La Maison Du Chocolat – Garrigue Collection – Summer 2010

This small box of chocolates which you can pick up for £12 arrived at my home in a giant box.  Delving in to the bubble wrap was fun, but not as much fun as the chocolates themselves were.

There were 2 each of 5 different flavours, one worrying labled “olive”.  Having tried an olive oil chocolate before I was worried about it but decided to try it anyway… last.  Apparently they were inspired by the flavours of Province.  So adventurously I tried to place them in a logical order for tasting and tried them all –

Soledad – Dark and robust chocolate ganache. This chocolate has a mild flavour which does not challenge the palette.  The ganache has a slightly fruity flavour but melts well in the mouth (unlike other La Maison Du Chocolat chocolates I have tried).

Limonelle – dark chocolate ganache infused with fresh zest of lemon peel.  From the first bite you can taste the lemon within the dark chocolate.  It is quite strong and yet quite pleasant and there seem to be little bits of lemon peel in the ganache which probably helps keep that sense of lemon flavour so strong.

Olbia – compote of apricots from the Rhone Valley wrapped in milk chocolate.  The milk chocolate is sweet and the compote overwhelming. It’s a bit like fruit leather chopped up and covered in sweet milk chocolate.

Amelo – Almond paste from Provence. I found this sweet with an almost fruity edge to it.  I’m sure lovers of almond paste will love this chocolate but I’m starting to think perhaps almond paste and I aren’t the best of friends.

Oulivado – an almond and nut praline made of Berugette olive oil which is apparently made from black olives. This chocolate is extremely interesting in flavour with crunchy bits. The flavour of the black olives is extremely faint but there – especially at the end.

Overall an interesting mix of flavours.  These chocolates were better than the ones I tried in the shop leading me to wonder if the shop chocs may have been past their prime.  I’m glad I had the chance to try these chocolates and think that maybe as a gift or a dinner party selection they would be great with their diverse flavours.