Hot Chocolate and Regret

by Libby

Armand Gamache felt he could nod off. His socks were now dry and slightly crispy, the mug of hot chocolate warmed his hands, and the heat from the stove enveloped him. (How the Light Gets In, Kindle, p.223)

Hot chocolate, what a winter warmer! It's winter's drink, isn't it? I drink coffee or tea all year round, but hot chocolate always seems to be reserved for those brisk to freezing days where the creamy, sweet richness of chocolate warms your body, comforts and seems to give you an attitude lift. Is there anything more cosy than cradling a cup of hot chocolate with its inviting aroma wafting around your face, as you prepare to savour every sip?

Louise Penny certainly understands this. She has reminded us in every book in the series, that is set in autumn or winter. Recently I was drawn to the hot chocolate references in the freezing winter of Bury Your Dead. It seems that as Gamache pursues several lines of enquiry (assisting the investigation into the death of Augustin Renaud), he stops to warm up and puzzle over the information he is collecting with a cup of chocolat chaud. 

Le Café Buade, Quebec City

Once out of the alley he found the Café Buade and went in to both warm up and think. Sitting in a banquette with a bowl of chocolat chaud he pulled out a notebook and pen. Occasionally sipping, sometimes staring into space, sometimes jotting thoughts, eventually he was ready for the next visit. From the café he hadn’t far to go. Just across the street to the great monolith that was Notre-Dame Basilica, the magnificent gilded church that wed, christened, chastised, guided and buried the highest officials and the lowest beggars. ... The entire altar appeared dipped in gold. ... It was both glorious and vaguely repulsive. (Bury Your Dead, Kindle, p.129)

 

'The entire altar appeared dipped in gold.'   Notre-Dame Basilica

We've all got our favoured version of hot chocolate. My preference these days is for le chocolat chaud, in the Parisian style. This is no commercial drinking chocolate, which I've always found a bit too sickly sweet for my taste, or milky cocoa which reminds me of being a young child. But rather a rich, smooth and creamy, intensely chocolatey experience (can we have more adjectives please!) that leaves you totally satisfied with one cup. Though I guess that depends on the size of the cup! It really is an adult's drink, particularly if one goes as far as adding a dash of liqueur 'deliciousness' like Kahlua, Frangelico or Amaretto.

The key to a great chocolat chaud though, is the quality of the chocolate that is used. There is chocolate and there is chocolate!! For this drink, for me, there is only one choice and it is couverture chocolate. Couverture chocolate is chocolate which has a minimum of 32% cocoa butter. It is the chocolate that chocolatiers work with. It melts beautifully unlike most chocolate found on supermarket shelves, which is comparatively low in cocoa butter. Mouth melt is outstanding. And it also has a high cocoa mass. Most couverture has a cocoa mass of at least 55-70%. It is different to cooking chocolate which has little cocoa butter and vegetable oil (usually palm oil) substituted. 

And certain chocolate is thought to have some health benefits (research is still ongoing). Some recent research even points strongly to the beneficial effects on brain activity, including reasoning, memory and recall. But it needs to be cacao-rich, dark chocolate with a minimum cocoa mass (as opposed to cocoa butter mass) of 60%. Suits me as I've never really cared for milk chocolate, and my brain does need a bit of attention! I'm starting to think that all those cups of hot chocolate have served Gamache well in deciphering the information he has collected.

Armand Gamache sat in the Paillard bakery on rue St-Jean and stared at Augustin Renaud’s diary. Henri was curled up under the table while outside people were trudging head down through the snow and the cold. ... Gamache took a sip of hot chocolate. (Bury Your Dead, Kindle, p.243)

Paillard bakery, rue St-Jean

This was the moment that Gamache started to make sense of the information he had been puzzling over, and identified some significant connections. It is a relief to have him so engaged with the investigation, giving respite from the voices in his head and the pain of working through Agent Morin's death and that of his other agents. He is haunted by a terrible mistake. 

