What Makes French Hot Chocolate Such A Luxurious Experience?

Hot chocolate is a hit in America, particularly around the winter holiday season when it is celebrated as a post-sledding treat and classic Christmas movie accompaniment. It's a pretty sweet, rather thin beverage that sometimes comes in the form of powders, syrups, and hollow chocolate orbs called bombs. It's often made with water and dotted with marshmallows. To really elevate it, condensed milk is a creamy ingredient that steps up the game nicely – or you can even add red wine to hot chocolate.

The French love hot chocolate, too, but the idea of making theirs with water is likely to make them cry into their Camembert. Hot chocolate isn't just a drink aimed at children in France, it's a way of life no matter how old you are. Sitting down at cafés, everyone from children to chicly-dressed adults look forward to cups of this special, warm chocolate which is often served with goblets of freshly whipped cream. 

French hot chocolate (known as chocolat chaud) is made by stirring dark or bittersweet chocolate and a little sugar into hot milk. As it's heated, the chocolate becomes so rich and silky it could coat your spoon, and is worthy to be sipped slowly so as to enjoy every chocolaty ounce. You can order chocolat chaud any time of year in France, but it's particularly popular during the cold winter months. The experience is like drinking warm, melted chocolate, which undoubtedly tastes better at the end of a chilly day than under the hot sun. The whipped cream can either be stirred completely into the chocolate creating an extra creamy, cohesive drinkable dessert, or dolloped on top. 

Chocolate was introduced to France at the beginning of the 17th century when it was brought by Spanish conquistadors from the New World. For over a century, warm, drinkable chocolate was a treat that royalty enjoyed, along with their courts. Cacao beans weren't imported en masse for chocolate-making purposes until the 1800s. Not long after this, chocolate became more accessible to commoners who embraced the delicious ingredient. Because it was initially very expensive, it was considered special and something worthy of celebrations like holidays, which may be a reason chocolat chaud continues to be a wintertime specialty. 

A similar beverage called cioccolato calda (translates to "hot chocolate") is served in Italy. It is similar to French hot chocolate in that it is also made by combining warm milk and bittersweet chocolate, but it's much thicker because Italian hot chocolate contains cornstarch as well as unsweetened cocoa powder for an extra hit of chocolate flavor. 

There is certainly no shortage of hot chocolate options around the globe. Outside of Europe, there is Colombian hot chocolate which is made with cheese, Mumbai hot chocolate which is flavored with several warm spices, and Mexican hot chocolate, a varietal kissed with cinnamon and chili pepper. You can actually order a hot chocolate inspired by the latter at Starbucks. But if you're a pure chocolate lover, the French chocolat chaud is a great place to start for anyone looking to expand their American hot chocolate palate.