I am lucky to live in a city whose paper [1] has one of the best weekly food/cooking supplements in the country: Foodday [2], a multiple-award-winning section I look forward to every Tuesday. Last week, it published a whole set of articles on a burgeoning trend among foodies here in Portland: Drinking chocolate, aka chocolat chaud, aka heaven in a demitasse.

John immediately became obsessed with making it, and to our amusement three other families we know made it that night too after reading Foodday ("We made THE BEST hot chocolate last night!" "--have you been reading Foodday?"). The difference is that we can't stop! We've had it nearly every night since! We've even gotten a few different chocolates to compare tastes!

I would be concerned about it, but the little cup of hot chocolate doesn't really amount to much; one standard bar of chocolate makes enough for the four of us, and it's our sweet of the day. While you might drink a mug of regular hot chocolate, with this stuff we use our little Chinese teacups filled less than halfway--maybe four ounces liquid--and it's plenty satisfying. We've experimented with different chocolates and flavorings; so far our favorite has been 75%. John likes his with vanilla and extra sugar. I like mine with a little sea salt and a bit of cayenne.

Try it! You may go a little nuts too!

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