Eggstra, eggstra!
As a symbol of new life, eggs have
been associated with Easter since the
early days of Christianity, but ovoid
chocolate didn’t arrive in Britain until
1873, thanks to the ever-innovative
Bristol company, Fry’s. Chocolate
eggs were an instant smash hit.
Cadbury rolled out its version two
years later and by 1893 had a
cracking 19 different designs to offer,
either filled with dragées (sugar-
coated chocolates) or decorated with
marzipan or piping. The Cadbury
Creme Egg was first laid in 1971.
One of the company’s most popular
inventions, it is today produced in
Bournville at a totally whizz-popping
rate of up to 1.5 million a day.BAR MENU
Howtoenjoychocolate(beyond
scoffing it, obviously)QUALITY STREETS
BournvilleinBirminghamisstillhometo
the Cadbury factory (and to Cadbury
World).Thefactoryitselfisnotopentothe
publicbutitmeritsavisitifonlytowander
aroundthevillage,builtbyGeorge
Cadbury for his workers to “alleviate the
evilsofmodern,morecrampedliving
conditions.” The semi-detached houses all
boast large gardens with apple trees, and
thereareparksandplayingfieldsgalore.
Note though that, since the Cadburys were
Quakers,thereisnopub.InYork,it’s
estimatedthatatonepoint,around25%of
the city’s population was involved in the
chocolate industry and York is certainly
proudofitsheritage,withachocolatetrail;
theYorkCocoaHouse(yorkcocoahouse.
co.uk) chocolate emporium, which also
offerstoursofits‘manufactory’;the
highly-rated York’s Chocolate Story(yorkschocolatestory.com); and over 400
artefacts from the old Terry’s factory are
on display at the York Castle Museum
(yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk).A TASTE OF HISTORY
Not all chocolate shops are created equal
and some are worth truff ling out whether
through a sense of history, architecture or
just sheer delight. Prestat, opened on
Oxford Street in 1902, is one of Britain’s
oldest chocolatiers still to be privately
owned. Now based in Piccadilly, it’s a gaily
colourful confection – entirely befitting of
the adult Dahl’s favourite chocolate
supplier. Indeed, so much did he love their
truff les, he gave them – injected with a
love potion – a starring role in his saucy
novel, My Uncle Oswald. More Wonka-
esque still, however, is Rococo Chocolates
which, when it opened on the King’s Road
in 1983, boasted candy-f loss pink walls, a
specially-commissioned sugar chandelier
and cavorting cherubs on the ceiling.
In some cases, looks can be deceiving.
Audrey’s Chocolates in Hove, East Sussex74
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