Homo sapiens are either born to find chocolate irresistible, in which case they acquire diabetes by the age of forty, or to completely detest it leaving them to be crabby, grouchy individuals. In spite the numerous cavities, and weak bones (I am told) and the threat of a life captivating disease, I am a chocolate lover! Chocolate in any form. It just makes everything lovelier. It makes the trees seem greener, and the chirp of the birds sweeter. When I was a child, someone or the other was always travelling or visiting, and the dearth of imported chocolates in India at the time, made chocolates the most appropriate gift. I used to eagerly wait for someone to come only to be delighted at midnight by boxes of Lindor truffles, Guylian, Milka, Godiva! Oh, those were the days. Everything is available in the markets today. The vegetable vendor right outside my house carries cherry tomatoes, avocados and asparagus, for crying out loud. These were only names id read in cookbooks, and visions id seen on television. With globalization came all the luxuries, right at our doorstep. But these chocolates never tasted the same, the smoothness seemed to have been misplaced somewhere in the barter.
My earliest associations with chocolate pastries was this tiny place very close to my house called Gourmet Affair’s (pronounced as Gurmeet by my driver Sahab Singh). I have grown up eating their chocolate mousse, natural ice creams, nougat/sacher pastries, and brownies. They served their silky brown mousse in these waffle baskets that were so innovatively shaped. They used to make cheesecakes, when I thought actual cheese went into cheesecakes. Their taste has been consistent, and even the smallest bite of their brownie feels like home. So many new bakeries and ice-cream parlors opened up close by, some of them even survived, but there was nothing like Gourmets. Now they have a small joint just opposite, where you can go for a small bite. Its reasonably priced, you get pasta, sandwiches, salads along with an Indian menu that offers hot kebabas and biryani. It’s an outdoor space, which is perfect for Delhi’s chilly winter. Now to keep in the loop of pseudo behavior, it also offers hookas which is why you always find the rich and the useless of GK2 lounging there. I tried the kebabs there today, and they’ve managed to live up to the peaceful image in my head.
