So, did you enjoy National Chocolate
Day yesterday? You're not suffering from a chocolate hangover or
anything, right?
Or is that just me?
Actually, I didn't eat any more than my
usual share of chocolate yesterday, although I did spend a moment
thinking about what may be my chocolate bar of all time. And it's
from, of all places, Poland.
Seriously.
A couple of years ago Loraine and I
(and Tony the Tour Guide) went into Poland for a few hours during a
trip to Germany. One of the places we stopped was a grocery store,
because we had to check out the Polish chocolate selection. We just
had to. While there, Loraine bought and tried a white chocolate
coffee bar that she fell in love with, and I like I mentioned, I
off-handedly picked what I, in hindsight, consider the best bar I've
ever tried--
This is an E. Wedel (and take a deep
breath here) Czekolada Gorzka Wisniowa, which sounds kinda scary but
which is actually a dark chocolate bar that holds both a creamy white
filling AND little chunks of cherries within its dark chocolate
goodness. It's like heaven on Earth, assuming, of course, heaven is
made of chocolate.
It was amazing.
It took a little work, but I did end up
finding out some information about the
company and the bar. As it turns out, E. Wedel was one of Poland’s
first chocolate companies, and is still one of their most beloved.
It started in the 1850s, and was quite popular up until the Germans
invaded in 1939. The company refused to collaborate with the
Nazis--even using their factory to hide people--so it was destroyed
before the war’s end. The company rebuilt it in the late 40s, only
to then see it nationalized by the Communist government. When the
Wall fell in 1989, the family regained control of the factory, and
over the past 25 years it’s been in the hands of Kraft and Cadbury,
among other international chocolate companies.
Who knew?
I wish I had the foresight to buy more
of Czekolada Gorzka Wisniowa bars while we were there; unfortunately,
because Poland doesn’t use the Euro, we only had a limited amount
of Zlotys with us that day, so we had to pick & choose carefully.
If I knew then what I know now, I certainly would’ve brought more
Zlotys with me; if I ever go back, I’ll certainly know to do that.
And we're keeping our fingers crossed that when we go to Leipzig
next year, they may sell them there. After all, the city's only a
100 or so kilometers from Poland, so you never know.
A boy can dream after all, right?
Wish me luck. And if you ever find
yourself in Central Europe, you now know what to buy. And pick up a
couple extra for me. I’ll be happy to pay you back!!
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