Sometimes receiving a present from a friend or family member who's
traveled abroad is just as exciting as being a traveler. After a recent
trip to Europe, my good friend Margery — a naturally creative person with a gift for being colorful and expressive — was nice enough to bring me back a beautiful box of chocolates from ... Vienna.
Ah, Vienna! Land of Schubert and Strauss and ... chocolate cat tongues.
That's right, chocolate in the oddly-imagined shape of cat tongues, aka katzenzugen or lingua de gato, depending on where you are in Europe or South America. With a name that cat lovers will find either cute or revolting, langues de chat, as they are called in French, are elongated paddles of chocolate with rounded ends.
And here they are:
Beautiful isn't it? Like peeking under the lid of a baby grand piano and gazing down at perfectly aligned strings and hammers. Such exquisite neatness and uniformity, and all for the sake of enjoyment!
These finely crafted, razor-thin chocolates are made by Viennese chocolatier Demel.
But why are they called "cat tongues"? And what came first, the shape or the name? Did an 18th century aristocrat have the chocolates made in honor of a tongue-projecting tabby? Unfortunately there isn't any anecdotal information to be found online regarding how this eccentric name came into being. All I could uncover from extensive Googling is that cat-tongue chocolates originated in Austria and are a spinoff of cat-tongue biscuits, which originated in France.
LANGUES DE CHAT BISCUITS
However you feel about the name, langues de chat chocolates, like their cookie counterparts, are the perfect — OK, yes, purrfect — garnish for a scoop of ice cream or an espresso. They can also be enjoyed straight out of the box, when all you crave is one lick or two of chocolate.
Vive les langues de chat! And vive les bon amis!
Ah, Vienna! Land of Schubert and Strauss and ... chocolate cat tongues.
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| Vienna from Belvedere by Bernardo Bellotto, 1758 |
That's right, chocolate in the oddly-imagined shape of cat tongues, aka katzenzugen or lingua de gato, depending on where you are in Europe or South America. With a name that cat lovers will find either cute or revolting, langues de chat, as they are called in French, are elongated paddles of chocolate with rounded ends.
 |
| Tongue and cheeky: The box cover of Demel's langues de chat |
And here they are:
 |
| Sharp-tongued: razor-thin chocolates from Demel |
Beautiful isn't it? Like peeking under the lid of a baby grand piano and gazing down at perfectly aligned strings and hammers. Such exquisite neatness and uniformity, and all for the sake of enjoyment!
These finely crafted, razor-thin chocolates are made by Viennese chocolatier Demel.
But why are they called "cat tongues"? And what came first, the shape or the name? Did an 18th century aristocrat have the chocolates made in honor of a tongue-projecting tabby? Unfortunately there isn't any anecdotal information to be found online regarding how this eccentric name came into being. All I could uncover from extensive Googling is that cat-tongue chocolates originated in Austria and are a spinoff of cat-tongue biscuits, which originated in France.
LANGUES DE CHAT BISCUITS
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| Freshly baked langues de chat cookies from www.meilleurduchef.com |
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| Parfait: Raspberry Syllabub with Langues de Chat by Jamie Oliver |
However you feel about the name, langues de chat chocolates, like their cookie counterparts, are the perfect — OK, yes, purrfect — garnish for a scoop of ice cream or an espresso. They can also be enjoyed straight out of the box, when all you crave is one lick or two of chocolate.
Vive les langues de chat! And vive les bon amis!
