3 AM. I am cooking. Crazy day ahead. I look up and see this can of wasabi and soy sauce almonds on the kitchen shelf. I know I bought it for my husband to snack on while at work, but I wonder what it tastes like.  Like sushi maybe. So I open it up. Not bad. I can’t stop eating, in fact. The wasabi kick, which makes sushi-eating such an adventure, is there. Enuff to sting your nasal passages, but not potent enuff to burn your sinuses and make you want to bang your head. Which reminds me…..

Wasabi mango is one chocolate concoction I can’t get off my mind. See that chocolate-filled plate above? The square one with the green and yellow stripes – that’s the wasabi mango chocolate. My god! Who would have thought that the perfect accompaniment to raw fish would taste just as good with chocolate and a fruit. Another knockout flavor is the chili apricot. It’s the one with the orange square design on it. A year ago I tasted the Lindt Cherry Chili chocolate bar. It was okey, but the chili was almost imperceptible. If you eat it like a pig, you would hardly notice its presence. But this one… Whew! When you bite into it, the first thing you notice is the sweetness of the apricot. And just right after you say “So where’s the chili?”, you feel its unmistakable warmth spreading down your throat.

And the best thing about my newly discovered gustatory pleasure is that it’s being made just a block away from where I live. They come from a store called L’ Artisan de Chocolat. What a surprise! Our area is not exactly the best piece of real estate around. Just yesterday the police had closed off  several streets because of a robbery that took place  two blocks away. Traffic was moving at a snail’s pace. Two police helicopters were circling  close to our apartment.  Black and white cars are a common sight here. You’d never, for a moment, think that this could be a place for an award-winning chocolatier. Beverly Hills maybe, but not Koreatown.

I feel like giving myself a knock on the head. This place has been around for six years and I learned about it only last month. First week of November – the kids and I  drove beyond First and Virgil. Just a few feet away from that intersection, maybe five to ten feet away from that Korean nightclub that we see all the time, was a small brick storefront. French flag hanging above the doorway.  ”L Artisan De Chocolat” , I read the sign in my best french-sounding voice. I pointed it out to my son and suggested that we check it out the following week.

The store is actually bigger inside. There’s a small area for displaying their wares. Most of the space is used as a workshop. When we came in, a friendly gentleman with a french accent greeted us. He was making chocolates with a Korean lady. I learned, when I visited their website, that they are a husband and wife team, trained in a French culinary school. Their work has earned them many  awards. Mostly they supply restaurants and hotels. Hotel Sofitel of Beverly Hills is just one of their famous clients.

ginger, korean garlic, and olive

Since this discovery I know I won’t be stopping by the Godiva chocolate store anymore. These candies are just as expensive as Godiva, but not as sweet. Their flavors are extremely adventurous. First time I was in the store, my heart was racing and I couldn’t stop grinning. Inside their display case was a wealth of  chocolate combinations I’ve never even thought possible.  Hibiscus (Gumamela), rose, bacon, kumquat, tomato, pumpkin, rosemary. OMG! I remembered Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Jelly Beans in the Harry Potter novel. What are they gonna come up with next? Booger and pencil shavings flavor?  My son and my mother rave about the Korean Garlic. I haven’t tasted it, but it’s next on my list.

hibiscus, melon,  and tomato

]]> http://chiquibaylon.net/2009/12/3-am-food-thoughts/feed/ 9 http://chiquibaylon.net/2009/10/grandpa-and-baby-girl/ http://chiquibaylon.net/2009/10/grandpa-and-baby-girl/#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:01:38 +0000 Chiqui http://chiquibaylon.net/?p=1488

Took these pictures of an old Korean shopkeeper and a little girl that he was probably babysitting for the day. Couldn’t resist it. They gave me an early morning laugh. I went into his store on the corner of Third and Vermont streets to have a key duplicated. I also wanted an adjustment on my watch bracelet. While the laconic old man went behind the counter , the little girl went around the store like a tornado in pink and stripes, opening shelves and turning on musical toys.  Seeing her grandfather  working on my watch , she also got some tools and started pounding away on a low bench, glancing at him from time to time just to make sure she was doing it right. Funny girl! When it was time for me to go, she hurriedly snatched a few of her grandpa’s merchandise and gave them to me. This girl enjoys playing shop just as much as I did when I was small.

Flashback: 1975-1979, Riverside Bakery. Me, Bambi, Ritchie, Michi, Rikki. Tearing up bags of candies being sold by my Lola – Love, Snow Bear, Kendi Mint, White Rabbit. Setting up shop by the fence just a few feet away from my Lola’s bakery. Calling out to passersby to come and buy our purloined candies. My poor grandmother never complained. How could she have been so tolerant?