A delicious present from Japan

Full of Eastern promise...

 Last week a parcel arrived from my friend Tomoko Miyashita in Japan, containing a magazine about Japanese plants full of the most enticing photographs, and a box of chocolates. The key informs me that they are Chocolat L'abeille, by Chocolatier Palet d'Or, but nothing much else is decipherable. Luckily,Tomoko provided a key, and a note to tell me that this is a selection made with Japanese ingredients whose sale will help the rehabilitation of people affected by last year's earthquake.

The ingredients are interesting - as the name hints, all contain honey in some form or other, made into a thick and sumptuous ganache, but although delicious I have to say I couldn't tell much about the ingredients from the flavour when we tried them at the weekend. Most interesting to me was the green-topped one, made with honey from Tilia miqueliana, a Japanese linden that is rather rare in cultivation here. Unfortunately I couldn't distinguish anything tilioid in the chocolate, but it was paired with tangy lemon and the whole thing was superb. Alas, there is only one layer in the box!


Clockwise from top left: Tilia miqueliana honey and lemon: Prunus jamasakura honey with cherry; wild rose honey with berries; Japanese bee honey with pear.