First and foremost, on Valentine's day only girls give out chocolates- to their friends and to boys. But boys generally return the treat a month later on March 14th, known as White Day. This holiday was actually created by a Japanese chocolate company- a cleverly executed marketing scheme if there ever was one! Anyway, back to Valentine's Day. Like with many things in Japan there is a social system and hierarchy to chocolate gifting.
There are "traditionally" two types of chocolate with even more types being invented in recent years. First, is honmei choco, this is chocolate given to boyfriends, husbands, and boys you really like! More interestingly, honmei choco is supposed to be handmade, not store-bought. It is believed that the care and effort of making handmade chocolate is a symbol of your true love.
The alternative is giri choco, which means obligation chocolate. This is chocolate that is store-bought to be presented to friends, colleagues, bosses and any associates to whom you feel obligated to give chocolate to. As for the purchased chocolate there are even levels to this. Men who are particularly well-liked, have a good relationship with the woman, etc. are given more expensive chocolate. As the relationship with the recipient becomes less important, the chocolate becomes cheaper. Down to the cheapest chocolate that is given to men who are not well liked.
Another type of chocolate is called tomo choco, which means friend chocolate. You guessed it, chocolate that ladies hand out to their friends! Which brings me to my story for the day.
Like for all holidays, I like to make a sweet treat to hand out to my students in class. This year I decided to do a lovely white fudge topped with bright red sprinkles for my student's Valentine treat. Yesterday after work I went to the store to buy a few ingredients and found that the local grocery store had no powdered sugar in stock. So I checked the drug store next door. Then went to the grocery store on the other side of town. Still nothing.
Still determined to treat my kids, I decided to drive to the next town over to buy sugar. I finally got started with my fudge making at 9:00 p.m.- way later than I had intended. But I realized that I was mistaken and had a surplus of regular chocolate bars, not white chocolate like I had intended to use.
Although I was disappointed because I had planned to do white fudge, I accepted that it couldn't be helped and chose to make regular fudge after all. I began to make it and everything started fine but when I was beating the cream cheese and powdered sugar my beaters died! I had to hand mix it the rest of the way. And then, it turned out way too thick. There was no way I could spoon it into the little aluminum heart cups I had bought nor even pour it into a pan to cut later.
Disheartened, I wanted to abandon the whole thing. I thought to myself, "Ok I will just make it into a chocolate cheesecake for the potluck dinner party I am going to on Friday." I decided to heat it a bit to attempt to spread it easier- to my delight with just a bit of heat it turned into a silky, smooth liquid! I realized I could after all continue my fudge project for the students. So I made 70 little fudge cups topped with dried strawberry sprinkles to hand out to all my students and teachers at school the next day.
At school on Friday I was so spoiled by my students! During lunch break several of the girls all gathered outside of the teacher's room to see me. I stepped out of the office and was immediately greeted by a chorus of "Be My Valentine!" -a phrase which I had taught them earlier during our lessons. Hand after hand reached out to offer me a pretty little packaged, handmade sweet. My students made me feel so special and so loved!
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| "You is the love." |
