Chocolate Cravings: Lavender and Chocolate!

I made a new discovery...Belgian chocolates with lavender made by Zaabar.What a combination..dark chocolate and the sweet scent of lavender! It reminds me of chocolate mixed with rose water. Both blend the quintessential culinary extravagance with beloved floral scents that transform into flavors.

I understand how integrated our senses of taste and smell are with each other, but I am puzzled by how something that I associate so clearly with a certain scent becomes a taste. Rose and lavender fragrances are so grounded within my mind that I almost cannot conceive of their taste.

 I shared the chocolate with two other people. One person was not thrilled with the taste because she thought she was eating soap. The other person was not thrilled with the taste, but was okay with it. But I was really intrigued by it! The chocolate is a rich, dark chocolate...so the bitter-sweet flavor is strong enough to resist being overpowered by the lavender taste. And the lavender was a wonderful complement to the chocolate. Not only was the taste wonderful, my nose was quite happy with the wonderful lavender-chocolate aroma.

Lavender is valued in India for its anti-depressant qualities and other medicinal uses. In Europe, lavender is valued for its healing, invigorating, and cleansing qualities. The ancient Romans used it to freshen linens and perfume their baths. I love bath gels with lavender scents!