I’m catching up on some of my chocolate reviews from the past few months since I’ve been computerless.  Lots to talk about!  A few months back, I was lucky enough to meet up with Sarah Hart, owner of Alma Chocolate in Portland, Oregon while she was visiting Chicago. Turns out we were long lost soul sisters.  Imagine an entire night of talking about chocolate and food!

We had a lovely dinner at The Purple Pig.  Lots of great conversation and lots of pig products that were to die for!  I always appreciate a great waitstaff and our lovely lady treated us to a delicious complimentary dessert.  Not sure what it was called, but she knew we were chocolate people and we weren’t disappointed.  It was a brioche stuffed with chocolate and then fried.  I would have taken a dozen to go, but I didn’t want them to look at me funny…

Sarah was kind enough to bring me a wonderful selection of chocolates from her shop called Alma Chocolate located in Portland, Oregon.  I first found out about Alma Chocolate two years ago when I was working on my Chocolate Travel book.  To me, food is on a spiritual, intellectual and emotional level.  Alma Chocolates drew me in right from the start.  I felt the love and passion brought into the beautiful work coming out of this shop. Ironically, according to Alma Chocolate’s website, Alma means “soul” in Spanish and “to nourish” in Latin.  What makes the name even more special?  Sarah’s grandmother’s name is Alma.  How incredibly wonderful is that?

Alma Chocolate Swallow

Alma Chocolate uses single-origin chocolate and organic ingredients to create their masterpieces. They create iconic solid chocolate works, bon bons, truffles, toffees, barks, sauces and caramels.  Sarah brought me a Swallow made from 100% Venezuelan, single-origin chocolate covered with 23 karat edible gold leaf. I almost couldn’t eat her.  She was so beautiful.  I had visons of a Christmas tree covered in Alma Chocolate icons.  How incredibly would that be?  Perhaps at a holiday party, you can cover your tree in Alma Chocolate icons and guests can bring an ornament to replace the icon your guest decides to take home and enjoy… I digress, as usual.

Alma Chocolate Candied Fruit and Nut Bar

You won’t find any typical English toffees at Alma Chocolate.  Alma’s toffees are as distinct and original as Sara herself.  Her selection includes Pistachio, Ginger Almond, and Oregon Hazelnut and Dried Cherry. The Ginger Almond is deliciously full of contrast with the spiciness of the ginger, the buttery sweetness of the toffee and the delicate crunch of the almonds.

Alma Chocolate Bark

Alma Chocolate’s  barks include Mocha Almond Nibbly Bar and PMS (for the gentlemen too!).  The nibby in the nibby bar?  It’s cocoa nibs!  A nice special treat.  PMS?  Yep.  Over the top and everything you need… candied peanut, milk chocolate (sometimes you just need the sugar) and a bit of salt.  It all balances the flavors out.

The mini bars?  Little bars of heaven!  Pistachio Hazelnut Bar, Salty Nutty Toffee, and Candied Fruit and Nut Bar.  I love pistachios.  They are by far my favorite nut.  I’ve never had pistachio and hazelnuts in the same chocolate bar before and it was an outstanding combination!  Four stars!

Alma Chocolate Bon Bons

Alma Chocolate will blow your mind in the bon bon department!  The flavors are innovative and over-the-top.  How about a Habanero Caramel Crown?  Sabrina (marzipan and fig)? Thai Peanut Butter Cup (ginger, lime, Thai chile and red volcanic sea salt)? Smoky Joe Truffle ( smoked paprika)?  See what I mean?  To see a fulll ist of what Alma offer in the way of bon bons and truffles… click here.

Alma Chocolate Caramel Sauces

Don’t care for chocolate?  Gasp!  Alma makes a fabulous caramel to top your ice cream or pies off.  I’d like to try it on some buttered toast myself.  Something for everyone – lavender, habanero or rosewater.

Thanks for coming to visit me Sarah!  My taste buds and tummy thank you for your gift bag full of chocolatey goodness.  I’m still smiling… You may purchase Alma Chocolate at their store, online, or at any of their other stockists including Cork – A Bottle Shop on 2901 NE Alberta Street and 1715 NW Lovejoy Street, and at the Portland Farmer’s Market.

Have a great day and don’t forget your daily dark chocolate!

Annmarie Kostyk

Well, I finally bit the bullet and purchased myself a new laptop since my last computer went to the big computer heaven in the sky a few months back.  I have to say that the computer’s blank page has been staring at me and laughing.  I seem to have something called writers block, but I wanted to let you know that I’m still here consuming mass quantities of chocolate.  Lots of reviews will be flowing onto my pages in no time.

The biggest form of flattery is pulling ideas from someone’s work, or in the following case, someone’s work in its entirety…which I do do on occasion noting them, of course.  I found this article on Facebook today and I couldn’t believe it.  I knew, had heard rumors, that there were those that were not fond of chocolate, but not of any that couldn’t stand chocolate.  It’s a great, honest, short read that I think you’ll love.  I’ll be back later on this week with some recipes, reviews and a few other tidbits.  I missed you all!

