On a trip to Tuscany in Italy a decade ago, I’d ordered hot chocolate in a little café in the historic town of Siena. It was decadent, dark, creamy, and so thick I had to eat it with a spoon. The heavenly taste and aroma I can recall even now. What gave it that amazing taste? All that I remember was a sign behind the counter that said Eraclea, an Italian brand that made the base powder. I thought about that hot chocolate many times after that day. I ordered hot chocolate in dozens of places, but nothing quite matched up with the memory I carried on my taste buds.

Several years later, walking along a tiny side street in the medieval Swiss city of Lucerne, I spotted a sign that said “Hot Chocolate”. I walked across to it expecting nothing more than a chance to sip a Swiss hot chocolate. Instead, I spent the next two hours in there chatting with the owner Daniel Biller, an electrician who had given up his profession to open his dream chocolate shop. I smiled when he gave me small cup of molten chocolate (yes, it was Eraclea). I closed my eyes as I sipped it, and the memory of that morning in Siena came flooding back. It was the same smooth, rich texture, the same intense flavour that pulled at my heart to let me know I’d found the one!

As I chatted with Biller, I tasted local artisanal chocolates and others from around the world. When I entered the store, I’d told Biller I dislike milk chocolate and only ate the dark variety. Biller, whose knowledge of chocolate was obviously far superior to mine, convinced me to taste a beautiful milk chocolate made by a local chocolatier. It curled around my mouth, hitting not just the right notes, but a symphony. Then he made me sample another, rather ordinary tasting bitter chocolate that’s mass produced (and rather famous) in Europe. My pretentious chocolate snobbery evaporated that day. I still like dark chocolate, but I know well that there are many milk chocolates that can give a dark stiff competition.  On that chance encounter that day I learnt another lesson: to appreciate food for what it is, for what it tastes like, not for its name or stamp or PR status.

Some parts of this piece appeared in an editorial in National Geographic Traveller India’s the January 2014 print edition.
Top Photo by Monika Grabkowska on Unsplash