A study conducted by a food delivery app showed that Chennai ranked fourth in the list of cities buying chocolate items in India. It also showed that 60% of the top dessert orders in the city are chocolate-based
CHENNAI: Chocolate has come a long way — from being a currency in the form of cocoa seeds to becoming the world’s most favourite indulgence. There are some who love it, very few who hate it (and are also judged immensely for it), and then there are some who simply can’t live without it. To celebrate India’s love for chocolate, Swiggy, the food ordering and delivery platform, studied India’s online chocolate consumption patterns on its site, and found that almost half of all dessert orders placed via Swiggy are chocolate-related. “Two out of three orders for dessert are made of chocolate. Weekday or weekend, breakfast or late night, users are satiating their chocolate cravings, which is why celebrating
World Chocolate Day is relevant,” says Srivats TS, VP Marketing, Swiggy.
The study released on World Chocolate Day (July 7) revealed that Chennai was ranked 4th in buying chocolate items, after Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. We spoke to a few die-hard chocoholics in the city to gather their crazy chocolate experiences. “It’s more of a weakness than a love. Anything is good with chocolate —Nutella and bacon, Nutella with Murukku — just anything!” says Sudharsan Hari, a foodie and Instagram blogger.
Sarini Subramanian, a 24-year-old architect and absolute dessert-foodie agrees, and adds: “It’s the way chocolate melts and blends with the other flavours or ingredients and still emerges as the hero even while in the side-lines…it’s just pure bliss! And I believe that the best memories are created over desserts and desserts only, and what are desserts without chocolate!”
Chennaites have begun indulging in desserts more than ever before — Swiggy’s study also revealed that that 60% of the top orders for dessert are chocolate-based. “The chocolate trend is pretty much picking up in Chennai with a variety of new and different chocolates coming into the market like sea salt, spice, mint, cardamom etc,” says Gowrishankar Siva, a popular food blogger at ‘Foodie from Madras’.
“Chocolate when taken at the right time and right quantity, can aid in weight loss. I eat dark chocolate often as a pre-workout snack. It gives me lot of energy plus glowing skin!” says Ala B Bala, a singer, dancer and model.
Chocolate comes in a variety of flavours and forms and is so versatile when it comes to recipes. “Chocolate is one of the most interesting ingredients — you can cook, carve and make showpieces with chocolate. It can be paired with fruits, liquors, spices and list goes on — there are no limits,” says chef Ravi Srivatsavai, Taj Coromandel. Some of his chocolate specialities include flavoured chocolate ganache and fillings like spiced white chocolate and raspberry, milk chocolate and banana, south Indian filter coffee etc. for filling macaroons, bonbons and lining cakes.
So whether you like pure chocolate bars or with added nuts and flavours, ice creams or pastries, lava cake or brownies, try to go a bit more darker — the more cocoa, the better!