For our first post we're in Paris.
It's about midday, and after clambering off the Eurostar giddy with excitement, spending the better part of a half hour dragging your suitcases (it's only a weekend trip but it's Paris for goodness sake) up and down Rue du Fauborg Saint Denis looking for your hotel, dropping off your bags, successfully ordering a carnet of tickets in French (see Madame Fraser that GCSE did not go to waste) and cleverly navigating the Parisian metro, you and your sister have arrived at the Louvre.
My sister and I went to Paris in the summer of last year as her birthday present, and the very first French food to touch our lips we consumed in the Angelina tearoom in the Louvre. Angelina was founded in 1903 by Austrian confectioner Antoine Rumpelmayer and serves what I would describe as the world's best hot chocolate (but don't just take my word for it).
Two small white teacups, each with the Angelina brand name printed across them were put down on the table first. These were followed by a small pot of gently whipped cream; light, cold and fluffy. Lastly, but indeed the greatest part of the experience, the jug of deep, rich, milk chocolate, thick and strong smelling, smooth but heavy.
The reason, I think, for the world fame of Angelina hot chocolate comes down to the fact that it is what it says on the tin; hot chcolate. When I typically think of hot chocolate, I think about the watered-down drink you get traditionally in England; thin, with a hint of chocolate, all still in lumps at the bottom of the cup, and maybe some marshmallows if you're lucky, but at Angelina, hot chocolate is sacred.
I don't know the method in which they make it, but my guess would be that they take care slowly melting chunks of solid chocolate, stirring constantly to ensure a smooth consistency, and add just a hint of water to stop it solidifying again.
It seems an injustice to describe Angelina hot chocolate as delicious. It's something a lot more than that. An experience in and of itself, and one I would not recommed to anyone who was less than one hundred percent convinced of their love for chocolate. My sister managed a cup of the world-renown hot chocolate and couldn't drink any more, meanwhile, I kept pouring.
Angelina hot chocolate is full, velvety, and warming. You almost feel it slowly heating your insides before you taste it on your tongue. It isn't too hot or too cold, but is warm enough to warm you and cool enough to drink immediatley. The perfect hot chocolate.
Welcome to Paris.
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