And while I am a person who appreciates moderation in some scenarios, the most wonderful part of my week was ending it with two days of utter indulgence. It all started on Friday afternoon, when I realized that my schedule had left me so devoid of energy and so strapped for time that I wouldn't have time to make a dessert for my housemate's 25th birthday party that evening. Finding myself in downtown Portland after a massage (told you I was being indulgent--another plug for the joys of Groupon and its wonderful discounts!), I decided to stop by Cacao, a pure utopia for lovers of all things chocolate.
A little back story about Cacao. I first discovered the place before my freshman year of college when my brother and I were roaming around the streets of downtown. It was closed when we walked by, but I made a mental note of it and tucked it away into the recesses of my memory. It wasn't until that November when Sara, Ajay, and I were heading to the train station to go to Seattle for Thanksgiving that I had the opportunity to pay the store a visit. We went to get a gift for our weekend hosts (a generous bag of chocolate covered almond toffees), and while we were there the three of us each got a cup of hot drinking chocolate, sinfully thick and deliciously bitter. We ended up having to race over to the train station, being careful not to spill any of the liquid treasure along the way. Nothing could have been more soothing and decadent on that cold and misty Portland evening as a cup of Cacao's drinking chocolate, and I've been deeply enamored with the place ever since.
I've been back to Cacao a number of times since that first experience, whether to get a cup of drinking chocolate before a show at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (lovingly called "the Schnitz" by Portlanders) or to buy any one of the chocoholics in my life some sort of special-occasion gift. One particularly memorable trip occurred this summer, when Arthur came to visit from Colorado and we stopped in to buy a thank-you present for Mark and Marcelle, some of his family friends who had taken us out all over town for a week. As I was looking in the truffle case, I caught a glimpse of a basil truffle from Theo Chocolate. I couldn't resist. The basil was sweet and aromatic, lightly running through the soft ganache in the center. I get almost misty-eyed when I think about that truffle, even still, and I look forward to seeing it again next summer when basil is back in season.
Anyway, my trip to Cacao on Friday was nothing short of exquisite, just like always. I went to their location off Burnside near Powell's Books, which is a much larger, more open space than the shop by the Schnitz. The staff was incredibly friendly and enthusiastic in talking to me about their products and in trying to help me find an appropriate party treat. I decided I wanted to get something for the party plus something else just for Anne, so I settled on a bag of 68% cacao chocolate discs from Bolivia for the party and a box of 4 truffles for the birthday girl. The man at the counter offered me plenty of samples to make sure I felt confident in my choices, giving me a few bites of chocolate covered toffee and a salted caramel as well. For Anne, I chose a lemon truffle from Theo Chocolates, a gianduja truffle (which is milk chocolate and hazelnut) and a fleur de sel truffle with a roasted almond on top from Fran's Chocolates, and a simple but extremely delicious dark chocolate truffle from Michel Cluizel. I couldn't help myself and ended up getting a lemon truffle and an orange thyme caramel truffle (both from Theo) to eat right there in the store. The lemon was filled with white chocolate, with a buttery, almost chiffon-like consistency. I would have liked a little bit more tartness from the truffle, because the lemon almost got lost in the dense white chocolate. The orange thyme truffle was much more rich and earthy, with the thick caramel oozing out of the chocolate shell with the most subtle notes of citrus and woodsy thyme. Oh how good it feels to indulge. I walked away from Cacao confident in my choices, with the added bonus of having been given a tiny gift of a chocolate-covered candied lemon peel from Michel Cluizel. That, my friends, is the perfect marriage of citrus and chocolate.
When I got home, I immediately joined Anne, Joshua (another housemate), and Anne's friend James in a whirlwind of decorating and setting up for the party. We each sneaked away to shower in shifts, and when the house had finally come together, the four of us all got gussied up before descending back down to greet the guests. Sara brought a nice wheel of a herbed goat cheese and some almond-crusted cheddar, which joined a hefty wedge of brie on the cheese board. I contributed my loaf of bread from the CSA box and my just-purchased chocolates, and there were plenty of veggies and meats to be consumed (none of the latter for me, obviously). A cute chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream (classic) sat in the middle of the table, with Happy Birthday written in script in blue icing across the top. All in all, a very simple and tasty spread.
But then, a moment of surprise. Anne's friends Joel and Kelton arrived with their road-trip buddy Jeremy, who had in his hand a wheel of Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk, the cheese that won 2nd place Best in Show from the American Cheese Society last year. I was bursting at the seams to try this cheese, and fortunately the boys had also brought a Grand Central Baking Co. baguette since the bread I had supplied was dwindling fast. Let me tell you, Red Hawk means business. I love a good cheese whose aroma can make my eyes roll back into my head, and this one was certainly up to that challenge. It spread thick and creamy across my bread like fresh butter, sharp and salty and assertive. I ended up eating alternating bites of just the cheese and some with small spoonfuls of fig relish on top, both of which were heavenly. I ended my evening feeling absolutely no shame that two of my meals that day had been nothing but bread and cheese and chocolate.
As if I could indulge no more, last night Sara and I went to dinner at uncommons. Uncommons is a club at my school geared toward bringing higher quality culinary experiences to us hungry, tired students than what we can find in the dining halls. The club is run entirely by students who design their own menus, cook multi-course meals, and host dinners for their peers in their on-campus apartments. My friend Bryan, one of the founders of the club, told me all last year that he would organize a vegan dinner at some point and asked me to be patient. Even though seating at uncommons is supposed to be based on a lottery-system, Bryan made sure that Sara and I got seats last night when the meal finally occurred, after a year of promises and waiting.
For five dollars, we were served an over-the-top, decadent, twelve-course vegan meal over the span of about three and a half hours. This, dear friends, was the menu:
-Popcorn with kaffir lime leaf, chili powder, and maldon sea salt
-Assorted housemade pickles with nut pâté and toast
-Fried green tomatillos with watermelon relish and remoulade
-Pumpkin coconut soup with powdered chili (my personal favorite)
-Roasted padrón peppers with sea salt and alioli
-Potato dumplings with sofregit, sweet onion purée, and roasted sorghum
-Cherry tomatoes infused with reduced onion stock, sea salt, and olive oil
-Oat risotto with wild mushrooms and microgreens
-Almond gelée with cantaloupe (I didn't care for this, since I don't like melon)
-Warm sliced peach with homemade coconut milk ice cream and toasted coconut
-Chipotle chocolate cake with caramel lattice and fresh huckleberry jam (another favorite, and so pretty!)
-Hot drinking chocolate
-Homemade almond milk and homemade "oreos" (the almond milk was one of the best beverage I have ever tasted)
I had a lovely evening conversing with some unfamiliar folks who go to my school and eating a wickedly good, undeniably excessive meal. I appreciated that despite the white table linens and tea light candles, my eye was repeatedly drawn to the "Empire Strikes Back" poster on the wall. This is college after all, and we have to have some things in our lives to balance out the extravagancies. So for me, the perfect end to my indulgent weekend is a hot cup of tea and a mountain of readings. Back to work I go.
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