Have I ever tasted lemon and chocolate? I couldn’t recall. Despite some years, now, of tasting chocolate professionally, somehow this combination had bypassed me.
It’s not an obvious flavour coupling, so I approached Neary Nógs’ Lemon Zest Slates (£6.25/80g) with some caution and a Monday desperation.
The slates are made from 60% Ecuadorian beans and only two other ingredients: sugar and lemon. Neary Nógs’ chocolate is made slowly, and stone ground. Stone-ground chocolate is a favourite of mine as it tastes really ‘meaty’; the method almost lends the chocolate the illusion of a whole other ingredient. These lemon zest slates were really delicious, the flavours so perfectly balanced I could almost imagine Shane and Dot (the owners and makers) saying, ‘A bit more... No, that’s it!’ in making these. I commend them.
If you’re a fan of chocolate that tastes very ‘bright’, then do try Standout Chocolate’s Spruce Shoots (£6.95/50g) from Sweden. I must confess this was not a favourite, but it’s not all about me, is it? This was more of a cold shower of a bar, rather than a sofa sprawl: 66% organic and vegan (as is the Neary Nógs), the spruce shoots in this bar are a ‘traditional Nordic cure for depression after the long, dark winter period.’ I mean, it’s practically medicine.
I had the good fortune of trying Alain Ducasse’s geometric farmyard animals, from £5 for a 25g cockerel. Too late for Easter but no matter. The milk (45%) is absolutely exquisite, as you might expect from a Michelin-starred chef.
