We are almost through January, which is one of the hardest months. I always think of January and February as being the offspring of Spartan parents: no mollycoddling and left on a mountainside to survive or die.
What better antidote to this than chocolate? I started with Lina Stores Cioccolato Bianco al Caffè, £8.95/100g, a white chocolate bar filled with coffee gianduia. (Lina stores used to sell the best pandoro ever made, by Brera Milano, but no longer; if anyone sees this for sale LMK.) White chocolate and coffee is satisfyingly sweet and comforting for this time of year.
I recently discovered, via a free sample handed out at a Christmas fair, Lindt’s Caramel with a Touch of Sea Salt, £1.95/100g. It’s not super dark, but at 47% cocoa it feels dark and the crunch of caramel gives it some interest. A good one if you are a dark-choc lover, but still need a bit of comfort. And, as we’ve established, that’s everyone at this time of year.
Also: Toblerone. Nothing has ever beaten the sensation of locking jaws on one of its duty free-size pieces and, although I find it almost unbearably sweet these days, I do have a bar of its Orange Twist (with ginger), £5/360g, on my desk for moments of gloom.
At the other end of the scale for the craft chocolate aficionados, I have a wonderful treat. Table’s Tanzania 72%, £6.50/70g. With a conching time of 72 hours (I love the geeky details they put on their wrappers), this is slow-melt, super smooth, highly flavoured, very low acidity tasting chocolate. It rightly won Silver at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in 2022.
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