Annmarie Kostyk

Until my new graphics are done…ignore the caption.

Confessions of a Chocolate Hater

I know it’s weird, but it’s more socially awkward than you realize

by Lila Byock May 14, 2011 (from Gilt Taste)

It was widely known among the students of Paxson Elementary that you could get free ice cream by walking half a block to the Dairy Queen and requesting a “mistake”—the bungled orders set aside for cheapskates. Beggars can’t be choosers, as the saying goes, and given that my allowance was earmarked for Belinda Carlisle tapes and jelly shoes, I didn’t flinch at those misshapen Dilly Bars, with their soft-serve goiters and brittle exoskeletons of chocolate. Looking back, I can only conclude that the cacao content of DQ’s chocolate coating is roughly equivalent to the scotch content of their butterscotch dip. You see, there is no easy way to say this: I hate chocolate.

I wish I had some easy explanation—a fingernail once unearthed inside a Fudgsicle, say—but the truth is I’ve always been like this. My sister (the beneficiary of my trick-or-treating bounty) used to introduce me to friends by saying, “This is Lila. She doesn’t like chocolate. She’s weird.” (Ingrate.) I was already something of an oddity, growing up in Montana, by virtue of my unpronounceable name, my Jewish/Hispanic ancestry, my freckles. But I never felt more isolated than I did on those afternoons when I was the only kid without a cupcake at a classmate’s birthday party. I possessed an invisible deficiency, like colorblindness, and it seemed to symbolize all the ways I failed to fit in.

It’s heresy, I know. A dislike of chocolate is strange to the point of suspicion (as I’ve been informed on many, many occasions). Fro-yo may boom and cupcakes may bust, but chocolate is the gold standard of the dessert economy. It’s the Type O of confections, the universal pleasure donor, ubiquitous at Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Easter, birthday parties, weddings and wakes. It lounges seductively on your hotel pillow when you turn in for the night. According to a Hofstra University survey, only two percent of respondents acknowledged disliking chocolate, and among women that figure was zero. Zero percent of women dislike chocolate. Apparently I don’t even count. But I can count, and, for example, I recently counted 1,048 Facebook groups called, simply, “Chocolate.” That does not include “People Who Hate Chocolate Are Obviously Aliens” (35 members) and “Don’t You Hate People Who Hate Chocolate?!?!” (446 members).

So you can see why I try to keep my condition to myself, locked away in the same mind-vault where I store my revulsion toward earthworms, and Ray Liotta. I worry that people will think it’s an affectation, or just an obnoxious fat-phobia. But chocolate’s omnipresence means I can hardly get through a week without stumbling into the Chocolate Discussion. When I’m forced to confess my aversion, often at the close of some lovely dinner party where the host has toiled over a complicated soufflé or torte, the disclosure is inevitably tainted with rejection.

“That looks incredible, but I couldn’t possibly,” I’ll say, waving off the dish and the accompanying chocolate odor. When the host insists, or offers a disbelieving stare, I sigh, knowing I’m about to steer the conversation right off the rails. “The truth is, I’m really not a chocolate person.” And then I shrug, like, Weird, right? Better to be thought aberrant than impolite. By now, though, there’s no avoiding the Discussion:

Are you allergic? Nope, just don’t like the taste.

Just dark chocolate or milk too?  Categorically, I can’t stand the stuff.*

You must not have much of a sweet tooth. On the contrary, I could subsist happily on a diet of strawberry shortcake and apple pandowdy.

Then you don’t like things that are bitter? The bitterer the betterer. My favorite beers are ultra-hoppy IPAs and my preferred comic mode is acerbic.

Wait, really? How can you not like chocolate? You know those times when everyone’s really excited about some band and then you listen to the album and even though you’re hearing the same thing as everyone else you Just Don’t Get It? (Cough, Radiohead.) I think I taste all the flavors in chocolate that you taste, but to me they don’t add up to a harmonious sum. It’s just sort of… brown. With an aftertaste of alienation.

Are you an American, even? I get this one a lot. Given that chocolate was discovered by Mayans, perfected (so I hear) by Europeans, and is generally imported from Africa, I have never understood the logic. But if you must know, my long-form birth certificate is on file with the State of California.

Next time the topic arises, though, I’ll have a new line of defense. Not long ago, I read a 2007 paper in the Journal of Proteome Research (yep, that’s how I roll) that may explain the existence of freaks like me.

Swiss and British scientists from, um, the Nestlé Research Center conducted a study of men who identified as “chocolate-desiring” and men who identified as “chocolate-indifferent.” (Women were excluded “to avoid the confounding effects of hormonal fluctuations.”) After a week’s worth of blood and urine tests, the researchers determined that the two groups exhibited distinctly different “metabonomes” and “gut microflora,” regardless of whether they had eaten chocolate or a placebo** during the study—the scientists could theoretically determine who was or wasn’t a chocoholic just by examining things like lipid, niacin and citrate levels. What this means, according to the researcher who led the study, is that it’s not my fault; a love of chocolate (or lack thereof) is “imprinted into our metabolic system.” Palate is just the con game your intestinal bacteria pull on your taste buds. Evidently you can account for taste, so long as you’re willing to submit your bodily fluids to the scrutiny of a bunch of Europeans in lab coats.

