A little over a year ago, I received the kind of phone call that makes you beam for hours on end, unable (and not really willing, either) to peel the smile off your face: I had just been admitted as a member of the Club des Croqueurs de Chocolat, a famous French chocolate appreciation society I'd been dreaming of joining for years.
Created in the early eighties, when chocolate and chocolatiers didn't get nearly as much attention and respect as they do now, the Club aims to bring together chocolate enthusiasts for tastings, promote the worthiest of artisans, and share its findings with non-members via a website, yearly awards, and a guide to France's best chocolatiers.
The Club has one hundred and fifty members at all times. Some of them are food professionals -- chocolatiers, pastry chefs, restaurateurs, writers, journalists... -- but many are from completely different walks of life -- fitness coaches, historians, nurses, photographers... -- their only common denominator being a long-standing passion for chocolate.
It can take a while to get your foot in the door of this particular Club, as you have to be sponsored by two current members, write a letter of motivation, and then wait for a seat to become available. But I think the format can be adopted by any group of friends or coworkers committed to fueling their chocolate obsession, so I thought I'd tell you about it in a little more detail in case it inspires you to create your own local society.
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