We live in a small rural village, and news tends to travel fast.
The latest is that there is a hot chocolate in town that must be experienced to be believed.
My mother was visiting us recently, and one day while out for a walk through the village on her own, she discovered this hot chocolate. From the first sip she was utterly entranced. During her stay, she returned for hot chocolate three more times, and two of those times she had two back-to-back servings of the frothy steaming liquid joy. One of those times was with me for my first taste, and I too am now blissfully addicted.
I should note that in recent weeks we have been experiencing ideal hot chocolate weather with temperatures dipping well into the ‘minuses,’ ranging from -5 C / 23 F to -30 C / -22 F — and lots of new snow!
This hot chocolate is a European style, rich, creamy nectar of the gods created by our friend Rob, who just opened his chocolate shop – Chocolats Rivèra – last November.
(Note: Just to give you an idea of how “sweet” a place our village of Wakefield is, there is another lovely sweet shop too – La Confiserie – fabulous fudge (including magnificent maple fudge!), chocolates, preserves, chocolate-covered sponge toffee!)
Rob is an artist – literally, a talented photographer and potter – and a perfectionist. And his careful artistic, and socially responsible sensibilities are reflected in everything he does, his hot chocolate and chocolate confections being no exception.
The chocolate he uses is fair trade certified, made from fair trade cocoa grown in Peru and the Dominican Republic. Farmers producing fair trade certified cocoa are organized democratically and receive a minimum price which covers the costs of sustainable production. They also receive a fair trade premium to invest in social and economic initiatives in their communities.
Rob is also highly environmentally and plastic-aware. As he was setting up his shop, we had – and continue to have – conversations about non-plastic-packaging. He has opted for fully compostable, natural cellulose bags and recyclable cardboard as the packaging for his chocolates.
He has been making use of one of our stainless steel dehydrators to experiment in creating new chocolate delicacies. He’s started with raspberries, which he dehydrated into flakes that he mixes with white chocolate as a lush filling and also uses as a garnish for bite-sized chocolates that are perfect for Valentine’s Day.
To write this post, I obviously had to have a recent direct experience with the hot chocolate in order for the words to come out of me authentically. So I thought I would take the opportunity to savour Rob’s hot chocolate from one of our double-walled stainless steel tumblers. Guess what? It works beautifully and keeps the hot chocolate especially warm so you can savour it slowly and draw out the pleasure.
Most of you reading this will not be able to make it to our village of Wakefield any time soon for a first hand taste of Rob’s hot chocolate delight, so he generously agreed to share his hot chocolate recipe with us all. Thank you, Rob!
I’ll likely try it out at home some time, but I must admit, the whole Chocolats Rivèra experience adds to the magic: Walking into the shop on a cold, snowy day and being greeted by the most luscious and comforting chocolate aroma. And Rob’s smiling face.
Then sitting comfortably surrounded by Rob’s amazing photography and feasting one’s eyes on the display of chocolate creations as Rob industriously stirs away making you your godly nectar.
It’s alway the simple things in life that are the richest and most meaningful. Read spiritual.
And they tend to be plastic-free.
Thanks Rob.
Enjoy!
European-Style Hot Chocolate