Thunderbird is slowly, but surely, being taken over by inconspicuous little chocolates. In classes, at the CMC, at the front office of Green Tree, at group meetings…Every week, it seems like more and more students are succumbing to that irresistible cocoa temptation, with little or no self-control. The perpetrator of this quiet chocolate conspiracy is not-so-inconspicuous Ruben Romero, a MS’ 12 student.
Having failed in his first few attempts to make fudge during high school, Ruben’s first chocolate affair was relatively short-lived. However, he tentatively reunited with chocolate last year when first, a lady at his church, and then, the mother of fellow T-Bird, Andres Osorio, gave him recipes for two types of chocolates. With both ventures turning out successfully, Ruben suddenly found a new hobby – one that would effectively throw his classmates’ diets out of the window.
Since he only does this as a pastime, most of his chocolate recipes aren’t actually recipes – they’re just experiments. Experiments that mostly end up as truffles, are almost always thought up on the day and are seldom repeated. Pumpkin cheesecake, espresso, pistachio cheesecake and abuelita butterscotch are a few of the more creative flavors he has used for his truffles. His experiments do come with constraints though – the presence of two vegetarian roommates cancels out any possibility of using egg or gelatin in the chocolates.
Given the popularity of his cooking experiments (which also extend to other delicious non-chocolate items), one would think this is his calling, career-wise. But Ruben tends to disagree, “Making a career out of chocolate and working 8 hours a day would take all the fun out of it!”
For now, he just takes pleasure in handing out lessons, and more importantly, in handing out chocolates to anyone who’s interested. And he intends to keep doing so as long as his relationship with chocolate doesn’t turn sour…