear thinking about. Two kinds of sweetness in one package? Sugar overload! The fructose plus the refined sugar is all just too much.

So it's semi-sweet and dark all the way for me.

I like Lindt (but NEVER the round red ones with the goop inside: ONLY the flat packs of 70% and up cocoa content, or possibly the one with the orange pieces), Whittaker's Semisweet Dark and the dark one with orange, or your quality pieces from specialty stores.

Not Darrell Lea: too sweet and crumbly. But mostly too sweet.

Otherwise, there are a few shops in Brisbane that stock excellent chocolate.
Chocolate to Die For is on Adelaide St, just up from Anzac Square. Check out their range of handmade filled and plain chocolates: my favourites are the buttercrisp, rainforest macadamia and chili truffle. There are a few native Australian flavours in there like lemon myrtle that are fairly unique and well worth the trip. They've also got some other chocolate products in there from other suppliers, like top-notch drinking chocolate and chocolate bars.
There's also Chocolate Boulevard in the bottom of the Myer Centre. Have heard mixed reviews about the service, but apparently the chocolate is fantastic.
Mariebelle is a New York chocolate company, products available here in selected delis. James St Fruit Market and the good fruit shop on Stanley Road at Carina both stock it. Gorgeous packaging and great quality. For a very special occasion, order online from Melbourne company Definitely Chocolate. This mob know what they are talking about. Premium and top-shelf goods, delivered asap, original and fabulous flavours, luxury chocolate. We've ordered from here a couple of times and I find myself trying actively not to finish the box... to delay the moment when I will return to an inferior product. Because after this, everything will be inferior! I love their selection of gourmet single-origin chocolate bars.