Bush Chocolate: Remembering Australia

Central Australia is one of the most captivating and culturally bewildering environments I have ever visited. I didn't eat a lot of chocolate there, nor did anybody else. But Chicago-based Vosges Haut-Chocolat (known for its purple packaging motif and its decidedly first-world take on the flavors of far flung lands from Tibet to Oaxaca) has endeavored to cast the Australian bush in a chocolate mold. The Gondwanaland truffle collection features confections made with Riberry, Wattleseed, Quandong, and Forest Berry.

The Australian chocolate company Wild About You may have a more intrinsic connection to outback ingredients, and a reading of Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines would provide an infinitely more nuanced portrait of the terrain. Still, Vosges skillfully caters to epicurean armchair travelers.

The 16-piece Gondwanaland Aboriginal Truffle Collection costs $41 and remains on sale through mid-May.