RONI-SUE'S CHOCOLATES

Hershey's has its kisses and Perugina has its baci, but in the World of Chocolate they're mere pecks on the cheek compared with the deeply sensuous smooch known as the truffle. And I recently enjoyed one of the very best truffles I've ever had the pleasure of popping in my mouth.

The truffle that changed my life was a Diablo (pictured) from Roni-Sue's Chocolates, which operates out of a little booth at the Essex Street Market. Roni-Sue's website describes the Diablo as follows:

Reminiscent of a deep, complex mole—a Callebaut bittersweet chocolate ganache center with red chile confit, sweet red pepper ‘leather’, red chile jam, fresh chile infused tequila and Mexican cinnamon. Hand rolled and hand dipped—topped with a dot of red chile chocolate and a red chile flake.

This luscious truffle offered such a complex and satisfying array of complementary flavors that the best way I can communicate them to you is to refer you to the episode in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when Violet Beauregarde chews the stick of gum-in-development that contains an entire meal.

"Fabulous!" shouted Violet. "It's tomato soup! It's hot and creamy and delicious! I can feel it running down my throat!"


"The second course is coming up! It's roast beef! It's tender and juicy! Oh boy, what a flavor! The baked potato is marvelous, too! It's got a crispy skin and it's all filled with butter inside!"

Of course, when Violet gets to the blueberry dessert, all hell breaks loose, but you don't have to worry about that kind of problem with the Diablo, which is delicious and much safer from start to finish.

The Diablo was my absolute favorite among many samples of that I tried. The truffles basically fall into two categories: those filled with Callebaut bittersweet chocolate and those filled with handmade perzipan, which is like marzipan. I tend to prefer the truffles that, like the Diablo, have the Callebaut fillings—especially the Mint (pictured), Portly Fig, and Cherries Jubilee varieties. Other favorites (I liked everything I tried, but I'm covering the standouts) were the tri-level hazelnut truffle and the mild peppermint bark.

And I'm told all of these truffles are gluten-free. As are the truffles and other chocolates at verē.

Oh. In case you're wondering, the Blueberry is very good, too, and free of unwanted side effects.



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