PARIS – Recently I had the chance (i.e., I paid 12 euros) to attend a chocolate show at a convention center in Paris.  Chocolatiers had gathered from around the world to present their most elegant goods. 

There were the finest bars of chocolate from almost every continent, dresses made from chocolate, full-sized chocolate flutes and chocolate miniatures of Paris landmarks.  There were pralines and nougats and all the most fancy and beautiful looking desserts I had ever seen.  But to be completely honest, they didn’t taste nearly as good as they looked.

Some may argue that it fits in with the French character, but French desserts seem to be built for style, not taste. 

Each one has an elegant dollop of fondant or sculpted mousse so beautiful as to make one wonder whether it should be eaten or placed in a glass case.  Even the simple butter cookies sold for children have intricate carvings of castles and princes and the pearly gates of heaven.  The expectation, naturally, is that eating these desserts will lead one to a world of taste pleasure so intense that most would not even dream of it.  Actually eating them, thus, is rather anti-climactic. 

This is in stark contrast to the world of American desserts.  If there’s one thing we do right in America, it’s that we don’t waste our time making our desserts look good at the expense of taste.  Take the humble chocolate chip cookie (relatively uncommon in France) as an example.  It doesn’t look like much: just a hunk of beige dough that was tossed in the oven. Perhaps I shall be stoned by foodies for this, but I would much rather eat a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie than anything found in your average French pastry shop. The only possible exception? Lemon tarts, which are excellently utilitarian.