Monday, Sept 2,1985/The Battalion/Page 9D
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By WENDY JOHNSON
Reporter
Food critic Bert Greene says choc-
for an'oU* ate ' s most versatile flavor he
Inows. It blends with other flavors
In creative ways.
bill of fare I Every chocolate lover has his fa-
s Book oil on te combination, some sump-
in 18bi Lous, others outrageous. Consider
s elaboratt jhese unlikely couplings. Sauerkraut
flair whet Idded to chocolate cake batter gives
.ess. Ihecake a coconut-like texture. Ditto
with chocolate zucchini bic.td Choc
llate cakes made with tomato sauce
|iie extra moist and fudgy. Fanatics
Iven boast of chocolate chip bagels
pd chocolate potato chips.
Some of the more traditional com-
inations sound more appealing,
ow about chocolate and mint? The
off of the
chocolate-alcohc
in Europe.
Many fruits
with chocolate
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six ^arm, smooth chocolate to create an
Interesting union. Or chocolate and
offee? The slight edge of bitternes
lends a rather "adult" touch to this
to sugges
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I Chocolate and alcohol is another
adult" combination. Think about
ating a chocolate rum ball at
Christmas, or biting into a liqueur-
rilled chocolate. The warm, spirited
punch explodes on the tongue and is
somehow smoothed by the choco
late. Chocolate can be combined
nith cognac, rum, whiskey and many
ilavored dessert liqueurs, such as
ibmaretto.
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Mary Newton, owner of Prioriteas
in College Station, says that of the
ieveral flavors of chocolate truffles
tier store carries, Amaretto is proba
bly the most popular.
But European chocolates con-
taming any alcohol other than small
mounts of flavor extracts can't be
imported to the United States. Con
sequently, says Gordon Young wiit-
ing in National Geographic, we are
missing out on some of the best
at a lot ol
combine naturally
The tartness of
oranges, for example, enhances the
richness of chocolate. Raspberries
and cranberries have the same ef
fect, creating appealing color combi
nations as well. Chocolate has also
been paired with bananas, pears,
and prunes and other dried fruits.
Certain chocolate-fruit combina
tions are classic. The Black Forest
cake is named in honor of the Black
Forest region of Germany because
that is the home of kit sch, the cherry
brandy that gives it its characteristic
flavor. The chocolate cake, fruit
tilling, and whipped topping all are
laced with cherry flavoring.
And did you know that dipping
spoonfuls of Wendy’s Frosty in Dr.
Pepper brings out the cherry flavor
in the soda?
The famous Viennese Sacher
tone owes much of its unique Davor
to the apricot jam spread between its
layers and just beneath its dark choc
olate icing. It was created in 1832 by
a 16-year-old apprentice chef in the
court of the imperial Chancellor of
Austria. Rights of bakers to claim
theirs as “original” were the subject
of a seven-year lawsuit.
There is an oft quoted rule that
says chocolate and wine must never,
ever be served at the same table.
This was laid to rest, however, ear
lier this year when a panel of wine
makers, cooks and chocolate lovers
gathered in California to sample
wines and chocolate desserts and re
port on favorable combinations.
They decided that chocolate and
wine could be served together with
delicious results if a few guidelines
were followed.
"Since chocolate's richness tends
to coal the palate, it can mask other
flavors, including those of wine,"
Barbara Lant;, a food
searcher and writer tor Chocolatier
magazine. “It’s intensity dominates
light bodied wines and causes wines
with a low sugar content to taste tart
and bitter. T herefore, when choos
ing a wine to serve with a chocolate
dessert, it is a good idea to consider
the sugar content and fruitiness of
the wine as well as the sweetness and
flavor of the chocolate and other in
gredients in the dessert.”
The chocolate and cream combi
nation is big these days. Cookies 'n
Cream ice cream is Blue Bell’s sec
ond best seller, according to Jennif er
Eckermann, public relations assis
tant at the Brenham creamery. Sec
ond only to Homemade Vanilla,
Cookies ’n Cream is joined near the
lop by Caramel Turtle Fudge and
Dutch chocolate.
Chocolate, graham crackers and
marshmallows remind us all of
scouting and campfires. Heavenly
Hash and Rocky Road further the
chocolate-marshmallow combination
with the addition of nuts. Rocky
Road is the most popular fudge fla
vor at the MSC Sweet Shop.
Lots of people appreciate the
crunchy addition that nuts make to
chocolate. Chocolate is combined
with peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, pe
cans, almonds and coconut. The but
tery, burnt sugar taste of caramel is
often combined with nuts and choc
olate to make a triple treat. Who
doesn’t enjoy a chewy, chocolate
Turtle or a Snickers bar now and
then?
