My Obsession with British Chocolate

Well, its time to come clean: I am obsessed with British chocolate. My obsession fixates particularly around Cadbury chocolate, manufactured in the United Kingdom. (The distinction is important because the majority of the Cadbury chocolate available for purchase in the U.S. is now manufactured by Hershey's. The quality is not nearly as good....These facts are simply proving the extent of my obsession.) Roald Dahl's autobiography Boy tells of how he got the idea for Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory when he was a young boy in British boarding school. Cadbury would send little packages of their chocolates for the boys to try and then rate on a form they would send back to the company.  I can attest that this chocolate really is that powerful. It could inspire a legendary tale like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

My obsession is not something to be proud of, and it does not mean that I only eat chocolate from across the pond. I still enjoy a good bag of M&Ms or Reese Peanut Butter Cup. But it will never warm my heart like a Cadbury Milk Chocolate bar does.

The obsession started young. My family and I went to England when I was twelve to visit my grandparents who were living there at the time. We took a trip to Bournville, England, to visit Cadbury World. It is a place of magic and wonder. Our entrance tickets really were like Golden Tickets. They handed us each three full size candy bars with our tickets. At that moment, I knew then that I would never be the same.  

I went back to England on study abroad with an express responsibility to my family to bring back an entire suitcase filled with Cadbury. When I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, I discovered another magical site: a Cadbury chocolate vending machine. I knew I was in the right place. I would buy it in bulk and store it at the flat, enduring a lot of teasing from my professors and fellow students alike. But I knew it would be worth it. Real Cadbury chocolate is hard to come by in the U.S., and my stash would hopefully last for a while.





Unfortunately, it ran out quick, and I knew I needed to find more. That is when I discovered Blickenstaff's, a marvelous candy/toy store in the Riverwoods. There I found my Boost bars, my Twirls, my Cadbury Dairy, and even my mint Aero bars. Without their supply of British chocolate, I would be paying a crazy premium for Cadbury chocolate flown in from overseas. I love going to Blickenstaffs, and I love seeing the large tollbooth filled with my favorites.

So here is my slice of life: go to Blickenstaff's, and try a piece of Cadbury chocolate. It will bring a bit of magic into your life. There is a reason that chocolate is a cure for the despair of Dementors...but remember, its British chocolate they're eating. And that's just the musing of a marvelous me.