Just savoring a bite of chocolate can create a perfect moment. Now if that bite surprised you with fruit/liquor on the inside? Delectable. Though there's no definitive theory on its origins, history suggests that its roots can be traced to a tempting Sandesh from India. 1/12
One of the earliest theories dates back to the 18th century. The French had been making a confection called “griotte” with a sour cherry hidden inside a chocolate casing. Thus, keeping an element of surprise. 2/12
When the traditional griottes made their way over to the United States, the Americans thought of adding another layer of flavor. The cherries were soaked in alcoholic liqueurs, thus gifting the world with liquor chocolate. 3/12
Another story says it originated in 1920s Germany where it was undesirable for women to drink alcohol. Hugo Asbach, a German brandy producer solved this dilemma by filling chocolates with his company-manufactured brandy. 4/12
His niche idea soon became widely popular and spread across Europe. However, the surprise element of filling a sweet shell with liquid inside first appeared in 1818, in a little town located on the western bank of Hooghly River, in West Bengal, India. 5/12
The famous zamindar family of Annadaprasad Bandopadhyay from Telenipara, Bhadreswar had one of their daughters married off to a zamindar son of Baidyabati. During the Ashtamangala ceremony, the newly wed pair was due at the bride’s house. 6/12
Legend says that the Banerjee family planned to make a fool out of the groom during his stay. They asked the local confectioner Surya Kumar Modak to prepare a sweet that would undoubtedly surprise him. 7/12
With his reputation at stake, Modak came up with an ingenious idea. On the day of the occasion, he served a large “Talsansh Sandesh”, a common dry sweet of West Bengal, but poured pure rosewater inside the hard shell to keep the mischief untraceable. 8/12
As the groom took his first bite of the sweet, the rosewater came out in all directions and spilled all over his kurta. The harmless prank won the hearts of the zamindars, and they named the sweet “Jalbhara” (filled with water). 9/12
Later, the rosewater was replaced with liquid jaggery, and it went on to become one of the most loved sweets in West Bengal. 10/12
Although the historical timeline suggests that the French first hid a surprise element inside chocolates, the foundational idea came from a humble confectioner from Bhadreswar, a part of Chandannagar that was under French rule until 1951. 11/12
For those with a sweet tooth, however, it hardly matters where the idea came from, as long as they can enjoy the sumptuous taste of both chocolate and “Jalbhara”. 12/12
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