Nearly two hundred years ago, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin observed that habitual chocolate users are “least liable to a multitude of illnesses which spoil the enjoyment of life.” If that’s a fact, then perhaps one day some Nestlé scientist will invent a pill to treat my malfunctioning metabonomes and microflora. (And perhaps we’ll have universal health care to pay for it.) Until then, thank you so much for dinner. Your ganache looks spectacular, but I couldn’t possibly.

* Let’s all just agree, once and for all, that white chocolate is no more a cousin to chocolate than David Lee Roth is to Philip.

** What’s a placebo for chocolate, you ask? The answer, apparently, is bread.

Happy first day of spring!  A lovely day of March showers is cleansing the Earth today here in Chicago.  Nothing to do but sit around, watch movies, read and eat chocolate!  With spring comes farmer’s markets and the freshest foods of the season, so I thought I’d take some time to tell you about the Chicago French Market.  And yes, they do sell chocolate created by Canady Le Chocolatier! Canady Le Chocolatier also has an original location at824 S. Wabash in Chicago.

The Chicago French Market is located in the Olgilvie Transportation Center  in the West Loop of Chicago.   The market has been open a little over a year.  What’s in Chicago’s West Loop?  Primarily businesses employing about a half million people.  Not a bad place to set up shop.   After all, we like to eat in Chicago.  Top it off with the 40,000 people who live in the West Loop and you have yourself a success story.    The Chicago French Market is home to 26 vendors offering anything from cheese, to air-dried pasta, pastries, hand-smoked meats, lunch, produce and chocolates.

I have to be honest with you.  I wasn’t impressed the first time I entered the Chicago French Market.  Something seemed off to me.  Perhaps it’s the lighting, the layout, the height of the ceiling.  I’m not quite sure.  Once you become engrossed in what’s actually happening there, you will soon forget the short comings.  (If you can figure out what exactly it is that’s disturbing about the place, let me know.)  The fact is, people are proud of what they’re selling here.  This is their livelihood and they want to share with you how their artisan products got from them to you.

Chicago French Market

Now for Canady Le Chocolatier… Let’s start off with the not so nice first.  Being a perfectionist and a foodie with lots of sales, marketing and retail in my background, you never leave just one of something in the case.  Put it out for samples, throw it away, but get it out of there.  There were seven items that were only represented by one chocolate.  The other thing that bothered me, and my friends that were accompanying me, was that the sales girl was too mousy  and timid for a market situation.  She barely spoke to us, didn’t share anything with us about the Canady Le Chocolatier, nor knew answers to any of questions that we were asking her.  There weren’t any boxes either.  You could only get your chocolates in a bag which wasn’t kind to getting them home safely on the train.  If I worked there, I could easily double their money within a few months, but I digress.

Canady Le Chocolatier

What was still available in large amounts for sale was breathtakingly beautiful and came in a variety of tastes for everyone. We each purchased six chocolates.  My favorites were the sea salts caramels and a dark chocolate Buddha that I believe had a passion fruit ganache inside.  The flavors were smooth and complimented each other nicely.  Have to go down there again soon and get one of each so I can tell you a bit more about them!

Canady Le Chocolatier

So head on down to the Chicago French Market, have a Vietnamese sandwich, you will not be disappointed!, at Saigon Sisters.  Then head over the Canady Le Chocolatier and get yourself a few chocolates.  Canady Le Chocolatier produces some fabulous artisan chocolates!

Annmarie Kostyk

When you think of chocolate, you usually don’t think of the Irish.  Ireland is not famous for it’s chocolatiers, but that’s changing. Here are  some chocolatiers you should know about…

Butler's Chocolate

Butler’s Chocolates were established in Georgian Dublin in 1932.  They still have the same standards today as they did then.  The really fun thing is that you can tour the factory next time you are in Dublin!  Tours run daily at 11am and 2.30pm and you must book your reservations in  advance.

Mary Ann O’Brien started her chocolate business in Kildare in 1992 after recovering

Lily O'Brien's Chocolates

from a debilitating illness. Her daughter, Lily, acts as her production manager for what is now known as Lily O’Brien Chocolates.  Lily O’Brien Chocolates is now becoming a well known name throughout the world producing some of the finest artisan chocolates around. They create some really spectacular chocolates for favors for any event.

Wilde Irish Chocolate Triple Chocolate Chip Fudge

Wilde Irish Chocolates produce some brilliant chocolates including organic chocolate bars, sugar free chocolate, chocolate spreads, chocolate gift boxes, fun molded chocolate and some over the top fudge.  I have to tell you about the fudge!  Here are the offerings… Cranberry & White Chocolate,  Irish Porter, Orange Dark Chocolate, Orange Dark Chocolate,  Peppermint White Chocolate,  Peppermint White Chocolate,  Toasted Hazelnut Milk Chocolate, Triple Chocolate Chip and Vanilla Pod.

