In the comments to yesterday's post Shan reveals that she also uses the Dive neologism "deliciary" and ponders whether I use it in noun form.
Indeed I do.
To define "deliciary", kindly take my arm (don crinolines if you must) and let us meander through the serpentine mediæval streets to the quaint Edwardian portal of Digby's Of Holt.
Digby's is a hand-made confectionary emporium nestled within the Royal Arcade in Norwich. It is where I go to purchase my regular fix of their frankly astonishing under-the-counter liquorice fudge (they don't have it on display as the place would get mobbed).
It is the kind of place where people walk in and stand gazing, open-mouthed with wonder at the cornucopia of delights set before them; where beautiful girls in black with little white bibs and white cotton gloves minister to one's most sensual, chocolatey desires; their snake-like eyes and flickering smiles betraying an inner gloating at their power over us mere mortals.
It is a place where whatever fevered imaginings haunt your weirdest dreams you are bound to find them lovingly recreated in chocolate.
A place redolent of dark magic, where a tiny, child-size spiral staircase in the corner leads one's eye down into a stygian gloom, wherein one imagines enslaved children in rags working the dark seams of a chocolate mine and wyrd sisters cackling over cauldrons of bubbling, sugary opiates, more addictive than crack.
A place of sinuous, sensual allure.
Temptation in solid form.
Digby's of Holt is for me the definitive deliciary; a glittering cornucopia of delicious desires, such that the senses are overwhelmed; The Verb (see yesterday's post) is its linguistic equivalent.
Dammit!
Now I fancy chocolate.
14 comments:
I don't own crinolines, but if I did...this slight tour is amazing, Dive. You now need to write something similar for every deliciary you visit. Your Japanese deliciary, perhaps.
I love reading you when your imagery is to the fore. You can make reading one of the most satisfying deliciaries one could possibly imagine; almost as delicious as a child sized chocolate spiral staircase. I can actually see that!
Robyn: It is bad enough sitting here thinking of chocolate; if I had to think of sashimi I would probably go insane.
Mme: Thank you; you are too kind.
The tiny spiral stair is real and leads to their mysterious basement.
The last time I peered down there I am sure that I heard the pitiful cries of the enslaved children.
But when their chocolate is THAT good, who cares about child welfare?
Oh, thank you for that lovely walk to the emporium Dive. I'm afraid if I had so much as one more look at it all I'd surely challenge my crinolines to bursting point. My tongue recoils and burns slightly at the thought of liquorice fudge though and that's strange because I never imagined anyone would attempt to foil a fudge with that flavor. Ahhh but these over here look altogether(POP!)Oh dear I've surely looked too long at this dark temptation! (Runs away holding her seam-ripped skirting down in horror.)
...and so do i. I've not had chocolate for a week. Great writing, Dive.
Shan: You're more than welcome.
I'm glad you don't fancy popping the seams of your crinolines with liquorice fudge as that leaves more for me! Yummy!
It comes in big, black slabs and the girl in the white cotton gloves brings it out of its hiding place under the counter and carves it like a turkey, slicing it just how I like it.
Digby's do indeed make some very strange things. One of my favourites has to be their dangerously dark and unnervingly realistic life-sized chocolate frogs.
Ooooh … I've come over all chocolatey now.
Lynn: Chocolates are en essential part of convalescence. Eat them like there's no tomorrow!
i did it...2 lovely chocolate truffles from our local confectioner...*le sigh* xoxo
(of course, i walked over there to mitigate the caloric damage to my already overindulged waistline!)
Oh frogs again! Now you've gone and doubly wrinkled my nose by placing chocolate anywhere in the vicinity of a frog shape! Are you trying to make me cry? Do they really make those(like on Harry Potter)or did you see me telling someone of my frog phobia? It has come up a lot lately for some reason. Bleh(aka Brrr)This shops tale is turning as dark as their purest bar of confection. ;)
Gee-zeus Dive...just the thought of "whatever fevered imaginings haunt your weirdest dreams you are bound to find them lovingly recreated in chocolate" makes me weak in the knees!
You got me drooling over here.
Savannah: Walking to the confectioners does indeed mean that anything bought there will have no calories whatsoever.
Truffles, eh? MMMMMMMMMMMM.
Shan: They've been making the frogs for decades and they look remarkably like the real thing simply coated with a fine film of chocolate (hee hee … sorry).
They make quite a menagerie of strange and unpalatable creatures.
Together with their black fudge and their slightly creepy, too-perfect girls there is indeed a dark, shuddery pleasure to shopping there.
Shazza: Next time you're in England, pop in there and see for yourself.
I'm sure that not all of the customers who go in there actually come out again.
Some get lured down into the basement where they writhe in sensual torment in vast vats of chocolate, the creepy girls feeding on their flesh.
Hee hee hee.
Shan: If you want true "bleh", click on the link at the bottom of the post and read the true and cautionary tale of Frank and the chocolate-coated spider.
Icky!
Gosh I so love new words - I'm off to find something deliciary.
Actually I'm sorry I'm harping on it but cunning linguistics would do!!!
I am actually eating a Kit Kat at the moment only because I can't get anything better here in this chocolates desert. We have 40 million cocoa bushes and 2 varieties of chocolate at the "supermarket" - how cruel!!!!
Ah, but the view from your house does compensate a little, Jules. I've just got back from your post today and I'm having to wipe drool off the desk.
You should swing by my place. People give me chocolates from all over the world and I don't really eat them. For one thing, I can only have dark chocolate or white - otherwise I'd be in the bathroom for days.
Post a Comment