Jealousy is Stupid

This little guy currently resides in the window of a chocolatier in Paris.  He is carved out of chocolate and apparently has made quite a stir in the chocolatier community of the city.  The way I hear it, other chocolatiers are offended by sculpted chocolate.  They are proud of their art.  Clearly, they have no problem with chocolate taking on imaginative forms.  Chocolate has been molded for many years, after all.

The problem is, this ape is not molded.  It is carved, and chocolate has not been carved traditionally.  It is untested.  Chocolate carving has left the artisans wondering if this is an acceptable form of chocolatiering worthy of comparison to more traditional means of forming chocolate into shapes.

As I understand it, the answer is unclear.  Emotions are running high on both sides of the issue.  I have to wonder why this matters.  Does carved chocolate taste different than molded?  Would anyone look at this ape sculpture and be fooled into believing it had been molded?

The thing about life is that some of us were made to be molders and others carvers.  It takes nothing from me if you carve, just as my molding is not meant to bring harm to your carving.  To squabble about it is fruitless.  It was never about the chocolate in the first place.  It was about jealousy; there are no winners with jealousy.

It is time to bridge the great Parisian chocolatier divide of 2013.  There is no room for such ugliness in the world of sweets. Let it go. Seriously, guys, put on the aprons and get back to the kitchen.  There is chocolate to be made.

I ran across this piece while editing some of my writing.  Somehow a piece on squabbling felt timely.  So, I share it once more.