Chocolate

One thing I'm loving about living in Europe is the chocolate. It seems like European chocolate is better than American chocolate, I'm not sure why. Right now the thing I'm really noticing how many different varieties are available, and how different they are from candy bars in the states. In particular I've been seeing more and more chocolate with chili in it. The concept of chocolate with chili pepper in it was really weird to me the first time I encountered it a few months ago, but remember learning in 10th grade geography class that this was how chocolate was first consumed by the Aztecs, as a hot, unsweetened drink with plenty of chili powder mixed in. 

The first chili chocolate bar I had was really spicy-it was good, but hard to eat. Recently we got two kinds of spicy chocolates on sale after Easter: sour cherry and chili with chocolate mousse, and the lime and green peppercorn with chocolate mousse, both are made by Lindt. These are oval shaped chocolates with one half being full of a jelly-like spicy filling, and the other with a smooth chocolate mousse. The cherry/chili was good, but I especially liked the lime/pepper variety. When the spicy part first hit my tongue it seemed way to strong and I was going to have to make that face like when you bite into a raw lemon, but combined with the chocolate mousse and wrapped in milk chocolate, it is just right. One other chili-chocolate combination that I've tried here is mango-chili-chocolate bar. It was pretty fabulous too. The one problem I have with chili chocolate is that it gives me heartburn if I eat too much of it. So if you aren't prone to heartburn, you should give it a try sometime! Have you ever had chili chocolate? Did you like it?