For this St. Patrick’s Day, whip up a lovely chocolate dessert with an Irish twist.  Try the Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake or Chocolate Whiskey and Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Icing.  Maybe you should go crazy just this once and make them all… The first recipe comes from Closet Cooking.

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake

Serves 6 generously

Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons heavy cream
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Guinness

Directions:
1. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder, sugar, and butter and press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.
2. Melt the chocolate in the cream in a double boiler.
3. Cream the cream cheese.
4. Mix in the sugar, chocolate, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and Guinness.
5. Pour the mixture into the spring form pans.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 60 minutes.
7. Turn off heat and leave cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 60 minutes.
8. Let it cool completely.
9. Chill the cheesecake in the fridge overnight.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes stuffed with Whiskey Ganache and topped with Bailey’s Irish Cream Icing adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting:
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 tablespoons Baileys (you can substitute heavy cream, if you like)

Directions:

Special equipment: 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer (I used the open end of one of my piping tips) and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)

To Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Make the Filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

For the Frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

[Note from Smitten Kitchen:  "This is a fantastic trick I picked up while working on the cupcakes article for Martha Stewart Living; the test kitchen chefs had found that when they added the sugar slowly, quick buttercream frostings got less grainy, and tended to require less sugar to thicken them up." Thanks, SK!]

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or cream) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. Ice and decorate the cupcakes.

Do ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled — or filled and frosted — in the fridge for a day. (Longer, they will start to get stale.)

Chocolate Whiskey and Guinness Cupcakes

Eat, drink and be merry on St. Patrick’s Day!  And please be safe!

Annmarie Kostyk

John Robbins

For years now, I have been preaching about the health benefits of dark chocolate and cocoa.  Sometimes I do not feel that anyone out there is listening.  You probably know that I eat about 2 ounces of dark chocolate daily.  I have even been known to add a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to my oatmeal in the morning.  Here’s a great article by John Robbins of the Huffington Post who shares the same views as me.

The food police may find this hard to take, but chocolate has gotten a bad rap. People say it causes acne, that you should eat carob instead, that it’s junk food. But these accusations are not only undeserved and inaccurate, they falsely incriminate a delicious food that turns out to have profoundly important healing powers.

Healthy Heart

There is in fact a growing body of credible scientific evidence that chocolate contains a host of heart-healthy and mood-enhancing phytochemicals, with benefits to both body and mind.

For one, chocolate is a plentiful source of antioxidants. These are substances that reduce the ongoing cellular and arterial damage caused by oxidative reactions.

You may have heard of a type of antioxidants called polyphenols. These are protective chemicals found in plant foods such as red wine and green tea. Chocolate, it turns out, is particularly rich in polyphenols. According to researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, the same antioxidant properties found in red wine that protect against heart disease are also found in comparable quantities in chocolate.

Dark Chocolate

How does chocolate help to prevent heart disease? The oxidation of LDL cholesterol is considered a major factor in the promotion of coronary disease. When this waxy substance oxidizes, it tends to stick to artery walls, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. But chocolate to the rescue! The polyphenols in chocolate inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

And there’s more. One of the causes of atherosclerosis is blood platelets clumping together, a process called aggregation. The polyphenols in chocolate inhibit this clumping, reducing the risks of atherosclerosis.

High blood pressure is a well known risk factor for heart disease. It is also one of the most common causes of kidney failure, and a significant contributor to many kinds of dementia and cognitive impairment. Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate daily can reduce blood pressure in people with mild hypertension.

Aspirin

Why are people with risk factors for heart disease sometimes told to take a baby aspirin every day? The reason is that aspirin thins the blood and reduces the likelihood of clots forming (clots play a key role in many heart attacks and strokes). Research performed at the department of nutrition at the University of California, Davis, found that chocolate thins the blood and performs the same anti-clotting activity as aspirin. “Our work supports the concept that the chronic consumption of cocoa may be associated with improved cardiovascular health,” said UC Davis researcher Carl Keen. (Read more about this study in my book Chocolate is Healthy!)

Chocolate is Healthy! by Annmarie Kostyk

How much chocolate would you have to eat to obtain these benefits? Less than you might think. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adding only half an ounce of dark chocolate to an average American diet is enough to increase total antioxidant capacity 4 percent, and lessen oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

Why, then, has chocolate gotten such a bum reputation? It’s the ingredients we add to it. Nearly all of the calories in a typical chocolate bar are sugar and fat.

As far as fats go, it’s the added fats that are the difficulty, not the natural fat (called cocoa butter) found in chocolate. Cocoa butter is high in saturated fat, so many people assume that it’s not good for your cardiovascular system. But most of the saturated fat content in cocoa butter is stearic acid, which numerous studies have shown does not raise blood cholesterol levels. In the human body, it acts much like the monounsaturated fat in olive oil.

Cocoa Butter

Milk chocolate, on the other hand, contains added butterfat which can raise blood cholesterol levels. And it has less antioxidants and other beneficial phytochemicals than dark chocolate.

