Thursday, May 24, 2007

When chocolate goes bad

There was a time in my life when I could say with confidence that I had never met chocolate I didn't like. That time was from about five seconds after I was born until about an hour ago.

To be honest, chocolate hasn't impressed me as much as it used to since I had WLS. I still love it, but a protein shake or bar can curb a chocolate craving better than a cookie. But every now and then, I still get a hankering for rich, delicious chocolate candy. Today was one of those days.

I was strolling around the mall this evening with my husband when the urge to have chocolate overwhelmed me outside of the Sweet Factory. I went inside to peruse the sugar-free section. I walked out with a bag of chocolate-covered pretzels, almonds, raisins, peanut clusters and something called a peanut butter meltaway. All together, I had about an eighth of a pound of candy in my bag.

Upon getting home, I couldn't wait to try some. I had a yummy dinner of Asian-style chicken and veggies and decided an hour later to treat myself to some of that sugar-free chocolate deliciousness I had purchased at the mall.

I opened up the bag and took a whiff. Hmm...not the intoxicating aroma I had envisioned. Oh well. I shrugged my shoulders and dove in for one of those oh-so-dreamy sounding peanut butter meltaways. I took a bite, crinkled up my nose and promptly spit it out. It was bland and chalky and not worth the 10 calories I probably ingested during my brief taste.

Next I tried a pretzel. I was smarter this time, though, and just tried a tiny bit. The salty pretzel was stale and the cholate disapointing. It was waxy and again, lacking in flavor. It reminded me of a less-sweet version of Flicks, the "chocolate-flavored" candy wafers I abhorred as a child. Next I tried a peanut cluster. It was, by far, the best thing in the bag but that still didn't make it good.

Disappointed, I tossed the rest of the candy in the trash. Chocolate or not, the taste wasn't worth the effort it took to chew it. I never would have guessed that chocolate existed that was bad enough that I would throw it away, but I found it. Then again, maybe the chocolate wasn't that bad after all. Maybe chocolate just lost its hold over me. Or maybe, the change in my taste that makes fast food no longer palatable to me has crossed over into desserts. If it's not fabulous, it's just not worth my time.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to never thing chocolate went bad. I wonder if it didn't taste that good because the sugar-free kind is slower to sell than the regular kind, and maybe that's why it didn't knock your socks off. Maybe it was old compared to the regular chocolate that probably has a higher turnover ratio. Hmmm. Interesting.

Andrea

Tonya said...

You're right. It doesn't go bad as in unfit to eat; it was old and waxy. I just meant it was bad as in not yummy. But I've also tried high-end sugar-free chocolate like Amy's and Guylian...none of it is as fabulous as I remember.

Danyele said...

Let's face it - when it comes to chocolate, there is nothing like the real thing.

Tonya said...

Agreed!

Candy said...

I have had a "love affair" with chocolate sweets since childhood. I'm about to have WLS and I just keep praying that God will take those desire away afterwards. Any suggestions for helping that goal along?