Kerala does a good job of promoting its main attractions, so I won’t mention them here.

I want to devote a bit of space to these serendipitously found sources of enjoyment.

Cottage industry chocolate

I found this chocolate only in the occasional small store. The chocolate is smooth, rich, flavourful and satisfying. The chocolate is made in Kerala. It is packaged in approximately 100g slabs in clear cellophane with a small paper label as a tag at one end.

This chocolate served as a revelation to me. Some years ago it was in vogue in Vancouver for people to develop a discerning taste in chocolate and for the public to learn something about how experts make the best chocolate. We learned that chocolate making is a long, laborious process that requires lots of stirring and heating that can go on for days in order to make the chocolate smooth. The idea spread that only high end companies in Europe have the expertise to make a really good chocolate.

Hence my delight at tasting this cottage industry chocolate from Kerala. This Kerala chocolate is delicious, having the smoothness and flavour that makes it a sublime treat. Someone knows what they are doing.