Does chocolate contribute to acne? Milk chocolate has been shown to do so, but I’ve never heard of any evidence incriminating dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate is also healthier because it has less added sugar. I’m sure you don’t need another lecture on the dangers of excess sugar consumption. But if you want to become obese and dramatically raise your odds of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, foods high in sugar (including high fructose corn syrup) are just the ticket.

Are chocolate’s benefits limited to the health of the body? Hardly. Chocolate has long been renown for its remarkable effects on human mood. We are now beginning to understand why.

Theobroma cacao

Chocolate is the richest known source of a little-known substance called theobromine, a close chemical relative of caffeine. Theobromine, like caffeine, and also like the asthma drug theophylline, belong to the chemical group known as xanthine alkaloids. Chocolate products contain small amounts of caffeine, but not nearly enough to explain the attractions, fascinations, addictions, and effects of chocolate. The mood enhancement produced by chocolate may be primarily due to theobromine.

Chocolate also contains other substances with mood elevating effects. One is phenethylamine, which triggers the release of pleasurable endorphins and potentates the action of dopamine, a neurochemical associated with sexual arousal and pleasure. Phenethylamine is released in the brain when people become infatuated or fall in love.

Another substance found in chocolate is anandamide (from the Sanskrit word “ananda,” which means peaceful bliss). A fatty substance that is naturally produced in the brain, anandamide has been isolated from chocolate by pharmacologists at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. It binds to the same receptor sites in the brain as cannabinoids — the psychoactive constituents in marijuana — and produces feelings of elation and exhilaration. (If this becomes more widely known, will they make chocolate illegal?) (FYI – Dr. Andrew Weil talks about this in his book From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs)

If that weren’t enough, chocolate also boosts brain levels of serotonin. Women typically have lower serotonin levels during PMS and menstruation, which may be one reason women typically experience stronger cravings for chocolate at these times in their cycles. People suffering from depression so characteristically have lower serotonin levels that an entire class of anti-depressive medications called serotonin uptake inhibitors (including Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft) have been developed that raise brain levels of serotonin.

Green and Black's Organic, Fair-Trade Dark Chocolate

Since I am known as an advocate of healthy eating, I’m often asked about my food indulgences. One of my favorite desserts is a piece of dark organic chocolate, along with a glass of a fine red wine.

I do have a policy, though, to eat only organic and/or fair trade chocolate. This is because of what I have learned about child slavery in the cocoa trade. (BBC produced a great documentary on the subject.)

May your life be full of healthy pleasures.

John Robbins is the author of many bestsellers including “The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World”, the classic “Diet For A New America,” and “The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less.” He is the recipient of the Rachel Carson Award, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, the Peace Abbey’s Courage of Conscience Award, and Green America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. To learn more about his work, visit www.johnrobbins.info

The perfect quote on Facebook today… “For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect.”

Dark chocolate is a super power food. The problem is that most people still think milk chocolate and chocolate candy when they think about chocolate. Hopefully, with the proper education from us, people will finally get it! Grab some dark chocolate to munch on while you read!  Enjoy

Annmarie Kostyk

Cocoa Beans

We all know about chocolate and cocoa powder, but there is another product from Theobroma cacao’s cocoa bean that not many people know about.  It is called the cocoa nib. Theobroma cacao produces a pod which contains cocoa beans.  The cocoa nibs come from a cocoa bean that has been roasted and separated from the husks of the cocoa bean.

Cocoa Nibs

Cocoa nibs may be added to oatmeal, used as topping on an ice cream sundae, adding the chocolate chip cookies instead of or in addition to nuts, added to homemade granola… really the possibilities are endless!  Cocoa nibs have the same health benefits of both chocolate and cocoa powder, but possess the added surprise of crunch and texture.

Askinosie Chocolate's Cocoa Nibs

Kopali's Organic Dark Chocolate Covered Cocoa Nibs

You may purchase cocoa nibs for a variety of chocolate makers in their naked form (try Askinosie Chocolate’s cocoa nibs of Scharffen Berger’s Cocoa Nibs!) and they are exceptional tasty covered in dark chocolate (try Kopali’s Organic Dark Chocolate Covered Cocoa Nibs!).

Cocoa Nib Tassies

Serves 24

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
scant 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling:
1 large egg white
3/4 cup packed light brown
1 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup cocoa nibs, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
generous pinch sea salt

Directions:

Position oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the pastry:

Combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.

Divide the dough in half and press each half into a flattened 4-inch square. Cut each square into 12 equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Place one dough ball in each muffin cup and press it evenly over the bottom and all the way up the sides of the cup, forming a neat rim. Set aside.

To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat the egg white until foamy. Stir in the brown sugar, melted butter, cocoa nibs, vanilla, and salt. Divide the filling evenly among the tartlet shells, using about 1 teaspoon for each.

Bake the tassies for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees F. and bake for 20 minutes more, or until the pastry is well browned on the edges and underneath (life one out with the point of a knife to check). Let cool in the pans on a rack.

(Stored in an airtight container, these remain delicious for about 3 days, with the chocolate flavor intensifying from day to day).

