THE OLD MAN & THE SEA

Cuba

Hemingway - Old Man & The Sea

I was recently inspired to start reading the words of Ernest Hemingway after enjoying a wonderful article about La Belle Epoque of 1920’s Paris in the excellent quarterly Jocks & Nerds. This was an era when the cream of world’s finest young authors, artists & creatives all headed to the French capital.

Thirty years, many drinks and air-miles later, Hemingway wrote The Old Man & The Sea, which is often cited as one of his greatest books. The short story went onto win the Pulitzer Prize & was also cited as being instrumental in his success in winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature. It’s a tale from Cuba, involving just a couple of characters – the old man, Santiago & his young friend, Manolin. Most of the tale is also set within the old man’s boat – as Santiago once more attempts to catch a fish after 84 days of failure – reminding me very much of another great but more recent maritime story, Life of Pi.

There is much beauty in the thoughts & feelings of the old man as he trawls the waters off Havana & encounters the biggest challenge of his life – I loved every minute of it.

CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE TOUR IN TIME OUT

Chocolate, News


Cocoa Hernando Time Out

Milk, white, dark, orange, mint, hazelnut, chilli and salt – we could go on. Chocolate has come a long way since its Mayan beginnings. There’s an abundance of flavours, a multitude of brands and it’s available pretty much any way you like it, including raw. It’s fair to say we’re a world that can’t get enough of the sweet stuff. There’s even festivals to celebrate all things cocoa.
As part of London’s Chocolate Festival, Unreal City Audio and Cocoa Hernando have produced a theatrical tour of Georgian London’s chocolate houses. The tour will feature Aztec slaves, dukes, Spanish conquistadors and, of course, chocolate. Led by Dr Matthew Green, the tour offers a glimpse into the world of gambling and depravity at establishments such as ‘White’s Chocolate House’. Participants will also get to sample authentic hot chocolate from the era, including ‘Monsieur St Disdier’s Baroque Chocolate’ (1692), which promises to be a cut above your standard cup of Bournville.
The tours will take place on December 14/15 (11.30am and 2pm), starting at St James’s Church, Piccadilly. Tickets are £15 and can be purchased from unrealcityaudio.co.uk

View the article here

A CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE TOUR!

Chocolate, FlavoursOfPlaces, London, News

Unreal City Cocoa Hernando
A new immersive historical tour reveals the dark and depraved history of chocolate and its sensational impact in Hogarth’s London.

Historical media company Unreal City Audio have teamed up with purveyor of luxury flavoured chocolate Cocoa Hernando to produce an immersive whirlwind tour of the decadent chocolate houses of Georgian London over the weekend of the London Chocolate Festival at the South Bank Centre.

The 11.30am and 2pm tours will run over the weekend of the 14th-15th December and cost £15 per person, beginning by St James’s Church in Picadilly (W1J 9LL). After the tour, the guide will lead the group across the Thames to the festival. Book via: here

White's Chocolate House

Set amidst the luxury shops, mighty townhouses and royal palaces of Mayfair and St James’s, this musical, semi-theatrical tour will reveal how “a divine, celestial drink called chocolate” (as one early sampler put it) conquered Baroque Europe and corrupted the most fashionable quarter of London, spawning establishments like White’s Chocolate House, a whirlpool of sedition, depravity, and kamikaze gambling immortalised in Hogarth’s Rake’s Progress.

The 90-minute tour is led by charismatic young London historian Dr Matthew Green, author and presenter of UCA’s critically acclaimed Coffeehouse Tour, and there’ll be a supporting cast of Aztec slaves, Spanish conquistadors, nihilistic dukes and rakish gamblers hidden along the route. Their performances will be set to beautiful violin music from the era.

Dr Green has uncovered some mouthwatering recipes for 17th and 18th-century hot chocolate, the most extravagant of which — Monsieur St Disdier’s Baroque Chocolate (1692) — will be served on the tour, courtesy of Cocoa Hernando. Shot through with a concoction of exotic spices, it will be a mind-blowing cup of hot choc. With dramatic performances, transportive violin music, and a cornucopia of historical anecdotes — not to mention the best chocolate in town — this is an unmissable Christmas treat.

HELLO HARVEY NICHOLS!

Chocolate, News

Harvey Nichols Cocoa Hernando
We’re delighted to announce that our luxury chocolate is stocked at the exclusive Harvey Nichols branches of Knightsbridge, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Dublin and Birmingham as well as their festive pop-ups of Liverpool, Trafford Centre in Manchester, Bristol Cribbs & Birmingham MerryHill.

In addition, we’re very excited to be presenting our chocolate at the stores of Knightsbridge (19/11, 6-10pm), Birmingham (20/11, 4-8pm), Leeds (26/11, 4-8pm) and Manchester (4/12, 4-8pm). Come down, say hello & have some chocolate!