I discovered this chocolate bar on a recent trip to Peru. La Iberica is one of the top two chocolate companies in Peru, and their standard is the “Milky” bar. This is a bit of a misnomer since it’s actually dark chocolate, but I can overlook this given the delicious nature of the beast.
The bar itself is fairly standard–thick and narrow rather than flat and wide, and the ingredients don’t list anything out of the ordinary. However, one bite lets you know that this is no ordinary chocolate. I’ve eaten several of these bars now, and just before i bite into a new one, I think “Ok, it can’t possibly be as good as I’m making it out to be in my head.” But it is. There’s something extra that I haven’t tasted in any other chocolate bar, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s dark chocolate, but not too dark. It has vanilla extract, but this isn’t overpowering. It’s sweet, but not overly so. I’m stumped. Having spent years in Southeast Asia, I’m inclined to think that the secret ingredient in anything deliciously addictive is msg, but I’m guessing that’s not it. I’m going to have to chalk it up to Peruvian water, because I don’t know what else it could be. My friend Anna says that Peru is the greatest country on earth besides the US, and based on this chocolate bar, I just might have to agree.
