I was trolling around on certain sites dedicated to chocolate not sure what I expected to find….I was *just trolling*. I know you know how that is.
Then I got the daft idea to search for mango in die-hard chocolate territory. And boy was I grossly overcompensated for the folly! What surely promised to be an irrelevant search yielding “no results” turned up a bona fide Mango Nugget replete with a full set of bragging rights.
Mango Orchid
Mango Orchid
Mango Orchid Bouquet
Mango Orchid Bouquet
You already know what I found: Chocolate Dipped Mango Orchids.
iconI quickly learned that an accomplished chocolatier in San Francisco, Mindy Fong, had both the good sense and brilliance to create these dreamy and oh-so-edible creatures. And it gets better. I had plans to be in San Francisco the following week! So I called Mindy and we arranged a chocolate covered mango orchid pow-wow. I was actually going to get to taste the orchids that would tempt ANY foodie. How’s that you say? For starters, the mangoes used in Mindy’s orchids hail from the island of Cebu in the Philippines; many a mango authority find them to be the finest, sweetest mangoes available anywhere.
The big day arrived and I confess I began to wonder whether or not I would like the taste as much as I admired the creativity and presentation of the orchids. After all, I’m a milk-chocolate kind of gal and Mindy’s mango orchids are dipped in *bittersweet* chocolate. How would the sweet mango slices fare when teamed up with the dark side?
Let it be said that Mindy Fong knows her flavors. Mindy grew up eating mangoes and she knew *exactly* what to do: Mindy chose to pair her mango orchids with a fruity, 55% bittersweet chocolate…a complementary, pitch-perfect choice! I’ve *Never Ever* had a treat quite like these orchids and I’m guessing this also applies to most everyone I know. This brings me to my next, seemingly unrelated point. (bear with me here…)
I have an agreement with my girlfriends, Mom, Dad & siblings that we don’t buy gifts for each other. Why? Not only do we all have what we need, but it’s next to impossible to find something really unique that reflects the love and affection we feel for each other. On special occasions, we simply opt to spend quality time together. But for the first time in years, I feel compelled to send gifts to my beloved cohorts! (chocolate dipped mango orchid gifts!)
Chocolate Dipped Mango Orchids
Chocolate Dipped Mango Orchid
Compared to other hip and respectable gift possibilities, a mango orchid or mango orchid bouquet expenditure is quite affordable. And the delight derived from sending (and undoubtedly receiving) such an unexpected, delicious, and beautiful treat is off the charts!
If you too would like to indulge and/or be indulged with a mango orchid bouqueticon or single mango orchidicon be forewarned: go down the mango orchid gift path and your gift-giving reputation will forevermore be firmly set somewhere in the stratosphere. You may very likely NOT be able to outdo yourself as a gift-giver. They are *that* good. The folks running THE chocolate site in question make it all the easier by offering free ground shipping on most $70+ orders. Happy chocolate dipped mango orchid eating!
p.s. I should add that since I originally wrote this post, Mindy has added chocolate dipped mangoes in boxes to her lineup – in addition to the orchids. These are perfect for those folks who really want them as a regular snack (heavenly snack) as opposed to the orchids, which are best for gifts.
p.s.s. And one more thing..search the whole chocolate.com site for “mango” b/c a lot of new chocolate mango products have been added… making the $70 for free shipping will be easy, easy, easy…