Reeses peanut butter cups attest
to the success of peanut butter and
chocolate. Remember the old “you-
got-peanut-butter-on-my-chocolate"
commercials? The Baby Ruth candy
bar (named af ter Grover Cleveland’s
youngest daughter, not the baseball
player) also has the peanut butter-
chocolate combination.
In College Station, Thomas
Sweet’s chocolate makc l r Melissa
White says peanut butter is the most
popular flavor of all the shop’s mel-
taways. Meltaways are sqiuares of
chocolate with various ilavorings
added. They are supposed to melt in
your mouth.
In Mexican cooking, chocolate is
used as a flavor enhancer for non
sweet dishes. It is added to mole, a
chili-based sauce for poultry and
other main dishes. The French use
this same method in some prepara
tions of rabbit.
Cocoa is a traditional ingredient
in pumpernickel loaves; it adds deep
color but barely affects the taste.
For some chocolate lovers, only
the perfection of chocolate with
chocolate will do. Swensen’s has in
troduced a new group of ice cream
sundaes that caters to these people.
Chocolate toppings and sauces are
piled on top of chocolate ice cream.
Probably the favorite combination
of all is chocolate and, well, cookie.
Who doesn’t like them? The choco
late chip cookie has been popular
since its inception in 1930. Experi
menting in the kitchen of the Toll
House Inn in Pennsylvania one day,
owner Ruth Wakefield added choco
late chunks to some cookie batter,
expecting the chocolate to melt and
run through the cookies. To her sur
prise, the chocolate stayed in
chunks. The cookies were very pop
ular with the inn’s guests and word
spread to the Nestle Chocolate Com
pany, which created a special bar of
semisweet chocolate scored into tiny
sections. It was sold with a special
tool for separating the sections.
Later, Nestle made semisweet mor
sels especially for the Toll House
cookies and printed the recipe on
the pack of each package. There are
many variations on the original rec
ipe but the battle still rages as to
which recipe produces the Absolute
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie.
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Photo by BILL HUGHES
The combination of chocolate and wine have long been consid
ered taboo. But that myth was laid to rest earlier this year when
winemakers, cooks and chocolate lovers met in California. Their
verdict: chocolates are great with wine as long as the taste of the
sweets don’t overpower the wine’s flavor. In addition to wine, al
cohol is another popular mixer for chocolate lovers. The warmth
of the spirited liquid offsets the coolness of the sweet chocolate.
n writes Barbara Lang, a toocl re- oweet s cnocoiate maxer Melissa Best Lnocoiate Lrnp Lookie.
Researchers dispel the myths of chocolate
By WENDY JOHNSON
Reporter
Chocolate has been shrouded in
mystery since its discovery. 1 he lit-
fral translation of its scientific name
is “food of the gods." Whether you
live to eat it or can live without it.
one thing is certain: chocolate affects
people. And contemporary re
searchers are finding some scientific
bases for many of the myths sur
rounding chocolate.
The Spanish, who discovered
chocolate, kept it to themselves for
almost a century. In the early 1600s,
the secret began spreading through
out Western Europe.
“Like the Aztecs, many Europeans
considered it an aphrodisiac," says
Dr. Rudolph Sprungli, chairman of
the board at Lindt & Sprungli, a
Swiss chocolate manufacturer. “Oth
ers believed that chocolate calmed
levers, cured chronic dyspepsia, and
prolonged life. But not everyone
agreed. A British doctor believed it
to be poison ... because it tasted
much too good to be medicine.”
The aphrodisiac claim may not be
too lar off. Modern analysis reveals
small amounts of the chemical phe-
nylethylamihe in chocolate. This
chemical is naturally . produced in
the brain and apparently increases
when people fall in love. Maybe
that’s why chocolate is thought to
comfort the lovelorn.
Although chocolate began in the
New World, Europeans eat more
chocolate nowadays than Americans.
Switzerland heads annual consump
tion at about 22 pounds per person.
In the U.S. we consume from 2 to 10
pounds per person. Americans also
prefer sweeter tasting chocolate than
the rest of the world.
Craig Claiborne of the New’ York
Times writes, “Food cravings en
compass everything from such mun
dane fare as peanuts, pickles and wa
termelon to the more sophisticated
delights of oysters, caviar and cham
pagne. Of all the foods on earth,
however, it may be true that a crav
ing for chocolate is the most univer
sal."
