A favorite summer treat: L.A. Burdick’s iced hot chocolate
It pains me to acknowledge it, but summer is eventually going to end. In the not distant future, the air will turn crisp and whisper of autumn. But before the last of the hot, sunny days disappear, I’m determined to fit in as much summer fun as possible.
One of my favorite summer treats is iced hot chocolate. For over a decade now, my go-to iced hot chocolate spot has been the L.A. Burdick cafe in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Burdick uses Valrhona chocolate in their standard chocolate drinks, and more recently has added a line of single source chocolate options. Lately, I’m partial to the Madagascan for drinking; the Burdick menu describes it as “Madagascan: 64% chocolate with a very sharp fruity acidity with hints of citrus and vanilla. Medium body wih a long finish.” Translation: MELTED YUM!
Perhaps the most fun, though, comes in introducing someone to the drink for the first time. Too often my friends and colleagues squeal “Iced hot chocolate?! Who knew? Oh, the deliciousness!” as though their lives have been forever changed by the experience. And I can’t help but chuckle and roll my eyes when I hear the familiar “Iced hot chocolate? Isn’t that an oxymoron?” Poor little rich kids trapped in a literal world…
It’s possible that the literalists are thinking “Isn’t this just… chocolate milk?” In fact, it is so. much. more. Burdick’s prepares the iced hot chocolate by first melting chocolate shavings in steamed or scalded milk, then pouring the hot mixture over ice. They’ll even add whipped cream and a sprinkling of cocoa powder on top, if you fancy. In an epic battle of chocolate milk vs. iced hot chocolate, iced hot chocolate would claim an easy victory. (More on this in a future post.)
I credit the Cambridge L.A. Burdick cafe with introducing me to my first tastes of fine chocolate back when I was just a wee teenage choco fangirl, and for showing me that there was a vast world of flavor to explore. One of my dearest friends worked at the cafe for nearly a decade. Lover of a good story that I am, I relished the opportunity to hear the “backstage” talk at the cafe, from how the chocolates were made to what quirky customers would sometimes say or do. (More on the Burdick company in a future post, too.)
So, if you’re in the Boston area, I highly recommend a trip to Harvard Square to taste this special drink. Good luck resisting the pastries and bonbons while you’re there.
L.A. Burdick Chocolate Cafe
52 Brattle St., Harvard Square
Cambridge, MA 02138
phone: 617-491-4340
Sun-Thurs 8am-9pm
Fri-Sat 8am-10pm
(Burdick also has locations in Walpole, NH and New York, NY)
Or, you can make iced hot chocolate on your own with one of these recipes:
L.A. Burdick’s Iced Hot Chocolate
David Lebovitz’s Iced Chocolate (As a New Englander, I would technically dub this a souped up chocolate frappe because of the ice cream… Eh, technicalities. It is awesome.)
Summer, please stay just a little bit longer.
Wacky World of Choc Wednesdays: The Cacao Rap
Oh dear…
“The Cacao Rap” from Christian Bates and Irresistible Health.
Lyrics are available here.
Wacky World of Choc Wednesdays: Cocoa pod coffin, Kane Kwei (c. 1970)
Cocoa pod coffin, photo by Christina B. Castro
This coffin in the shape of a cocoa pod is on exhibit at San Francisco’s de Young Museum.
Museum notes:
Kane Kwei
Coffin in the shape of a cocoa pod
Ghana, Teshi, Ga people
Ca. 1970
Wood, paint, cloth
Gift of Vivian Burns, Inc.Kane Kwei (1927-1992) was a Ghanaian artist who lived in the city of Teshie, near Accra. He was once apprenticed to a carpenter and sometimes made coffins, which traditionally were straight-sided rectangular boxes. When Kwei’s dying uncle, a fisherman, asked him for a special coffin, he made one in the shape of a boat. Soon other customers asked Kwei to build representational coffins, the subjects always alluding to their lifetime trades or status. The most popular early shapes were boats, fish, mother hens with chicks, onions, and cocoa pods (in the 1970s Ghana was the world’s largest cocoa producer).
Unlike most traditional African art, Kane Kwei’s coffins are pieced together like European furniture rather than carved from a single piece of wood. They are finished with enamel paint. Each one has a hinged lid and an upholstered interior (satin, velvet, or tie-dyed), including a mattress and pillow.
Suggested reading:
Ghana Coffin: Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop, a site built by visitors to the Kane Kwei workshop in Ghana.
Funeral chic: Colorful coffins convey the deceased’s interests, profession, an article introducing these types of coffins and their connection to northern California.
Going out on a high: The master sculptor who turns caskets into works of art in the shape of fish, birds… and even aeroplanes, an article about a coffin gallery exhibit in London.
Two Journeys: The Deaths and Lives of Ga ‘Fantasy Coffins’, a longer piece that contextualizes Ghanaian funeral traditions and the question of funeral coffins as art.
This piece, traditional or not, art or not, pushes me to think more on the flexibility of funeral customs, symbolic objects and the deceased, and the relationship between chocolate and grief.
