Sunday, November 22, 2009

邂逅頂級巧克力 ── Valrhona 和 Michel Cluizel


最近想買巧克力送人。既然是禮物,當然得買好一點的,因此超商、大賣場的產品是不列入考慮的。

之前送過 Godiva,這是我熟悉的比利時名牌,但我想換家別的,首先想到的是瑞士的 Läderach。事實上我與這個牌子的結緣,完全是因為台北 101 地下一樓的專櫃小姐是我東吳的學生。我給她傳簡訊,希望她給我一些協助,卻遲遲不見她回覆,只好直接撥她手機。她接起電話,一副有氣無力的樣子,才知道她日前騎摩托車發生了離譜至極的車禍,被一個逆向行駛的警察給撞了,雙手骨折,上了石膏後現正在家休養。她還是希望我一定要親臨專櫃,跟店長或其他當班人員報上她的名字,就能享有員工的優惠折扣。

這位巧克力小姐的遭遇,讓我開始考慮其他的品牌。我對巧克力知道的極為有限,於是便上網搜尋,找到了英文《維基百科》(Wikipedia) 裡的 Godiva Chocolatier。這個詞條參考了 1999 年 12 月 18 日《國際先鋒論壇報》(International Herald Tribune) 記者 Conrad de Aenlle 的一篇報導 "Valrhona May Be Best, but Not Most Expensive: For Chocolate Lovers, Offer a Taste of Paradise",裡頭有句評價讓我十分心動:

Godiva chocolates are relatively expensive, even compared to lesser-known brands that are considered to be of higher quality, like Valrhona or Michel Cluizel.

因著這句話,我今天就在台北找到了賣 Valrhona 和 Michel Cluizel 這兩家頂級法國巧克力的專櫃。真的,比起 Godiva 那令人咋舌的價格,Valrhona 和 Michel Cluizel 相對便宜許多。

至於滋味如何?我沒有拆封,尚無機會品嚐,到時候再問問吧!

照片一Valrhona 最招牌的黑巧克力
照片二Michel Cluizel 五大莊園經典巧克力組合

2 comments:

Scully W. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Scully W. said...

If you would like to have chocolate as gift, i recommend "Casa del Cacao," which specializes in selling chocolate products. Its chocolate is sold in a variety of shapes and designs, so it's very presentable. Yet the chocolate is quite expensive and not as pure and tasty as GODIVA's. Still a good gift choice for female friends.

The following is the link of Casa del Cacao:
http://www.casadelcacao.com/html/about/index.asp