Cocoa Nib Tassies

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Valentine’s Day is all about chocolate!  Yes, I love flowers, nice dinners, quiet time together, even jewelry, but give me chocolate and it’s all over. You’ve won my heart.  I feel like I’m repeating myself, but some things are worth repeating… $14 billion will be spent on chocolate for Valentine’s Day this year.  If you don’t receive chocolate for Valentine’s Day, you might as well buy it for yourself.

Valentine’s Day is the best season of the year for any business involving chocolate.  Here’s some info from an article on MSNBC:

Valentine’s Day is coming up soon and cliché gift ideas are in the air. Or at least that’s the pattern we’re seeing in some recent Google search statistics. Based on those numbers, your odds of receiving chocolate appear to be great.

The statistics below were provided to us by Google and they show some of the Valentine’s Day related search queries which have been entered more frequently than usual recently.

• Searches for ‘chocolate strawberries’ are up by 120%
• Searches for ‘chocolate covered strawberries’ are up by 90%
• Searches for ‘chocolate ganache’ are up by 60%
• Searches for ‘chocolate fondue’ are up by 50%
• Searches for ‘chocolate truffles’ are up by 50%
• Searches for ‘chocolate hearts’ are up by 65%
• Searches for ‘heart shaped cookies’ are up by 64%
• Searches for ‘valentines day dessert’ are up by 35%
• Searches for ‘cookie bouquets’ are up by 66%

Those numbers translate into a lot of people searching for chocolate, but it gets better!

It turns out that folks may have been planning ahead for this Valentine’s Day as a peek at the last 30 days of search activity shows dramatic increases in sweet searches:

• Searches for ‘valentines chocolate’ are up by 1,450%
• Searches for ‘valentines day chocolate’ are up by 1,400%
• Searches for ‘chocolate delivery’ are up by 100%
• Searches for ‘chocolate covered oreos’ are up by 41%
• Searches for ‘heart shaped chocolate’ are up by 76%

Of course, it’s worth noting that chocolate wasn’t the only thing people have been searching for when it comes to romantic gifts and Valentine’s Day ideas. After all, even searches ”for ‘red lipstick’ have risen by 24% in the past 7 days.”

Chocolate has even been seen on the financial channels.  After all, cocoa is a commodity and some of the biggest chocolate companies in the world are on some stock exchange.  Maria Bartiromo of CNBC interviews famous US chocolatier Jacques Torres, Jacques Torres Chocolates, CEO on the topic of Valentine’s Day.   A sweet spin on the economy, a look at the commodity cost of love with Mr. Chocolate, aka Jacques Torres.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1789285478&play=1

Want to make a big impression on the love of your life?  Surprise him/her with chocolates on a day that they are not expecting it.  It makes it so much better!  Annmarie Kostyk

Professor Chocolate

When I think of chocolate in Europe, I think of France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland.  When I think of chocolate in the United States, two cities on opposite sides of the country beckon me… New York City and San Francisco.  Two chocolate meccas on two different coasts, in two very different cities.  Professor Chocolate has made traveling to New York City to find the best chocolate the most easiest task on your “to do” list.  You will find all of the answers in their book The Ultimate Guide to Finding Chocolate in NYC (New York City) which is available on Amazon.com.  By the way, Professor Chocolate is made up of a team of two men who worship chocolate as much as yours truly.  Their names?  Rob Monahan and Neill Alleva.  You may remember seeing the video I posted not to long ago with Ron and his adorable little boy Sam perusing some of NYC’s local chocolate shops.  I have included that video in case you missed it the first time.

The Ultimate Guide to Finding Chocolate in NYC

Back to the book…The Ultimate Guide to Finding Chocolate in NYC.  I actually found a lot of new chocolate shops in this book that were new to me.  You have to remember that first of all, not everyone has a website and second, shops may be more known for something other than chocolate even though their chocolate is stellar.  Gasp.  I know.  But it’s true.

Rhonda Kave (center) started a chocolate biz after pursuits that included raising kids Corwin and Allison. (Photo Courtesy The New York Post)

The guide is a superb gift for all of us chocovores!  We start out with directions from the Chocolate Professors.  You know how I love directions.  Sometimes it’s nice to get lost in the moment and wander around finding things.  Other times it’s nice to have someone show you right where everything is located.  The guide is divided between the distinctive neighborhoods that makes NYC.  In this case, eleven neighborhoods.  The guide includes something significant about each neighborhood, you get a listing of how long the chocolate tour will take both in mileage, in time spent and how many chocolate stops that you will be making.  Each section after that has a more detailed map of the area around the chocolate shop and some other local spots to check out.  For those of us that like immediate gratification, Professor Chocolate will tell you what their favorites are so you can just go buy and then enjoy savoring your chocolates while you read in your hotel room.  My book is already highlighted and dog eared ready for the trip…

FIKA Pearl Street

In each section, the chocolatier and chocolate used are specified as well as icons for more help, again for those with immediate gratification in mind.  Even more important, Professor Chocolate highlights chocolate shop hours and how to get there via subway. Once you have enjoyed your chocolates, you may record your truffles and bonbons, bars and barks, and drinks or anything else chocolate that the shop might offer on a star rating system.  Homework!

