Not sure how to break this to you... but... we've all been eating chocolate wrong.

There’s a reason the cocoa plant’s scientific name translates to “food of the gods” – biting into a chocolate block is heavenly.

But if you munch away at that block – like most people do – then, sorry, but you’re doing it wrong.

Because eating chocolate is a thing you can do wrong, apparently.

The good people Vosges Haut-Chocolat, a Chicago-based luxury chocolate maker, have put up a guide on ‘how to eat chocolate’ and it raised a few eyebrows around the Mamamia office.

According to the guide, after you’ve taken the time to see the “glossy shine” on your chocolate bar, rubbed it between your fingers to “release the aromas” and broken a piece off, listening out for the “crisp, ringing snap”, you put that piece in your mouth.

And then you “press it to the roof of your mouth” and wait for it to melt and… and that’s it.

There is no mention of biting or chewing. You don’t chew the chocolate, they say. Chewing your chocolate is basically a sin. You allow the “thirty seconds” for the chocolate to “slowly begin to melt around your tongue”.

What?

Listen: This Easter parenting dilemma is just as relevant during the silly season. Do you set limits on chocolate or let them dig in? (Post continues…)

Now, I don’t want to smug here… Actually, scratch that I DO want to sound smug, because this is how I’ve been eating chocolate my whole life. Sort of.

Not always of course. Sometimes I hoe into a Cadbury Carmello block while watching Sex and The City and it’s half gone before Carrie couldn’t help but wonder. But most of the time I like to take tiny bites let it melt in my mouth, because that makes it last longer.

Call me a foodie (I’m not), but I can attest to the helpfulness of Vosges Haut-Chocolat’s advice – it’s a better way to get the most out of your chocolate.

Of course, this method doesn’t work for anything with nuts – you’d be spending a long time sucking on a chocolate-covered almond. But for a thin block, especially an expensive one, it might be worth trying this taste-savouring technique.