You did not come to this website to read about the qualities of Swiss chocolate – because you already know the classics of Sprungli, Lindt, Cailler, Villars, right? Right.
But have you discovered Switzerland’s contemporary chocolatiers? Smaller in production, too young to have developed world renown, these are the ones you should be looking for. And towards the top of that list is Philippe Pascoet.
You should know I’m a purist: as a general rule, I don’t like chocolate with anything, even fruit (except bananas and strawberries – separately), and I normally only accept dashes of caramel or fleur de sel to bring out the deeper flavors of a dark chocolate.
Which is why it’s so atypical that Pascoet stole my heart with his aromatic ganache cubes. But with good reason: he too seeks to elevate the flavor of the chocolate, first and foremost. He then gives it dimension with whiffs of verbena, sparks of lime, cracklings of caramel, and various herbal infusions that will simply make you melt.
My favorite though – and these are dangerous (you’ve been warned) – are the chocolate covered caramelized pistachios. The salt, the crunch, the soft coating of dark chocolate… Buy a box of ganaches as a gift, and a baggie of these for you, to go – they’ll be gone by the time you reach the marché de Carouge.