New shops I found… Evelyn’s, FIKA (I’m moving in there), Bond Street Chocolates, Roni-Sue’s, Stogo (ice cream and chocolate!), Black Hound, Three Tarts, Nunu, Brooklyn Flea and Blue Apron Foods.  (FYI – Professor Chocolate just held a book signing at Three Tarts.) I guess I need to get out more.  I plan on a personal chocolate tour of NYC once winter breaks.  I’m taking my camera along so that you may enjoy it almost as much as I will.  Almost, because I’ll be tasting too!

So don’t miss this book!  It’s complete, user friendly, fun and chock full of chocolate goodness!  As the Professors Chocolate say… “Let the journey be the reward.” You may follow Professor Chocolate on Facebook, Twitter or on their website Professor Chocolate.  Click here to buy The Ultimate Guide to Finding Chocolate in New York City on Amazon.com.

Annmarie Kostyk

Vintage Plantations Valentine's Day Chocolates

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and you know what that means! Chocolate and flowers go hand and hand in Valentine’s Day celebrations. When I was a little girl, I always awoke on Valentine’s Day to find a big red box of candy at the end of my bed. It was from my dad. My favorite box had a doll on the front. To this day I wish I would have saved them all. That’s a tall order to live up to as you become an adult women. One begins to expect things…

St. Valentine

Valentine’s Day goes back to the third century when it was originally the ancient pagan Roman festival of Lupercalis/Lupercalia, a fertility celebration that used to observed annually on February 15. The Catholic church began to rename pagan holidays with those of Catholic saints so people would still be celebrating, only what they were celebrating was suppose to be different. I suppose fertility and love are pretty close enough not to matter.

Valentine's Day Enrobed Truffles

In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius turned Lupercalia into a Christian feast day and set its observance a day earlier, on February 14 just to confuse people just enough to not question why. He proclaimed February 14 the feast day of Saint Valentine, a Roman martyr who lived in the 3rd century. It is this St. Valentine whom the modern Valentine’s Day honors. A lot happened of the course of centuries to Valentine’s Day and the who, what, why and where of the whole thing. What is most intriguing is that it was not until the 14th century that Valentine’s Day actually became a holiday for lovers – current or would be. In medieval France and England, it was believed that birds mated on February 14. My bet is they were simply cold and people started talking. Romance and Valentine’s Day continued through the Middle Ages and continued to evolve as all holidays and traditions do.

Esther Howland Valentine 1850

By the 18th century, gift-giving and exchanging hand-made cards on Valentine’s Day had become common throughout England. The hand-made valentine cards were made from leftover lace and ribbons, and featured cupids and hearts. These cards were then given as tokens to the man or woman one loved. The tradition arrived in America where we feel the need to mass produce. In 1840, the first Valentine’s Day cards were mass produced for retail sale in America. Esther A. Howland is considered the mother of the Valentine’s Day card in the United States. She made elaborate cards with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures. It was when Howland began Valentine’s cards in mass production that the tradition really caught on in the United States. When I say mass produced, you have to keep in mind that the Valentine’s Day cards were still all made by hand. In 1913, Hallmark released its first Valentine’s Day card.

1887 Whitney Valentine

Today Valentine’s Day is celebrated throughout the world. Kind gestures and homemade cards evolved into dining out, flowers, diamonds and, of course, chocolate. Chocolate is thought to be given as a gift for its aphrodisiac properties, but who really know if it works. Chocolate does make you feel good and, for that matter, getting any gift makes you feel good! The first box of Valentine’s Day chocolates is credited to Richard Cadbury, of the famous British chocolate family, in London in 1868. Cadbury denied this claim stating that the box was simply a way to showcase his chocolate. Others say it was a special gift for his daughter that caught on. Bravo, Mr Cadbury! The box was romantic and of the Victorian style of its time. 75% of the chocolate sold during the year is purchased by woman. Over Valentine’s Day, 75% is purchased by men. No surprise there, although the men I know would love a good box as well. Over $1 billion of chocolate is purchase for Valentine’s Day. I don’t know about you, but I love receiving chocolates any time of year, but Valentine’s Day makes it a bit more special.

Rococo Chocolates Valentine's Day Box

Give me a box of chocolates, a good movie on DVD and I’m good. I’m still offering my address if anyone wants to send some chocolates my way for Valentine’s Day!

I beg you… No balloons or stuffed animals.  Do one thing, and do it well.  It is better to have quality than quantity.

I bid you peace, love, flowers and chocolate on this upcoming Valentine’s Day. (P.S. Size does matter when purchasing a box of chocolates…)

Annmarie Kostyk

In advance, I apologize to all of my fellow chocovores for my backlog of reviews. Chocovores is my new word that I dub all of my fellow chocolate lovers!  I promise to get caught up over these next two weeks.

