Hot Chocolate

So it should come as no surprise that I love to eat - think I've mentioned that enough times here. My enjoyment of hot chocolate, though, goes beyond the usual sensual pleasures of food and drink. I don't make it unless it's cold, and it carries the connotation of introspection, a gathering inward both physical and mental. Not so much a "hearth and home" thing, as just a slower and more muted flow between myself and the outside world.

Making chocolate takes some time, at least the way I make it, and of course I've got my favorite ways to do it so that it comes out right. It's important to me that it be rich, for one thing. Whole milk only, please (or soy milk in a pinch, still better than lowfat, and with that nutty kind of edge to it). I've got to feel that I'm really drinking something substantial, with some body to it.

I like the bitterness of chocolate balanced by the sweetness of sugar, but not overwhelmed by it. The tension between the two is sexy. And add in some savory elements, which of course are my well-kept secret, and maybe a dash of vanilla. The whole thing must be simmered at low heat for a long time, with care and patience as the flavor matures, but also with snapping whips of the wire whisk to keep everything blended properly and create a nice froth on top.

Is it any wonder that making a good cup of cocoa makes Me ache to touch My far-richer, far-sweeter, far more complex, far far far more fulfilling k?