The gunshot echoes away. Scared me! Blinking as the house lights come on, trying to calm my racing heart.
My husband leads the way out of the theatre into the foyer for intermission. We go outside to look across Sydney Harbour. The lights from the Bridge twinkle.
It’s so beautiful out here. The juxtaposition between our play about suffering and this calm summer night is bewildering.
I feel like a horrible, unsympathetic, undeserving person when I am handed the chocolate éclair to eat. Millions are starving and I’m about to eat French pastry.
My husband launches into his brownie. I pull the chocolate decoration off the top and nibble. The perfect taste fills my mouth and I guess I can stomach this after all.
I eat up the thin square to study the actual éclair.
It’s about the same length as the distance between my fingertips and palm heel. The pastry is deep tan and flecked with brown specks… I guess it’s chocolate? In any case it’s quite dry and solid. Poke. No give. More biscuit than cake.
The icing on top is more than half a centimetre thick and quite firm. It’s so inviting. Take a bite…
Oh, it’s so sweet! Too sugary, it totally overwhelms the chocolate, it takes over everything. It’s overly thick too, it sticks to my teeth.
Huh.
Turn it upside down to get the pastry alone. It’s tasteless.
So the icing has too much flavour and the pastry none. That’s not very impressive.
Husband takes a bite. “Not bad,” he smiles and hands it back. Huh?
I take another bite and mm! Now I can taste the filling inside, and it’s delicious! Cool and creamy and moist, with a gentle chocolate warmth. It’s mellow and almost custard-like. Now that I like.
Too bad it’s sandwiched in such mediocre surrounds.
Watching the lights twinkle and the reflection of the star’s in the harbour. The chocolate éclair gets smaller and smaller.
The bell for the second act chimes. Back to reality.
Rating:
Specifics: chocolate éclair bought at Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe, Circular Quay
Chocolate Éclair
Bang!
The gunshot echoes away. Scared me! Blinking as the house lights come on, trying to calm my racing heart.
My husband leads the way out of the theatre into the foyer for intermission. We go outside to look across Sydney Harbour. The lights from the Bridge twinkle.
It’s so beautiful out here. The juxtaposition between our play about suffering and this calm summer night is bewildering.
I feel like a horrible, unsympathetic, undeserving person when I am handed the chocolate éclair to eat. Millions are starving and I’m about to eat French pastry.
My husband launches into his brownie. I pull the chocolate decoration off the top and nibble. The perfect taste fills my mouth and I guess I can stomach this after all.
I eat up the thin square to study the actual éclair.
It’s about the same length as the distance between my fingertips and palm heel. The pastry is deep tan and flecked with brown specks… I guess it’s chocolate? In any case it’s quite dry and solid. Poke. No give. More biscuit than cake.
The icing on top is more than half a centimetre thick and quite firm. It’s so inviting. Take a bite…
Oh, it’s so sweet! Too sugary, it totally overwhelms the chocolate, it takes over everything. It’s overly thick too, it sticks to my teeth.
Huh.
Turn it upside down to get the pastry alone. It’s tasteless.
So the icing has too much flavour and the pastry none. That’s not very impressive.
Husband takes a bite. “Not bad,” he smiles and hands it back. Huh?
I take another bite and mm! Now I can taste the filling inside, and it’s delicious! Cool and creamy and moist, with a gentle chocolate warmth. It’s mellow and almost custard-like. Now that I like.
Too bad it’s sandwiched in such mediocre surrounds.
Watching the lights twinkle and the reflection of the star’s in the harbour. The chocolate éclair gets smaller and smaller.
The bell for the second act chimes. Back to reality.
Rating:
Specifics: chocolate éclair bought at Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe, Circular Quay