como agua para chocolate

The last weekend before Christmas, I caught wind of the fact that there was a chocolate festival in London. Yes, that's right. A chocolate festival. A celebration of all things chocolatey. Rows and rows of stalls of the stuff being sold - complete with free samples and tasters galore. And, being a girl who fits the term "chocoholic" in every single way, it was really no surprise that I soon found myself down at Southbank, wandering around in awe.

As amazing as the Chocolate Festival was (and it was amazing, as I hope you can tell by the sheer amount of yummy photos I took), we were a little dismayed at how expensive everything was - after all, we're only just out of the student lifestyle and mentality, and are used to thinking of Lindt chocolate as "splashing out a bit" in terms of price (oh dear).

Imagine my face when, after I had a free sample of what I can only describe as heaven - luxury lemon curd dark chocolate - I went to buy some, only to find out that a small box would set me back nearing £20. Ouch.
Our cunning plan was then to taste as much as we could, and treat ourselves to one expensive bar of chocolate; because it all tasted so delicious, it would be worth the price. And so, a few hours, a hot chocolate, a box of churros con chocolate and a whole load of free samples later, we came away from the festival with two bars of the best chocolate I have ever tasted in my life - from pioneering organic chocolate company Original Beans.

I really urge you to check them out, if you're a chocolate lover - or, to be honest, even if you're not, because this stuff will convert you. Not only is the chocolate actually the most delicious I have ever tasted (and I've tasted a lot), it's completely organic, and each bar has a fantastic system whereby for each bar that is sold, the company will plant a tree. Simply enter a code on the back of your bar into a form on their website and you can see where your bar's tree has been planted - love it! So: great chocolate, great for the environment, and great for the local people in the countries that produce chocolate too - have a look at this article for more information.

What's the best chocolate you've ever tasted?