Be more healthy - eat more chocolate!! Chocolate used to be seen as a cure-all. From before the Spanish Conquest, cocoa and chocolate have been prescribed by doctors for a dizzying array of totally unrelated ailments and diseases, everything from dysentery (dissolve cocoa in water with a pinch of ground bones of your ancestors, as taken by the Aztecs) to “decayed health, weak lungs or scorbutic (relating to scurvy) tendencies” for which J.S. Fry & Son’s chocolate was recommended in the 1820s. Of course chocolate is no longer prescribed by doctors, it’s not regarded as ‘medicinal’ or lauded as a universal panacea as it once was and you are unlikely to hear it described anymore as “a holy thing for many ills, pains and sores” (16th C. navigator Fernando de Oviedo) or as a “pleasant and nutritious substitute for food when traveling” (Butter’s Medical Directory,1826). Chocolate now is more likely to be talked about as contributing to health problems such as diabetes and heart disease, it’s more likely to be associated with being overweight, a cause of acne, a trigger of migraines and the ruin of many a child’s teeth and appetite. But does chocolate deserve all this bad press? Because after all.. About 70% of the world’s population (that’s 4,442,595,321 people, yes I counted) can’t drink milk or eat dairy products without their intestines seizing up on route to the bathroom with diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Lactose intolerant people are deficient in lactase, needed to properly digest milk, but their condition is often left undiagnosed or worse, misdiagnosed as serious bowel disease. Added to milk, chocolate helps counteract lactose intolerance and can actually block the cramping and bloating experienced by sufferers. How? Well chocolate appears to be a great enzyme stimulator. In tests carried out by Dr C. Lee, professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Rhode Island, cocoa increased lactase activity by a staggering 500-600%. So if straight milk gives you wind, diarrhoea and other unmentionables, try: Dr Lee’s recipe for chocolate milk: Stir 1½ tsp of pure cocoa and a little sugar into a mug of milk. The way to a healthy heart Chocolate isn’t just good news for your bowels; “New research indicates chocolate, eaten in moderation as part of a healthy diet, can reduce blood clots and lessen the risk of heart disease and strokes.” (From an article in the New Zealand press, 25 Sept 1999) For this discovery we have to thank volunteers in an Australian university study who selflessly ate 100g of milk chocolate bars every day for three weeks in the name of research. The astonishing results showed that the white blood cells (which initiate blood clotting) were less active in the chocolate-eaters than in the volunteers who stayed on normal or alternative-snack diets. Click here to go to our great chocolate recipes! Types of Chocolate Products In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established Standards of Identity for many chocolate and cocoa products. These standards designate the percentage of key ingredients that must be present. Following are the definitions for some well-known chocolate and cocoa products: Terms & Definitions: Milk Chocolate - A combination of chocolate liquor (not alcohol), cocoa butter, sugar and milk or cream. Milk chocolate must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor and at least 12% total milk ingredients. Sweet Chocolate - A combination of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter and sugar, but contains at least 15% chocolate liquor. Semisweet Or Bittersweet Chocolate - A combination of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter and sugar, but contains at least 35% chocolate liquor. Sweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate are often called dark chocolate. Chocolate, Unsweetened Chocolate, Or Baking Chocolate - Chocolate or chocolate liquor is produced by grinding cocoa beans smooth into a liquid state. This chocolate can be sold as unsweetened chocolate or baking chocolate or used to make other chocolate types such as milk chocolate, sweet chocolate, or semisweet chocolate. White Chocolate - Made from the same ingredients as milk chocolate (cocoa butter, milk, sugar) but without the nonfat cocoa solids. In 2002, FDA established a standard of identity for white chocolate. White chocolate must contain at least 20% cocoa butter and 14% total milk ingredients. Cocoa - Cocoa is the product made by removing part of the fat (cocoa butter) from the cocoa beans and grinding the remaining material minus the shell.    A Change in Your Chocolate? Written by Derek McGinty 9NEWS NOW Created:4/27/2007 6:32:27 PM (WUSA) -- The Food and Drug Administration just may be about to change your chocolate--or at least the rules on what is real chocolate and what it isn't. Right now, you can't call it chocolate if it doesn't have real oil from the cocoa plant a.k.a. cocoa butter. Some chocolate makers would like to be able use vegetable oil instead, turns out it's cheaper. Vegetable oil in your chocolate? Chocolate lovers are melting down over this. At the store called Chocolate Chocolate on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest, DC, nobody thought much of that idea, including co-owner Ginger Redman. "It's purely driven by the fact that they want to save money," Redman said. And she added the taste will be affected. "I think it will. I do. There's a reason why cocoa butter is in chocolate." What this all means is that right now cheap treats like Malted Milk balls made with vegetable oil can't be labeled and sold as chocolate. If the rule change comes through, only your taste buds will know the difference. The FDA warns that if anything changes it will be years down the road. Nonetheless, chocolate lovers are so worked up about this, they've created their own websites such as Dontmesswithourchocolate.com in the effort to fight back. The Right Wine And Chocolate Matches Are A Happy Marriage Those who love fine chocolate and fine wine find key points of similarity. Both are made from fruit (the cocoa nibs from which chocolate is made are the seeds of the fruit of the cocoa tree, and fruit was eaten by early Americans long before early they discovered how to make chocolate beverage from the seeds). The flavor and aroma yielded by both cacao pod and grape are a function of not only their rootstock, but of their soil, climate, and the weather conditions affecting any single harvest.  