His late night walks through the streets of Quebec City, as conversations with Agent Morin play in his mind, have recently resonated with me rather deeply. I have had the voice and face of a dear girlfriend in my head in anticipation of catching up with her husband who I had not seen for quite a few years, as he lives interstate. We are forever connected by her, and she, like Agent Morin is forever young, killed in (what seems a lifetime ago) a horrendous car accident with their eldest child. It was so terribly, numbingly shocking. I don't know if (in those days) we really understood well enough how to handle grief or support someone else through their grief. Back then there was a stultifying reserve in talking about things. And there certainly wasn't the level of counselling services that are available today. And we were all so young and relatively inexperienced, in our twenties.

So, there's a part of me that feels I didn't support my friend well enough in dealing with the death of his wife, my friend, and the care of his two other infant children, severely injured in the accident. I've spoken to him about that and as much as he reassures me, I still feel a sadness over it all, knowing that I could have done more, a little haunted by regret. It has taken him a long time to feel truly comfortable in his life and she is still with him, and is with me too, and I take solace in that. I still see her bright, smiling face and feel her bubbling spirit, wit and verve. Forever young.

But I have a lump in my throat writing this. Some things never leave you, and it is thirty plus years later (yes I am quite a bit older than Amy!). So perhaps it's true, that regrets about action not taken are more likely to stay with us over a longer period of time, than regrets for action taken that leads to a mistake being made or something not working out. But somehow we manage to find ways to accept, learn and move on, or at least try to. I know Amy has written about how books can add layers of meaning to your ideas and the thinking driving them, and how they even coincide at times with particular events or feelings you are experiencing. Well this has been one of those times for me.

I thought more about all of this while slowly immersing myself in a comforting world of chocolate.

As far as chocolate goes, the higher the cocoa mass the more intense the chocolate flavour. But it is the percentage of cocoa butter in it that indicates the quality of a chocolate, for that's what gives chocolate it's melt-in-the-mouth character. So for me, dark couverture chocolate it is for le chocolat chaud!

You can get it in blocks (which are easy to shave with a serrated knife), chips or drops. Some recognised brands of couverture chocolate are Callebaut, Valrhona, Sharfen Berger, Veliche and Michel Cluizel. The bottom line, though, is if the word 'couverture' is not on the packet then it's not couverture chocolate. For this recipe I used a mixture of Callebaut (55.5% cocoa mass) and Valrhona (I had drops of 60% and 70% cocoa mass).

Le Chocolat Chaud 
 

145g / 5oz couverture chocolate

2 cups whole milk

lightly whipped pure cream for serving

chocolate shavings for serving

1.  Chop or shave the chocolate into small pieces for an easy melt.

2.  Heat the milk in a saucepan until it is almost reaching simmer point.

3.  Add the chocolate pieces all at once and stir constantly with a whisk until it completely melts into the milk.

4.  Increase the heat to bring the mixture to a low boil while whisking constantly.

5.  Allow the hot chocolate mixture to reduce to thicken it slightly, lowering the temperature if necessary.

6.  Pour into a serving pot or directly into cups.

7.  Top each cup with some whipped cream and a scattering of chocolate shavings.

The amount of milk, chocolate and cooking time can be adjusted to taste. A thinner hot chocolate, for example, requires less reduction. Any leftover (highly unlikely!) can be refrigerated and heated up the next day, without any change to the texture or flavour. Great for making ahead of time!

The richness and smoothness of this hot chocolate is deeply satisfying, and soothing. There is no 'graininess', or 'fattiness' to it.  And It doesn't cry out to be accompanied by anything. I had planned to make some biscotti (double-baked Italian biscuits) to eat with it, but changed my mind.

The whipped cream elevates the drinking experience to another level. There is an amazing silkiness, sipping the hot chocolate and cream together. Serve this to family and friends and their hearts will fill with warm feelings, it is so totally distracting (there's a presumption here that they like chocolate). 

Or at least they'll want to run their finger around the inside of the cup to get out the last of the lusciousness...like I did!