The Finer Things

As I unwrapped the purple paper exposing the gold tin foil the smell of spices and chocolate violated my nostrils and piqued my pallet to attention. Sugar junkie that I am I began to shake as the now bare candy bar surrendered to the touch of my hand. I felt the bar soften as my own body heat caused it to melt into the fine lines of my fingertips. Impulsively I licked at my fingers as if it were the last action I would ever take.

I learned provocative lessons in cuisine that day. The list of ingredients had me intrigued as well as aroused. I read the contents of the chocolate bar. It was a five spice dark chocolate bar that contained cinnamon, anise, fennel seed, Szechuan pepper, clove and licorice root. Lightly dusted in raw wildflower nectar honey and sea salt this luscious delicacy was more than just a simple sweet treat pushing my senses beyond their limit. My hunger for this velvety goody gave me purpose. Later I would discover while perusing the brand catalog that this three to four ounce bar sold for twenty dollars in 2002.

I broke the confection into six pieces laying each succulent morsel elegantly on my university housing coffee table. I didn’t care how the chocolate seemed somehow out of place posed on the harsh backdrop of cheap plywood. After putting the first wedge into my eager mouth I knew I would never eat cheap chocolate again.