In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Chocolate

That would have to be one of my favourite prayers. Give me a box of velvety chocolate truffles, or a silky smooth bar of single origin chocolate from Venezuela, and I'm in heaven!

Back in the 19th century, chocolate artisans from Provence in the south of France must have considered chocolate as a sure fire ticket to heaven as well. 

To pay tribute to the local Catholic friars and nuns who had been helping the local poor for decades, they decided to create a thin chocolate ganache with nuts and dried fruits, and called their new creation "chocolate mendiants". 

"Chocolate mendiants" from Kakawa in Darlinghurst, Sydney

A "mendiant" means a "beggar" in French, and some of the most famous Catholic orders created in the 13th century - the Franciscans, Carmelites, Dominicans and Augustinians - were referred to as the 4 "Ordres Mendiants", or "Mendicant orders".

These friars and nuns sought to imitate the life of Jesus by observing absolute poverty and dedicating their life to preaching the gospel and helping the local poor. They depended directly on the charity of the people for their livelihood - hence the "beggar' reference. 

 
The Franciscans and their brown robes; the Dominicans and their white robes.

The original nuts and dried fruits in the "chocolate mendiant" recipe - namely walnut / hazelnut, dried fig, almond and sultana - were a direct reference to the different robe colours of each order.

Nowadays, chocolate artisans also use delicious ingredients such as dried orange peel, dried berries or shredded coconut in their "chocolate mendiants". In Sydney, my favourite "mendiants" come from Kakawa in Darlinghurst.

Chocolate mendiants from Kakawa in Darlinghurst, Sydney

If you want to try them, as well as taste other delicious chocolate treats and find out more about culinary traditions from France, why don't you join our exciting "13 Desserts of Provence" Christmas lunch on Saturday 11 December? Tickets are selling fast though, so we recommend early bookings!

So tell me dear reader, what kind of food brings YOU straight to heaven?

Comments

[Simon Food Favourites]

oh yum. they look simply devine and devilishly delicious! :-)

[Catherine White]

The historical vignettes, added to the sweet designs makes for delicious reading.

Delectable ...

[Myriam]

Hey, thank you for that Simon - looking forward to reading all about your recent trips on you blog!

Catherine > Thank you my dear! Actually, it was quite fun taking pictures of these chocolate mendiants on this chess-board like Champagne case Jean brought back from work the other day ;-)

[IronChefShellie]

dunno if my previous comment worked.. but YUm!! these look amazing!

[Lindor]

White chocolate truffles are my straight to heaven food. Love the use of the chess board in your pictures. Maybe you should make some representing each chess piece and see if you can make it to the end of a game without eating them!