The Rolls Royce of Chocolates

I was working with chocolate last night and I've come to realize that chocolates are really moody. You never get EXACTLY the same result. It greatly depends on the temperature and humidity in the kitchen. You never know what you're in store for. Some days it's effortless, other days it can get a bit frustrating, especially if you're working with melted chocolate. I still love it though.  I mean, who doesn't love chocolate? For some it's the best sort of all-around medicine, i.e. for a broken heart, a day gone wrong, depression, etc., etc.  It makes you feel good (that and ice cream) no matter what.  No matter how tight a person's budget is, somehow chocolate ends up in our grocery carts every now and then.

One chocolate brand that I wouldn't mind spending would spend my money on is Royce'.  It's the only chocolate that I literally dream about on a regular basis.  Silky smooth blocks of melt-in-your-mouth morsels of happiness lightly dusted in cocoa powder.  It's pure genius!  

I got mine twice straight from Japan as gift from my beloved cousin.  I am amazed that she has had the generosity and self-control to spare me not one but TWO whole boxes of Royce' Chocolates because I'm not sure if I would've been able to give them away if the roles were reversed (shameful I know).  But I'm paying her back by giving her awesome food and styling at her wedding next year.  Harhar.  :))

I remember when I got my first box of Royce' Nama Chocolates (this was before I got married and was still living with my parents) and I gave up 4 squares of chocolate, quite grudgingly, to my brother and mom, both of whom are the certified chocolate junkies in the family, so that they could try it out.  They both had the same reaction as I did.  I'm telling you, once they bit into it, their eyes went wide with shock for a second or two,then their eyes closed, closely followed by a look of pure bliss.  True story.  

Whenever I pop a piece into my mouth, my entire mind goes blank and all my senses involuntary zoom in on this amazing piece of bittersweet chocolate.  And then it sort of feels like an an orchestra's playing in my head (in surround sound, mind you) as it starts to melt oh so delicately in my mouth.   Heady stuff.   I could rave about Royce' all day! 

Since the chocolates were so precious I tried to eat one square a day only.  It was like The Ring.  I'd see my brother and my mom circling the chiller where I'd kept the box, alternately and at the different times of the day, attempting to steal some when I wasn't looking. They did succeed a few times and they'd come to me to sort of apologize saying that they couldn't stop thinking about the chocolates and that it was out of their control.  Totally understandable, but there really must be something dark and evil in that box. lol.

Royce is made in Hokkaido, Japan.  A box of Royce Chocolates is usually wrapped in three layers of packaging that comes with a cooling gel to ensure it makes it to wherever its headed without melting.  It has to be stored below 10 C since the ingredients are highly perishable.  Good thing they're now available in the Philippines.  Woot!  You can now buy them at the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati (costs about P580) and when I last checked they had a stall in Trinoma too, but I'm not sure if it's still there. 

If Yuri had given me two or three (or four) different boxes of Nama Chocolates on our first date I would've maybe agreed to be his girlfriend within a week.

Kidding!

Not.

Erm maybe?

Who knows. :)