A sophisticated palate, under the proper guidance, begins at a tender age. Amy Kalchik, the library’s Youth Services Assistant, recently introduced her seven-year old daughter to the wonders of Sjolind’s Chocolate House. As Amy described the intense, blissful look and the profound silence that came over Ella when she took her first bite into a truffle, I knew another chocolate aficionado had been created.
It began for me when I was six-years old and my family just happened to be in Brussels, Belgium. My father, gleeful, invited me to walk with him to purchase bread, cheese, and fruit. And then, a quick stop, at a little shop on the corner, changed my world forever. It was the fragrant chocolate air, the sparkling glass cases, the tiny, dark, artistic squares laid gleaming on trays, and then….a single bite of a buttercream praline made by Leonidas, the Belgian chocolatier, and I swooned. I understood nirvana. Carefully, I carried the small box to the hotel room where, a bittersweet lesson commenced; I had to share with my siblings.
And so, imprinted forever, like Ella's first real chocolate experience, I’ve never forgotten my initial, satisfyingly delicious, taste of some of the world’s finest decadence.
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