Friday, November 11, 2005
The superiority of chocolate
There is, I think, no question that chocolate is superior and Thomas Jefferson seems to have understood something of the exalted position that chocolate holds in Spanish culture. Plenty of other cultures certainly love chocolate too now, but I don't think any other appreciates it with quite the same sense of exoticism and sensuality.
Well, the Chocolate Show, currently invading New York may be an exception.
And, I had to laugh at my online horoscope this morning, which said:
"Treat yourself well today. Try to up your chocolate intake -- and sneak in a nap."
Whoever writes these things, obviously, does NOT live in Spain. This would not be considered as special treatment; this is a way of life and it certainly has it's benefits.
Aztec mythology (it was the Aztecs who began the cultivation of cocoa), even links the product to God, who, they believed, sent the seeds to earth to "sweeten" man's existence. The first consignment of chocolate arrived in Spain in 1527 and, from there, soon spread (chocolate spread - pun intended) throughout the whole of Europe.
Flicking channels recently, I caught the end of an item on tvCanaria - in their daily magazine program, Canarias Directo, which is available, not just locally but on the International and Digital channels too - about a restaurant somewhere here on the islands serving chocolate and nothing but chocolate in masses of different ways.
I wish I'd caught the beginning of it to tell you where it is, because, whilst most chocolate bars leave me unexcited these days (simply because there are so many better ways to get one's *fix*), this report and all the samples they showed made me positively drool. And, yes, they were promoting chocolate's healthy qualities!
Chocolate contains antioxidants and you wouldn't want to go rusty, would you? :)
This is, after all, a country where you can (I'm not saying you should) buy sliced bread with chocolate chips in, breakfast rolls and pastries with gooey chocolate in the middle, as well as chocolates and bars in all the more familiar forms, plus the traditional semi-liquid Chocolate a la Taza for the afternoon ritual - and into which to dip your churros.
If you visit Spain or the Canary Islands, you will find most of these things in the supermarket and I urge you to try the unfamiliar ones, even if it is just once.
(I doubt you'll restrain yourself to that, mind you.)
For more upmarket chocolate confections in Tenerife, it is worth a visit to Buenavista del Norte, simply to go to the Pastelería El Aderno. You'll find it easily in the main street, on the left going down, just before the BBVA bank. They serve hand-made chocolates and truffles, as well as superior chocolate-filled pastries and unique little desert mouses in pyramids or mounds of white, milk or dark chocolate.
The funny thing is, despite the national love of chocolate and sweet things (take condensed milk, for instance), Spanish chocolate, cakes & deserts are never nauseatingly over-sweet or sickly that you do generally find, at least in the UK.
If you don't wish to eat chocolate (I can't imagine why not, but still ...), you can enjoy its stimulating and illicit properties by having yourself covered in it with the Chocolate Fondue Wrap treatment available at the Oriental Spa Garden at Puerto de la Cruz' Hotel Botanico in Tenerife. One and a half hours of divine indulgence.
For those of you merely travelling here virtually, but who wish to try authentic Spanish chocolate (yes, it is VERY superior), Tienda.com have Gourmet Chocolate, Rabitos (Gourmet Chocolate-stuffed Fig Bonbons), the Almond Piedras and Chocolate Almond Turron traditional for Christmas, as well as Chocolate a la Taza.
Pamela Heywood © 2005
17 Popular Quotes about Chocolate
1. "Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Your stress-free life helps you maintain a youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, eat lots of chocolate!" - Elaine Sherman, Book of Divine Indulgences
2. "Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar in four pieces with your bare hands--and then just eating one piece" - Judith Viorst
3. "Self-discipline implies some unpleasant things to me, including staying away from chocolate and keeping my hands out of women's pants." - Oleg Kiselev
4. "It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man." - Miranda Ingram
5. "Life is like a box of chocolates...You never know what you're gonna get." - Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump
6. "The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain." - Thomas Jefferson
7. "Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate." - Sandra Boynton
8. "If one swallows a cup of chocolate only three hours after a copious lunch, everything will be perfectly digested and there will still be room for dinner." - Brillat-Savarin
9. "It has been shown as proof positive that carefully prepared chocolate is as healthful a food as it is pleasant; that it is nourishing and easily digested... that it is above all helpful to people who must do a great deal of mental work." - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
10. "If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?" - Marquise de Sévigné
11. "Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power. It is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits." - Baron Justus von Liebig
12. "Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies." - John Q. Tullius
13. "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love chocolate, and communists." - Leslie Moak Murray
14. "Forget love... I'd rather fall in chocolate!" - Author Unknown
15. "There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles." - Author Unknown
16. "My favorite thing in the world is a box of fine European chocolates which is, for sure, better than sex." - Alicia Silverstone
17. "After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of that one. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate." - Mel Gibson in What Women Want.
Copyright 2005.
Bridget Mwape writes for Chocolate Gift Basket website at: http://www.chocolate-gift-basket.org.uk/ which features gift ideas, chocolates and more. He also writes for http://www.sweets-and-chocolate.org.uk/ which offers a wide selection of sweets.
