From homemade chocolate gems (see previous post) to store bought high end chocolate “couture”… One thing that sets apart these stunners is the packaging devoted to these morsels. More and more top quality or “designer” chocolates are boxed extravagantly, with the highest quality cardboard boxes, paper wrappers, dividers, ribbons, etc. Some folks get weak at the knees when a shocking orange box from Hermes, a baby blue box from Tiffany’s, a glossy burgundy box from Asprey, chocolate brown box from Vuitton or black box from Bulgari is presented but I have increasing become intrigued with chocolate packaging instead…
My wife and daughter received these Valentine’s chocolates from 
generous foodies who were recently in New York and Paris. The “G” box is a limited edition Valentine’s offering of beautiful heart shaped chocolates from Godiva that has 15 specially created flavors that not only looked precious, they actually tasted absolutely heavenly. With flavors like Salted Caramel, Key Lime Pie, Tahitian Vanilla and the most intriguing Mexican Hot Chocolate, this was a near “sinful” pleasure to consume. Visit their webpage devoted to this one special edition of Godiva. At USD 50 a box plus tax for just 15 hearts, they came out to roughly PHP190 per heart which took just two bites to consume. Some things you just don’t want to know the cost of… And despite their heady price, the collection has SOLD OUT and we are truly privileged to have tasted some of them. The black box in the photo is from Christian Constant in Paris and contained two varieties of chocolate dipped citrus peels (clementine and mandarin orange). Candied orange peel in dark chocolate is one of our favorites and these did not disappoint!
13 Responses
Very artsy, wouldn’t want to eat it. Happy Valentine’s Day MM and to your family, too. Also to your readers.
Added bonus is the luxurious smell of good chocolate tickling your nose as you open it.
aaarrrgghhhhhhhh!!!!
yeah pralines and truffles could be that and even more expensive. . . if you want an alternative you could get chocos like these at Park Avenue Desserts 2747 unit C Zamora St. Pasay City phone numbers 8346636/35 cheaper and just ok for gifts and giveaways. . . they sell i think more or less 2grand for a kilo i think they also have chocos with transfers, you know the prints you see on the surface of the chocos. . .
mm have you heard of cowgirl chocolates? with flavours like lime tequila dark chocolate, habanero caramels, sarsaparilla milk chocolate, raspberry lemonade dark chocolate, most of their flavours are spiced but they recently came up with a line of “mild-mannered” truffles….
I just came back from the best part of Athens and I saw a lovely shop that sells chocolates, amourous, heavenly belgian truffles….. 68euro a kilo ;-)
Time comes I will bring you a beautiful box of choc from Zurich’s Sprungli.
Happy Valentines!
I hope the chocolates tasted as good as they looked. Am very much a fan of top end confectionery, which make very good gifts still. Maybe I am a snob, but really it is dictated by taste, so none of this Cadburys rubbish. My favourite at the moment is Pierre Marcolini…
Not a big fan of chocolate but your picture is really gorgeous.
Ana, they were beautiful and very tasty… Mila, the smell of choclate out of a box of La Maison du Chocolat truffles is something burned into my food memory banks… millet, sorry, didn’t mean to elicit such a pained comment from you…heehee, I jest,Wilson, thanks for that tip, I am curious about the transfers and will check out that place in future… rina, first I have heard of cowgirl chocs, they sound very interesting indeed! Sha, you are my most prolific commenter from nearly day 1 of this blog, daghang daghang salamat guid!!! HRM, I understand your desire for the Rolls Royce…though I tend to slum it once in a while. A red foil wrapped kisses kiss is good for that requisite chocolate fix for marketman…I have loved them since my single digits!
I love, love, looove fine European chocolates. So that special edition Godiva was good? That’s good to know. Regular, everyday Godiva is overpriced schlock IMHO. It’s too sweet.
I’m partial to La Maison du Chocolat (France), which I buy whenever I am in New York (and by mail order once in a while). Neuhaus (Belgium) and Teuscher (Switzerland) are also very good. Pralines and truffles… those are the guaranteed ways to make me swoon. Literally swoon.
:)
I second HRM, Pierre Marcolini is my current favorite too..but I must admit, I do enjoy my Cadbury Fruits and Nuts every now and then. Is it just me? I can’t seem to eat a Hershey’s chocolate bar nowadays, they are just so sweet! MM or anyone else, any thoughts on where to get good tablea? or did you do a post on this already? Will check archives.
Alicia, I get tablea in bohol markets, also Peueo (sp?) in a pinch. As long as there are no additives or extenders it should be pretty good. There is also a chocolate shop in binondo that Ivan visits on his tours that has been making tablea for ages… fried neurons…that’s a pretty comprehensive list of the good stuff…HRM and Alicia, where does one get Pierre Marcolini? I have never noticed the stuff…
tablea is excellent for making truffles. it lends a sharp bittersweet taste that goes well with an addition of Kahlua or Tanduay rum. the texture is also a bit granular…i can’t seem to melt the tablea to a smooth consistency. but still, the bits carry that concentrated bittersweet punch. but i have yet to find the chocolate shop in binondo though…can anyone give directions of where it is? thanks.