Chocolate travel: Black Dinah Chocolatiers, Isle au Haut, Maine
High on the American eastern seaboard lies an island blanketed by tall pine trees and edged with rocky coast line — Isle au Haut. The island is 12.7 miles square, with a year round community of approximately 80, mostly working in the lobster fishing industry. Large portions of the land are designated as Acadia National Park. This protected beauty attracts seasonal vacationers and tourists; the population nearly doubles in the summer.
On a recent summer Sunday, I joined my mother, aunt, uncle, and two close family friends on a mailboat ride from the mainland to Isle au Haut. Our mission? To eat chocolate.
Here is our story as I remember it.
Our journey began early in the morning at the mailboat ticket office in Stonington, Maine. Riders stacked their belongings in line to ensure a space on the boat.
Sisters embraced and smiled on the dock.
The fine vessel, Miss Lizzie, waited patiently to escort her passengers across the sea.
Once aboard, we bid the small town a temporary goodbye.
We sighted a pirate ship on the horizon and were suddenly grateful for having left our treasures at home.
Postcard picturesque Stonington quietly watched us depart.
The mainland disappeared. Dark forested islands and blue sky welcomed us.
An hour later, we landed at Isle au Haut. “You’re almost there!” encouraged a weather weary note.
We walked along a sunny, tree lined road until we saw this sign.
And there, nestled amongst the sweet smelling pines
was a home, with a small cafe at its side.
Inside, we found a case filled with chocolate and topped with plates of buttery pastries.
There was cake,
a sweaty glass of iced sipping chocolate,
and a delightful, tasty bonbon.
In truth, there were several delightful, tasty bonbons.
Behind the cafe, we saw a shiny new commercial kitchen with solar roof panels.
Then we hiked several miles through the forest,
where we were spotted by a deer
not far from a babbling brook.
We rested on a beach
covered with rocks, shells, and driftwood,
and admired coastal Maine object collage.
We basked in the warmth of good company.
Eventually we reached the end of the island
and the faithful Miss Lizzie came to spirit us away.
At sea again, we passed rocky islets home to birds and seals,
and stopped at barnacled docks where the boat gently dipped and swayed in the water.
The world glinted and sparkled. A porpoise dove playfully at our side.
Wispy clouds waved farewell. And I thought, “This is the way life should be.”
Sometimes chocolate is as much about the experience as it is about the taste.
To learn more about Black Dinah Chocolatiers, see this article from the Boston Globe and visit the company’s website. The Farm Market Collection, truffles made with local Maine ingredients, is extra special. You can also pre-order the Black Dinah Chocolatiers upcoming cookbook Desserted: Recipes and Tales from an Island Chocolatier. I am grateful to Kate and Steve, the owners, for so kindly welcoming us into their cafe and home and for feeding us such lovely treats. And to my wonderful Isle au Haut travel companions, many happy thanks for the scrumptious memories.
Wacky World of Choc Wednesdays: Soul Control’s “Chocolate (Choco Choco)”
A chocolatey mid week boost — international dance hit “Chocolate (Choco Choco),” from Soul Control. The wacky music video celebrates chocolate along with a striking number of cultural stereotypes.
Wooo!
Everybody in the world likes chocolate
Mmm we love it!
Whoa it makes you happy
Yeah, it gets you sexy
It makes you fat!
But we don’t care about that!Uno, dos… uno, dos, tres!
Mama she said roly poly,
Papa he said holy moly,
Everybody wanna chocolate
(Choco choco)
All the girls were canny canny
All the boys get ready ready
Everybody wanna chocolateC’mon!!
Choco choco – clap clap
Choco choco – slap slap
Everybody sayin’ chocolate
Choco choco – clap clap
Choco choco – slap slap
Everybody sayin’ chocolate
C’mon!!Chocolate
(Choco choco)
(Repeat)Here we go… uno, dos, tres!
Mama she said roly poly,
Papa he said holy moly,
Everybody wanna chocolate
(Choco choco)
All the girls were canny canny
All the boys get ready ready
Everybody wanna chocolateC’mon!!
Choco choco – clap clap
Choco choco – slap slap
Everybody sayin’ chocolate
Choco choco – clap clap
Choco choco – slap slap
Everybody sayin’ chocolate
C’mon!!Chocolate
(Choco choco)
(Repeat)Uno, dos, tres!
Wave to the people on the left hand side
Now wave to the people on the right hand side
Now wave to the people with the pretty backsides
Now we do it all again and we feel alrightUno, dos… uno, dos, tres!
Choco choco – clap clap
Choco choco – slap slap
Choco choco – clap clap
Choco choco – slap slap
Choco choco – clap clap
Choco choco – slap slap
Everybody sayin’ chocolate
C’mon!!Chocolate
(Choco choco)
(Repeat Till End)
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About
Bittersweet Notes is an open source research project on chocolate, culture, and the politics of food. I invite you to join me as I explore the story of chocolate and the life stories of those involved with chocolate at its many stages of production and consumption.
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