Those of you that know me very well know that I’m a foodie in general.  Chocolate, I should specify, dark chocolate is my passion.  And why not?  It’s decadent, sinful, delicious and on top of that it’s good for you!  I digress as usual… There are, however, many other sweets that I absolutely adore… anything custard based, nougat, marzipan and the French macaron.  French macarons are like chocolate to me.  I only share with a few select people.  If I’ve shared any dessert with you, but especially dark chocolate or French macarons, well, you are in the tight Chocolate Club and close to my heart.  And if you share with me, well, I’m yours forever.

I was delighted to receive a big box of French macarons from a fairly new company called Napoleon’s Macarons.  How fitting as the French macaron is, of course, French.  Napoleon would be proud as would any Frenchman for that matter.  Well, the French macaron is all the rage right now, but it’s still pretty hard to find good, authentic ones.  If you want to treat yourself or need a Valentine’s Day gift to send to someone special, most definitely order from Napoleon’s Macarons.

Napoleon's Macarons 24 Piece (My box)

First let me start off by saying Napoleon’s Macarons quality is that of the Laduree French macaron.  That’s saying a lot.  I was a bit worried about receiving French macarons via the mail as the French macaron is a delicate cookie.  The package was properly secured and padded.  The box containing the actual macarons was a lovely confectionery pink color and it was all nice and glossy.  You all know that I’m a packaging junkie!  I open the box carefully to see what awaited me.  I was delighted to see that each individual macaron was secure in it’s own little home.  Only one casualty and I’m pretty sure it happened when the UPS man put it under his arm.  He had lots of boxes for me that day.  What an array of color and aromas coming from the box!  Fantastic!  Tres magnifique!  Josephine would have squealed with delight.  I sure did.

Napoleon’s Macarons are both organic and gluten free.  The flavors are clean, clear and innovative.  They come in boxes of 24, 36 and 48 ranging in price from $36-$68 and worth every penny.  The really nice thing?  You get to pick the flavors!  If you have a favorite, you can get an entire box of just the one kind!  The only one I didn’t care for was the Moroccan Tea.  The rest of them… well, I wish I would have had a box of each of flavor!  Here’s a little blurb on the French macaron maker right from their website…

Napoleon's Macarons Close-Up (48 Box)

Razmig Cyril Tchoboian was born and raised in Lyon, the French capital of gastronomy. Throughout his entire upbringing, his family exposed him to culinary arts and notably, pastries.

His love for experimentation brought him to constantly look for new combinations of flavors, and the infinite possibilities offered by the macaron attracted him right away.

Upon his arrival to California at age 25, he discovered the excitement of people over the fusion of cuisines from all over the world; Napoléon’sMacarons is his contribution to this quest of unfelt textures, refreshing aromas and novel sensations.

Here’s some of my favorites in the box:

Napoleon's Macarons Intense Chocolate

Intense Chocolate – Not a given for me.  Outside of the world of chocolate, chocolate is not my first flavor of choice for pastries.  I know this surprises you, but it’s true.  This was one outstanding  chocolate French macaron!  Look at that flaky goodness.  Nice and airy with a bit of crispiness in the texture.  Just chewy enough.  Ah… The cookie was full of a light cocoa flavor and the chocolate ganche was thick and rich.  Perfection!  Four stars!

Napoleon's Macarons Vanilla Creme Brulee

So I mentioned I loved custard… Creme Brulee is my all time favorite dessert.  Make a Vanilla Creme Brulee French Macaron and I’m yours!  See… for me, if you feed me it makes me happy!  Where to start?  This little gem melted in my mouth.  The vanilla burst through like a champ, yet wasn’t overpowering in the least.  I felt like someone handed me a creme brulee and just happened to hand me the cookies to surround it.  That’s the way it should be.

Napoloen's Macarons Raspberry Cream

The Raspberry Cream French Macaron is a looker and a taste sensation!  Just look at her.  She was the star of the box in sex appeal.  I was just dying to taste her.  Did I mention I ate all of these in two sittings?  She’s made of two different cookies.  The top is a raspberry and the bottom was (I’m pretty sure) a vanilla cream.  The inside filling is raspberry cream made with their homemade raspberry jam!  Marie Antoinette would have loved her!

Napoleon's Macarons Baklava

For innovation, the Baklava French Macaron won my vote (along with the Cola which no longer seems to be offered, unfortunately).  The Baklava was such a surprise.  It had the perfect balance of nuts and honey.  There was no question that this was Baklava.  My eyes told me one thing and my luckytaste buds told my mind something else.  Very nice.

Napoleon's Macarons Chestnut Cream

I didn’t quite know what flavor one of the French macarons was when I tried it.  I went online to check.  It was the Chestnut French Macaroon.  I realized at that point that I don’t think I’ve ever tasted chestnuts before!  Quite embarrassing!  And I call myself a foodie.  Shared one of these with my mom, she loved it.

So there’s no need to go to Paris to buy yourself French macarons at Laduree.  You can simply go online and bring France and the French macaron to you just go to Napoleon’s Macarons a place an order!  Made in America by a Frenchman!  Go figure!  Follow Napoleon’s Macarons on Twitter and Facebook!

Sometimes the Chocovore needs a bit more than chocolate!  French macarons are always a nice, welcomed option.  Bon soir!

Annmarie Kostyk