Both are made from a blend of beans or grapes, each with distinct flavor profiles; and when the product is made from a blend, it adds to the complexity of tastes. There are hundreds of words professionals use to describe the flavors and aromas: a seemingly impossible number but truly authenticated. The good news for those who love them both is that wine and chocolate complement each other.  What might sound at first like an unlikely marriage is quite a harmonious one-with a bit of pre-marital counseling.  As with foods, there are many kinds of chocolate preparations with different flavor profiles; so no one wine is a universal match.  While that creates a challenge to find the perfect suitor for a box of assorted bonbons; it also makes it fun to seek your favorite pairings, and test on an ongoing basis which combinations you prefer. In general, dark and bittersweet chocolates go best with stronger red wines while milk and white chocolates paired better with lighter reds and sweeter white wines. The perfect pairing balances sweetness, fruitiness, and acidity-and your own flavor preferences, of course. Most of the time, Champagne and chocolate don't pair well.  Against the sweetness of the chocolate, Champagne appears tart; even the secs and demi-secs (sweet Champagnes) are too delicate to stand up to the cocoa butter mouthfeel of chocolate. Save the Champagne for fresh strawberries. Similarly, Rieslings, Chenin Blancs, and Sauternes lack the right structure to pair with rich chocolate. They do, however, pair with white chocolate. One prominent sweet wine that does have the balance to pair splendidly is Muscat or Moscato. Another ideal pairing is fortified wine: Port or Banyuls, a red wine made of Grenache in the Languedoc Roussillon region of Southwest France.  Save the  complex vintage Port to savor with the cheese course or after-dinner drinks; and bring out the Ruby Port and Tawny Port to drink with chocolate. Some experts don't believe in drinking dry red wines with chocolate.  We disagree, as long as it is a wine with straightforward, strong notes-not too dry, too tannic, or too astringent. Try it and form your own opinions.  The cocoa butter in the chocolate mellows out the tannins and astringency; and fine dark chocolate has enough complexity to hold its own with most reds. There are many pairing options available.  Isn't it time you tried some pairings with your friends? Our next article will talk about how to conduct your own Chocolate Tasting Party. Until then...when in doubt, serve chocolate! Conduct Your Own Chocolate Tasting What’s More Fun Than A Party To Taste Chocolate & Wine?   What good is sitting along in your room, even with several boxes of chocolate and a few bottles of wine?  It's soooooo much better to be surrounded by friends who will help you eat those chocolates and wines and then talk about your event for years, by hosting a chocolate and wine pairing. We’ve done all the planning for you. Just follow the steps below and a week from today you could be listening to the pairs singing at your own chocolate and wine cabaret. Setting Up Step 1: The Menu We think the best way to start evaluating pairings is to start with plain bar chocolates—bittersweet, dark, milk, and white—and a dozen wines.  A more festive approach is to try different flavored truffles and bonbons and contrast wines with the different fillings—classic chocolate ganache (chocolate and cream), praline (ground nuts), and fruit-accented ganache or fondant (bonbon filling). The biggest challenge for both you and your guests is to group chocolates by category—plain bar, fancy bar, fruit-filled, mint-filled, enrobed nuts, caramels, and toffee or buttercrunch. Plan to taste up to 12 pieces of chocolate and 12 wines. Check out some of your favorite chocolate stores to try their chocolates at your tasting, or ask for recommendations from your local chocolate store. After you’ve selected your chocolate, work with your wine merchant to find the best assortment of wines in your budget range that will let you compare and contrast. Step 2: The Setting Decide when you want to hold the tasting. The best times are mid-afternoon or mid-evening. The timing should be one to two hours after you’ve had lunch or dinner and are no longer hungry, but have had ample time to digest and are ready to taste. Assess available facilities. You’ll  need a table large enough so that everyone can have a space for wine glasses, a plate of chocolate, and a rating sheet. If you have a choice, a rectangular table works better than a circular table.  The room should be bright enough so that participants can enjoy the visual nuances of the chocolate and wine as well as the flavors and aromas. Step 3: The Invitation Plan your guest list. A group of six to eight is a good basic size for interaction and discussion; although if your guests are experienced wine tasters and you have room at the table, a dozen can work. With a larger group, be prepared to direct the discussion by asking someone to lead off with comments. If your goal is to learn about pairing chocolate and wine, then invite people who are like-minded. It’s fun, but it also takes concentration.  Those who don’t really have an interest in exploring flavor nuances—who just want to drink wine or eat chocolate and have social conversations—are better invited to a different event where the agenda is only social. You can mail invitations (we’ve bought greeting cards with photos of sumptuous chocolates on the cover and blank insides); or create your own e-mail invitations.  