Hot Chocolate, Kraków

Hot chocolate, or gorąca czekolada in Polish - a hot drink made with milk and chocolate, or milk and powdered chocolate. 

If you could only have one junk food for the rest of your life, what would it be? This is an easy question for me; it would be chocolate. 

Eating chocolate is more than just a way to satisfy my sweet tooth; it is an indulgent ritual. To fully appreciate chocolate the conditions need to be just right: I need to be relaxed, I can't be rushed, I need to be sitting comfortably. You will rarely find me wolfing down a bar of chocolate on the go, but you will find me quietly luxuriating in a chocolate reverie, with a cup of tea in my favourite mug and saving what I deem to be the best bit for last. 

This particular sweet treat also acts as a time machine, transporting me back to my chocolate-covered childhood with every delicious mouthful. When I was really little, I would get a bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk every Christmas. It wasn't any old bar, it was the biggest bar they released that year and to my child's eyes it was so big it seemed like it would take a lifetime to eat it. When I was a little older, my mum worked in a chocolate shop and I would spend Saturday afternoons in the office upstairs, taking full advantage of the fact that I was allowed to eat as much as I wanted from the giant sacks of chocolate buttons. As a teenager, my friends and I would improvise our own chocolate fondues - emphasis on the word improvise, we merely melted a bar of Galaxy and tucked in with spoons! 

I often reminisce about these chocolate infused memories when I make a particularly mouthwatering discovery. That's exactly what I was doing on a warm September afternoon as I sat outside Nowa Prowincja, in Kraków's Old Town, people watching and drinking a cup of some of the best hot chocolate I've ever had. 

The hot chocolate at Nowa Prowincja is so thick that it's more of a chocolate custard, placing it firmly in the dessert category and putting the watery insipid version we are often subjected to, to shame. 

We first went to this cosy cafe-bar for post-dinner drinks, and while the wine was good, it was the vat of churning chocolate that intrigued me the most. Seeing my eager eyes, the barman asked me if I would like to try some, "with cinnamon whisky or cherry vodka?" As a chocolate purist, I don't usually like mixing chocolate with alcohol, but out of politeness I made an exception, and I'm so glad I did. The richness of the chocolate was more than a match for the whisky and the combination created a subtle cinnamon tickle at the back of my throat. Having said that, I ultimately preferred the unadulterated chocolate taste of the non-boozy version.

Unsurprisingly, Nowa Prowincja became our regular hangout during our two week stay in Kraków. Surprisingly, I only ordered hot chocolate a couple of times. I forced myself to exercise some self-control so that I could truly savour each cup of chocolatey bliss. I definitely wouldn't have shown this much restraint as a child, nor would my immature taste buds have been able to handle such an intense flavour. But as much as my tastes may have matured, I still revelled in the childlike joy of unashamedly licking my chocolate-coated lips and scraping out every last drop of bittersweet nectar.   

My friends would probably describe me as a chocoholic, but chocolate will always be more to me than just a sugar high. It takes me back to simpler times and encourages me to take a moment to unwind and appreciate life's sweet pleasures. 

Nowa Prowincja is located on ul. Bracka, just off of the main square. 

pin it!

Share it!