Berlin

Chocolate gone Bezirk

Ever wondered what your neighbourhood would taste like if it were a chocolate flavour? Each of the 15 original Preussisch süß concoctions epitomises one of Berlin’s idiosyncratic districts.

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Photo by Sarah Eick

Ever wondered what your neighbourhood would taste like if it were a chocolate flavour? 49-year-old Berlin-born novelist and chocoholic Tanja Dückers is here to answer that question for you: stemming from her synesthetic imagination, each of her 15 original Preussisch süß concoctions epitomises one of Berlin’s idiosyncratic districts: a lavender bar to reflect the Wilmersdorf widows, white chocolate with roses as a homage to Schöneberg’s gay community, and a dark chocolate Tempelhof containing raisins, referencing the 1948/49 airlift’s Rosinenbomber. “You’ve got to embrace the clichés!” Tanja jokes. Some of the more far-fetched recipes could really only spring from a novelist’s mind: Charlottenburg’s roasted onions and pistachio (red and green for 1968) and “edible paper” for Friedenau (a nod to former resident Kurt Tucholsky). Though the kid-friendly milk chocolate Prenzlauer Berg bar with vanilla and toasted almonds is an unsurprising bestseller, some flavours may pose an existential challenge to parochial residents unwilling to betray their Kiez for the sake of flavour; we weren’t fans of Freidrichshain’s particularly pungent blend of sour cherries, pink pepper and nana mint oil. The original collection is produced by artisanal chocolatier Christoph Wohlfarth who uses only ethically sourced, organic Criollo, Trinitario and Arriba Nacional cocoa beans from the Peruvian rainforest (which explains the €3.95 price tag for 50g). If your hood hasn’t yet been “chocolatised”, fear not: Dückers is working on more districts to be ready by Autumn 2018, including, for example, Hohenschönhausen (here’s hoping no asbestos)!

Available from preussisch-suess.de and selected shops including Wohlfarth Schokolade, Choriner Straße 37, Prenzlauer Berg