Nontraditional Trick or Treat
Even on October 31, some of us would just as well pass on the Hershey's Miniatures. Luckily, there are some other options:
High-Art Trick or Treat: Bay Area superstar Michael Recchiuti is known for blending five or six chocolate couvertures to achieve the right flavor profile for his confections, and for the savvy designs that he applies to his bon bons using transfer sheets painted with colored cocoa butter. This season, he's whipped up fresh cinnamon-malt-chocolate bon bons and topped them with bats, ghosts, menacing pumpkins, and black cats.
Border-Crossing Trick or Treat: Mexican customs for acknowledging departed souls are simultaneously more grown-up and more spooky than their American counterparts. Instead of dressing up like ghosts and goblins on October 31, Mexican families head directly to the cemetery to meet them head-on on November 1. In honor of Día de los Muertos, Monica Passin, the soulful New York–based artist, singer, and proprietress of Painter Girl Chocolates, is packing "Frida Kahlo Bars" and gravestone adornments like skull beads and paper flowers into her Mexican Day of the Dead Limited Edition Boxes.
Versatile Trick or Treat (or Thanksgiving Treat): Gifts from Philadelphia chocolate company John & Kira's are in season. The fig pumpkin bon bons are filled with whiskey-clove ganache. You won't have any problem giving them away on your doorstep this week, but leftovers would make a perfect hostess gift on Thanksgiving.
Reverse Trick or Treat: If some kid in costume tries to give you free fair-trade candy, never fear. He's not trying to poison you. He's just trying to educate you about equitable labor practices on cacao farms in West Africa. Nonprofit org Global Exchange sent packets of chocolate and educational materials to elementary schools a few weeks ago. On Halloween, the kids will take to the street.
About the author: Emily Stone, proprietor of Chocolate in Context, is a chocolate enthusiast, itinerant traveler, and a lover of literature who lives in Pittsburgh. She's been a movie reviewer, a reproductive health researcher, and an independent bookstore owner. Her writing has appeared in the magazines Budget Travel, Travel + Leisure, and Time Out New York, as well as on the websites World Hum and Epicurious.
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1 Comment:
Fancy, schmancy, whiskey-clove ganache-tastic! This fine selection could have only been culled by the astute Ms. Stone. Now if only I could get myself down to Philly!
Cathy@noteatingoutinny at 12:58PM on 10/31/07