The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Wednesday, April 11

Hello, people!

I’m rambling about food again. What a shock.

Ramble of the Day

I suppose it’s time for a controversial food opinion, since I can’t think of anything else to tell you nice people about today. So, without further ado, I must share this: The only good chocolate is dark chocolate.

I know many of you will disagree, and a few of you may not forgive me. In which case, it was nice knowing you.

Anyway, let me explain. I used to be a milk chocolate lover, and don’t mind eating it on occasion, but when I had dark chocolate for the first time, there was no going back. The richness of the flavor with limited sugar is addicting. It is so beautiful on its own, and honestly very versatile. Have you ever had dark chocolate with a dash of cayenne? I have. It is wonderful (though not to be eaten in large quantities at one time). What about dark chocolate with a hint of sea salt? It is delightful.

Milk chocolate masks too much of the natural flavor of the chocolate, while white chocolate should not even be classified as chocolate. I can only enjoy the latter in extremely small doses. It does not taste like chocolate, and if it does not taste like chocolate, what is the point? Sugar on its own does not taste very good. It’s far too sweet. (“Of course sugar is sweet,” you’re probably thinking.) Sugar should accompany whatever it is paired with and should never be the start of the show.

We have talked about this before. Think about a well made dessert. It isn’t one of the best sweet treats you’ve ever had because it tastes like sugar. It sticks out in your memory because the sugar was just one part of it, and it was sweetened just enough to lightly taste it while being able to enjoy the other ingredients. I think of chocolate the same way.

Feel free to sound off on my controversial food opinions and/or drop some of your own, if you want. I am very curious! (I once told a high school English teacher via email, “Curiosity killed the Cattry,” but she said it was good to be curious and that the phrase only applied to cats and not humans. I choose to believe her.)

tl;dr: Dark chocolate is the best chocolate.

Links of the Day

Jay Rodriguez will speak today in a hearing related to his alleged racial abuse of Gaëtan Bong.

Panathinaikos players are going on strike because they have yet to be paid in 2018.

Mick McCarthy is leaving his job at Ipswich a bit earlier than expected.

The producers behind Babylon Berlin are teaming up with Red Bull for The Net, a show that examines the dark side of football.

David Squires has had his say on Manchester City’s rough week.

Today’s longer read: Rory Smith of The New York Times talks to Leon Bailey about nationality and his international future