Remind your guests to ideally finish lunch or dinner two hours before they arrive for the tasting. Step 4: The Preparation Create a sheet for notes. Set up a table on an 8½" x 11" page horizontally with ½" margins. You will need 4 columns and as many rows as the chocolates and wines you are tasting, plus a “header” row. The headers of the columns from left to right are: Products, Appearance/Aroma, Taste, Comments. In the first column, make a row for each of the products to be tasted, and number each row, so you can refer back to “chocolate number 3.” Allow enough width in each row for people to write notes.  If you are tasting a dozen of chocolates and/or pairings, your table may continue to three sheets. Prepare a tasting template. At professional tastings, templates are pre-printed on paper place mats instructing tasters and servers where to place item number one, item number two, etc. If you have access to a printer that uses 11" x 17" paper and are handy with a design program, you can create one.  Otherwise, you’ll have to devise your own system to keep track of the chocolates and wines. One way is to line up two rows of glasses with the chocolate in front of each. If you’re tasting chocolate only, you can put them on a plate starting clockwise at 12, which enables everyone to be in sync when you say, “Let’s move on to chocolate number 3”; and to refer back to their notes sheet. It’s also helpful to prepare a sources sheet so everyone can have a record of the chocolates and wines they are tasting. Include the places where the products can be purchased, and the prices. Distribute this after everything has been tasted, since prices can color perception of the products. (So can names, which is why we prefer blind tastings, knowing products only as “chocolate number three” and “Port number 1” until after the tasting. Select palate cleansers. In addition to water, to cleanse the palate between comparisons you should have a supply of water biscuits like Carr’s or other bland, salt-free crackers. Unsalted matzoh is essentially the same product as water biscuits; most grocery stores carry unsalted Saltines. Baguette and plain white bread work, but are more filling. Strange as it may sound, a tart green apple like Granny Smith works. Cut it in very thin slices so people don’t fill up. After consuming the palate cleanser, complete the process by drinking some water or seltzer (not club soda—it has salt). A snifter or container of unground coffee beans is helpful to clear aromas from the nose (90% of taste is smell). On the day of the event, set the table. Each guest needs a water glass, at least 4 wine glasses, a sharp knife for slicing chocolate if you’re serving truffles or bonbons that can be cut in half, an evaluation sheet, and a pen or pencil. Wine glasses should always be clear so you can see the color of the wine. If you don’t have enough glasses, get 8-ounce hard plastic beverage cups. You’ll also need to set the table with napkins, a pitcher of water to refill glasses, and, if people won’t have a separate glass for each wine, a “dump bucket” so wine not consumed can be tossed to make way for new wines.  An extra pitcher or a vase can be used for this purpose. Whatever you use, be sure it’s deep enough so that when you carry it to the sink to dump out, wine doesn’t slosh over the side. Now you’re ready to prepare a plate of chocolate for each guest. Use large dinner plates or chargers. They don’t have to be white—as long as the beauty of the chocolate isn’t lost, you can use colors, and mix and match for a festive look. If you’re serving individual pieces of chocolate like truffles or bonbons, each guest should have one piece.  If you are serving bar chocolate, divide the bar so that each guest gets the equivalent of 2 ounces. Step 4: The Party You or one of your guests may wish to act as sommelier and pour all of the wines; or if the group is small, you can pass the bottle around the table. Each person should get a pour of about 1/3 glass (3 ounces).  You can get about 12 pours from a bottle of wine. You should pour the wine in flights of three or four wines at a time. Depending on what you’re serving, they would be poured in this order (as with chocolate, from the mildest to the most robust): champagnes, then white wines, then light and medium reds, then robust reds, then dessert wines.  If you are tasting a number of different wines and don’t own (or want to rent) many glasses, consider buying plastic tumblers. People can drink their wines from regular stemware, but save their extra wine in a plastic cup instead of dumping it. This enables everyone to keep all of their wines throughout the tasting, referring back to earlier wines to make comparisons. Start with the white chocolates or; if you’re not tasting white, with the milk chocolates; and with the champagnes and white wines. Move to the light and medium reds when you are still tasting milk chocolate; and build to the dark and bittersweet chocolates with, robust red wines and ports. Step 5: The Process Take half of the piece of chocolate. Look at the color and smell the aroma. Take a bite. Chew it slowly and note how it feels. Take notes. Take a bite of the chocolate. Chew it several times and let it slowly melt on the tongue. Is it smooth, velvety, creamy, soft or gritty? It should not be waxy or hard to melt. Savor the chocolate—roll it around on the tongue to taste the many flavors. (The tip of the tongue senses sweetness, the front sides sense sour flavors, the back sides of the tongue taste salty flavors, and the very back of the tongue detects bitter notes.) Swirl the wine in the glass and sniff the aroma (the “nose”).  Note the scents. Take a sip and swirl it in your mouth so it blends with the chocolate. How does it impact the chocolate flavors? Cleanse the palate by eating an unsalted cracker and taking several sips of water. Take another bite of chocolate and try a different wine.  How is this pairing different from the prior ones? Repeat this process until you have gone around the plate.  Then discuss conclusions and vote for your favorite pairings. Get together a tasting group: every month someone else can plan and host.  You’ll be the envy of everyone else in town!