On a recent trip to Geneva, I got a bike and toured around the small city. My friend had given me a general map, but advised that I must head to Carouge (a town south of Geneva proper) to try out amazing herbal chocolates.
The shop was not too had to find, as "downtown" Carouge is only a few tiny streets of shops and cafes. It's a small space, filled shelves of macrons, chocolate bars, tiny cakes and a warm richness that only the French are able to convey. Behind the counter is a wall that contained all the flavoured truffles, which I learned later that they refer to as 'ganache'. The shopkeeper spoke little English, but most of the flavours are easy to interpret. For me it was being in a heaven of choice, only limited by what would not get crushed by the bike ride and subsequent plane ride home.
The ganaches come in varying square box sizes. Some are squared or rectangles, but each priced at 2 franc, so not cheap but so worth it. They had very traditional truffle flavours like cognac, coffee, mint, orange ginger, raspberry and rum, but also herbal flavours like basil, cinnamon, coriander, thyme, saffron, sage and verveine citron (lemon verbena, something I had never heard of until then). My favourites were ones that were seasonal, like elderflower and mushroom. Those two were not listed in their flavour brochure nor on the website, but were a flavour explosion!
I left with three boxes and had to contain my urge to buy a fourth. The packaging was beautiful and worked well as gifts. They also kept well while I continued my travels, despite being left in a warm room for ~5 hours one day. Their shelf life is about one month in a cool cupboard, or as long as your willpower is able to stand it in the fridge.
I would check the shop hours or give them a call before venturing out to Carouge if you're visiting Geneva. As is typical of the parts, it is closed on Sunday. read more