Confession time.
When I first got it in my mind to do this little San Francisco triptych, I sat down to consider what I'd write about. There had to be music and, since my former flame was a Deadhead, I knew I had to write about the Grateful Dead. She and I both loved good beer and Anchor Steam was the obvious choice. I then recalled her love for chocolate and that it was she who got me hooked on the good stuff.
Warm memories of being introduced to the joy of her favorite chocolate, Scharffen Berger, filled my brain. Those luscious squares of chocolate darker and richer than any Hershey product could hope to be just melting away in my mouth...great stuff.
So I went and found a bar of Scharffen Berger, tasted its delights, and sat down to write. I then discovered that the Scharffen Berger company was founded in 1996, after my San Francisco-loving girlfriend and I had parted ways.
Maybe I need to do crossword puzzles or some sudoku to whip my memory back into shape. I have this distinct feeling that someone I dated was a big fan of Scharffen Berger but I cannot recall who it was. Ooh. Hopefully it's not my Frau. Otherwise I'll get dinged for not remembering something about her.
If it wasn't Scharffen Berger that opened a new world of chocolate for me, then who was it?
Ghirardelli was founded in 1852 and so I'm in the clear with the whole timeline thing.
Perusing shelves of chocolate bars recently, I've noticed that San Francisco companies seem to dominate the artisanal baking chocolate market. In addition to Scharffen Berger and Ghirardelli you've got Guittard. How does San Francisco do this?
So, back to Ghirardelli. Founded in 1852, it is reputedly the oldest continuously run chocolate maker in the United States. These days it's owned by Lindt, the Swiss mega-chocolatier, and I have read that their chocolate isn't as good as it used to be.
Regardless, I took a stroll down memory lane.
I have a preference for dark chocolate - the darker, the betterer, generally speaking. This 72% cocoa bar was a bit on the low end as I normally buy chocolate in the 85-90% range. (The 88% Extreme Dark bar from Endangered Species Chocolate is my go-to chocolate indulgence.) Unsurprisingly, I do not recall what strength chocolate bars my girlfriend and I shared so I went with a darker bar but one a bit lighter than I normally indulge in simply for a change of pace.
With Ghirardelli, you get a bar that's 2 big squares across rather than 4 smaller ones. The aroma was great as it had a wonderful chocolate bitterness with something sweet behind it. I heard a distinct snap when breaking off a couple of squares. This stuff was rather firm. Indeed, I got a crunch when I bit into one. It had a smooth texture but not one that I'd call silky.
If you are asked to describe the flavor of chocolate to someone who's never tasted it, what would you say? This stuff had a modicum of bitterness, to my taste, but would probably be considered very bitter by a milk chocolate devotee. It had that lovely roasted, earthy, nutty flavor of chocolate. I also noted that the chocolate flavor seemed mellower than that of the 70% bar of Scharffen Berger that I had bought and sampled while laboring under my misremembered past. I just don't know enough about chocolate to describe why one bar that's theoretically more or less equivalent to another tastes rather differently.
I admit that eating this chocolate was really nice. Not only because the chocolate was so tasty, but I recalled sharing some Ghirardelli with my old flame. She was a bit like Mr. Miyagi to my Daniel LaRusso but, instead of "Wax on, wax off", it was "Don't chew it. Let it melt in your mouth."
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This brings to a close my brief San Franciscan detour.
I cannot claim any expertise when it comes to San Francisco's problems. It seems like persistent remote work policies, opioid addiction, overly permissive laws, and lax law enforcement are some of the main culprits responsible for the problems the city faces today. Whatever the causes, I hope things turn around there soon.
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