Dark Chocolate Takes over the World

I'm fascinated by the impressive marketing turnaround the chocolate industry has pulled on dark chocolate.  I'm 42 years old and for my entire life, the "special dark" Hershey's miniatures have always remained in the bag.  And getting stuck with those in your trick of treat bag?  What a rip-off!  Who ever thought kids wanted to eat dark chocolate?  Call it "special" all day long, it doesn't change things.  Those rejects tasted about as special as when you managed to get your sister to (once again) let her guard down and fall for the classic and timeless trick of all time.  You know, it goes like this...

"Hey Katherine, would you like a 'Chunky'?  I bought some with my allowance."  She eagerly accepts and pops that big ol' hunk of unsweetened baking chocolate into her mouth.  Ahhh, the rest is history!  That pays her back for all the times she's gotten me to chug an ice cold glass of hunky milk.  Yes, she's gotten me to fall for that one mulitple times over the years, I'm sorry to say.  

Anyway, I digress.  So, here we are in the 2000's.  That little French woman declares that all you have to do is eat dark chocolate and you'll be thin, and America fell hook, line and sinker.  Dark chocolate exploded on our chocolate scene.  And, it pretty much still sucked.  But, I'll be the first to admit if I'm wrong or if I've learned something new.  So, here goes.


I noticed before Halloween that Reese's peanut butter cups had introduced a dark one. Once again, I thought,  "Who are these people who think candy lovers like this crap?"  And especially at Halloween, I thought of all those kids who'd end up with those at the bottom of the trick or treat bag.  What a rip-off!  But, I've tried one and lo and behold, they're actually good!  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I believe I actually like the dark one better than the original.  (Blasphemy!)  It's not as sweet, which is what I like I think.  


Peut-etre, si je mange du chocolats noir avec du vin rouge, je serai petits comme les femmes francaises!