The sweet and creamy truth

This week I will talk about the capital of chocolate, Belgium.

They make all kinds of decadent sweets in Belgium but it is known best for its creamy-rich chocolate truffles.

 I am not going to lie. Belgium chocolate has completely ruined me. I'm no longer able to enjoy a simple Hershey's bar anymore. I swear I can now taste the wax in the popular and cheap treat. Who do I owe for this act of ruination (I know it's not a word)? I blame Belgium chocolatiers. Chocolatiers are the ones who decide how the chocolate is made and make sure it's done right. Most chocolatiers make their chocolates by hand.

Finding chocolate in Belgium is no hard matter. They produce 172,000 tons of chocolate per year--please refer back to the part about them making chocolate by hand!

Though there is probably a chocolate shops on every corner in Belgium, that doesn't really help us in America. That is why I was very happy to find Guylian Belgium chocolate. Guylian was probably the first Belgium chocolate that I've tasted. Even though I was a bit hesitant to bite into the cute sea creatures, that they shape their chocolate into, it was so worth it. It is soft and creamy and just melts in a person's mouth. Belgians take a lot of pride in their tasty treats. They want to make sure everyone knows how to enjoy the experience properly.

Everyone can see in the picture how clean and neat the store is. Appearance is very important to Belgians. It's a matter of national pride for them. Another thing that is important over there is family. Obligation to the family is on the top of their priority list. I can just imagine a little shop that have been past down from generation to generation. It has a very romantic feel to it.

I hope everybody has enjoyed my blogs!

Until we meet again, good-bye.

It's time to have a fiesta!

Hola everybody! This week I am now going to venture into the personally unknown territory of Spain. We will just have to learn together.

I have had the hankering to go to Spain for a few years now. It seems everywhere I have the desire to go they loves their food. Is everybody seeing a pattern? I know I am.

When looking for foods to make from a different county, I tend to try to find the more traditional recipes. I like to find the food that isn't readily known and is authentic. No, I will not be talking about Spanish rice (which, by the way, is just rice and salsa).

Paella

Here's what I found-- Gazpacho is a very popular Spanish dish. It's a cold vegetable soup that people eat on those hot summer days. It's very different for me because I'm used to hot soups. I bet it's still a nice way to feel refreshed and cool down. I also found Paella! Paella is my kind of dish. It's a slow cooked rice, vegetable, and meat dish. The great thing is that there isn't just one way to make it. Anyone can make it to fit their own taste. I would probably make it without seafood. Even though the ingredients vary, the two ingredients that are key are saffron and olive oil.

One of the weird things I found about food has nothing to do with food someone would eat. One of the odd fiestas in Spain is the Tomatina Tomato Fight. It happens on the last Wednesday of August. People gather in the streets from 11am-1pm and have-for lack of better words-a food fight. I can't say that I would be interested in going to Spain and having random people smash tomato in my face, but maybe with some friends it would be fun!

Well, that's all for today. Adios amigos!