Describe your dream chocolate bar.
If I’m talking about a dream chocolate bar, then technically I’m cheating a little, because for me it isn’t just the chocolate bar — it’s an entire ritual. A combination. A moment bitten from the day. The chocolate is the centrepiece.
My choice is Green & Black’s Organic Ginger chocolate. Dark chocolate with crystallised stem ginger. Rich, slightly bitter cocoa interrupted by a surprise – sharp, fiery sweetness. It feels like eating Versace.
It comes in either the intense 60% dark cocoa version or a smoother 50% chocolate. I prefer the 50%. That extra softness matters to me because it allows the ginger to come through instead of being overpowered by bitterness. My wife goes for the 90% territory. She likes dark chocolate that fights back.
What makes the bar special is the ginger — around twenty percent crystallised Chinese stem ginger scattered through the chocolate in tiny glowing amber flecks. You don’t merely taste it; it tickles. First comes the dense cocoa, then warmth, then heat, then sweetness. It has texture and complexity. It wakes you up.
But I never eat Green & Black’s Organic Ginger on its own.
It has to be paired with a Doves Farm Organic Digestive biscuit. Those biscuits matter just as much as the chocolate. They’re made with stoneground organic wholemeal flour and have a slightly rustic, nutty depth you only to get from proper wholemeal baking – like you can smell hay in a barn. The touch of barley malt extract gives them a subtle sweetness that rounds off the ginger perfectly. They taste honest. Earthy. Unprocessed in the best possible way.
And the fact they’re free from artificial additives matters to me enormously. I’ve become increasingly aware over the years of how certain foods affect me. I check the ingredients. I notice what’s unnecessary. If something can be made from recognisable ingredients rather than chemistry experiments, I’d rather eat that.
The final essential element is coffee.
Freshly ground coffee made properly in a cafetière. My preferred brand is Grind. Not instant. Never instant. The smell alone is part of the experience — warm, nutty, slightly smoky. Then into it goes Plenish organic soya milk, specifically because it’s just beans and water. Nothing else lurking in there to stabilise, emulsify, preserve, or otherwise interfere with the flavour. I dislike food that feels engineered.
So my “dream chocolate bar” is this whole arrangement: a square or two of dark ginger chocolate, a couple of organic digestives, and a strong coffee in a hand-thrown mug! These are made by my wife here in Lewes. I like the weight, texture and feel of her mugs. There’s one in particular – she says the glaze went wrong, but I love that it is both visually surprising and has a slightly bobbly feel to it.
Usually eaten quietly.
Often late morning (to begin with).
Sometimes to inspire writing.
Sometimes after swimming.
Sometimes while looking at birds on the feeder out of the window. Or gardening.
It’s an indulgence that easily gets out of control. The entire bar of chocolate, most of the biscuits and several mugs of coffee can be consumed in a day. I ought to spread it across the week. But we ought to do many things in life but resit the worthy for the naughty! And if I don’t get to the biscuits first they’re gone before you know it. I tried bulk buying the biscuits and chocolate – guess how that worked out!
Leave a Reply