Researchers claim that our bodies
have “nutrition intuition.” When
your body needs a particular nutri
ent, it tells your mind to eat certain
foods that will provide it with the
missing nutrient.
We usually don't recognize these
needs on a conscious level, but
according to nutrition professor
Brian Morgan at Columbia Univer
sity, we crave certain foods because
we’ve learned over the years that
they relieve the physical symptoms
we get when we re low on a partic
ular nutrient. This begins to explain
why people crave chocolate when
they are depressed or need a quick
pick-me-up.
Women are especially subject to
food cravings because of the many
changes their bodies go through
during the month. The hormone
progesterone lowers blood sugar lev
els, causing mild fatigue. Women
may tend to crave sweets because
they produce quick energy, combat
ing the fatigue. Many women crave
all carbohydrates, not just sweets, be
cause they raise the levels of the
Yuppies eat light and work out Mon
day through Friday but spend week
ends relaxing, and eating lavishly.
Chocolate is one of their guiltiest
pleasures.
The premier chocolatier in most
minds is the Belgian-based Godiva.
It's class all the way at Godiva. They
even make many of their own satin
or velvet covered boxes. The Camp
bell’s Soup Company now owns the
“Like the Aztecs, many Europeans considered it an
aphrodisiac. Others believed that chocolate calmed
Levers, cured chronic dyspepsia, and prolonged life.”
—- Dr. Rudolph Sprungli, chairman of
the board at Lindt & Sprungli, a Swiss chocolate
manufacturer '
brain’s chemical, serotonin, the
body’s natural tranquilizer. Cookies,
cakes, bread and pasta, for example,
release insulin, which increases tryp
tophan, a nutrient. Tryptophan con
verts to serotonin, which gives a feel
ing of well being.
Sometimes we crave foods just for
the emotional comfort they provide.
Remember how chocolate milk or
chicken soup helped you feel better
when you were sick?
Sociologists say America is becom
ing a nation of dietary ambiguity.
firm and has continued to support
local management traditions and
methods in Europe. Former Godiva
president Peter Gaffinel said “It is
no simple matter to open a new shop
in a European town; people there al
ready have their favorite confectio
naries. We must lure them in with
better chocolates, top Quality dis
plays, and very personalized servi-
Most of the Godiva chocolates
bought in the U.S. are made here.
Chocolates containing alcohol can
not be imported f rom Europe.
Campbell owns the U.S. affiliates
of Godiva, too, but marketing meth
ods differ here. The chocolates must
be glamorized and uniquely pro
moted. There was a time when an
American could have a box of Go
diva chocolates delivered by a
woman in a flesh-colored body
stocking on a horse, surrounded by
minstrels — for about S3,()()0.
Godiva joins Whitman as one of
the few companies that includes a
map on the inside lid of the box so
you can tell what kind 'of center
you’ll be biting into.
Chocolate has even been the sub
ject of international intrigue. In
1980, a chocolate espionage case in
volved an employee at the Souchard
Tobler plant who stole some secret
chocolate recipes and tried to sell
them at the Russian, Chinese and
Saudi embassies.
Chocolate seems to have an almost
magical power to cause emotional
extravagance. But it can produce an
other response.: guilt. Doesn’t choco
late cause cavities? Make your face
break out? Make you fat?
No, on the first two counts.
The Tooth Report, a dental jour
nal, says Boston’s Forsyth Dental
Center has found a substance in
chocolate that blocks a bacterial en
zyme that converts sucrose into dex.-
tran, a sticky form of sugar that
leads to plaque build up and cavtti<5»:
They’re trying to isolate this pro tee?
live substance, also found in tea, ccxU
fee and unsweetened fruit juice>r
which they believe may be similar nS
tannins.
Although teenagers have loiig
been warned against chocolate as^a
complexion-killer, most dermatology
ists today agree that it doesn’t ti iggeC
breakouts. An important study (ur
this relationship was conducted Jt
the University of Pennsylvania. Acne
patients were divided into two
groups and f ed two types of identical
looking candy bars. One group g<Jt-
bars containing no chocolate, tire
other group ate bars fortified widr
10 times the ordinary amount. Nei^
ther group experienced a change i)>
their acne conditions.
On the third count, as with anV
food, if you gorge yourself on choco
late and lead a sedentary life, of
course you will gain weight. Modera
tion is the key. .
Chocolate does have an ef fect on
people. Heed this advice from a
Spectator article in England over
200 years ago: “I shall advise my fair
readers to be in a particular manner
careful how they meddle with ro
mances, chocolates, novels, and the
like inflamers ...”
from J\rt to ^oology
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