Give anyone with a true love of chocolate a choice, and he’ll choose hand-made chocolates over the mass produced variety any day of the week.
Now this is not to denigrate the big chocolate companies (Hershey, Pennsylvania is justly famous for its biggest export), but there is something altogether special about hand-made chocolates.
To start with, they come in small batches. The chocolatiers usually work singly or in pairs, and there is only so much material that two to four human hands can handle. The small batch size makes attention to quality much easier than in a factory, leading to chocolates with finest textures and flavors.
Secondly, many small chocolate shops place the preparation areas right out in front, for the customers to watch. There is something amazing about watching a talented chocolatier at work, turning sugar and bitter baker’s chocolate into the smoothest, sweetest, hand-made chocolate confections imaginable. There is a magic to chocolate making, and that magic is made stronger by letting the audience see the tricks.
Finally, with hand-made chocolates, as with many other handicrafts, every piece is unique. Try it yourself; treat yourself to a batch of mint chocolate truffles, perhaps. The first bite may have the smooth creaminess of milk chocolate, the second may have the sharp tang of peppermint, the third may have a smooth combination, but they are all perfect. And perfection is the reward from hand-crafted chocolates.
