Eat Only What You Can Savor

True confession: my love affair with chocolate began with Little Debbie Nutty Bars. You know, those long wafer-like cookies filled with fake peanut butter dipped in chocolate. Yes, I loved those crunchy bars of peanut butter wonder.

Heck, I was a kid. What did I know about chocolate?

There wasn’t a whole lot of chocolate in my childhood. My mother was on a perpetual diet and my grandmother, the cook in the family, had a proclivity for lemon. Lemon pie. Lemon cake. Lemon cookies. She must have been pining for the subtle scent of lemon trees that graced her childhood in Sicily.

Chocolate was for Easter Sunday. I remember the year I woke up at the crack of dawn and rushed into the living room to see what the Easter Bunny had left in my basket. There it was—a thick, creamy milk chocolate bunny, a foot tall, with crunchy candy eyes and a big pink satin ribbon tied around its sweet chocolaty neck. Baby blue Easter eggs, chewy gooey jellybeans, and dozens of foil-wrapped chocolate eggs surrounded him. But, oh no, WAIT! What was happening to his backside? It was caving in, being melted slowly by a blaze of sunlight streaming through the window.

I grew up in Buffalo, New York, where sunlight streaming through the window was a big deal. Snow was undoubtedly still on the ground. The Easter Bunny had probably arrived in a sleigh. I have a photograph of me in my purple lace Easter dress, sitting at the dining room table beside that disappearing bunny in a basket, arms folded across my chest, big blue eyes drooping sadly. It’s not a happy picture. No one messes with my chocolate, not even Mr. Sun.

Fast-forward many years. I’m now a culinary nutritionist, and sugar is getting a bad rap. Everywhere you look you see books like Sugar Blues, Sugar Shock, Suicide by Sugar, The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program. And once again I’m thinking, “They’d better not mess with my chocolate.”

Poor chocolate. This delectably sensuous treat has become the subject of so much controversy. First it’s touted as the best super food on the planet: antioxidant-rich, serotonin-boosting, better-than-sex chocolate. “Yes, I’ll have some of that!” But then, “Oh no, don’t believe a word of it. Chocolate has caffeine. There are insect parts hiding in each and every bar.”

What’s a body to do with all this conflicting information? Me? I’m a rebel at heart. I’ve studied with enough experts to know that scientists can make a case for or against anything. I’m choosing to stay with those promoting the health benefits of chocolate.

Here’s my take on cacao. It’s an extraordinary super food, rich in antioxidants and minerals, and it doesn’t have to be laden with sugar to taste delicious. In fact, the best chocolate I’ve sampled, other than the unadulterated nib, is generally about 70% cacao. The best products come from organic cacao beans, fairly traded, preferably from Ecuador.

But even more important than antioxidants, minerals, and the quality of the bean are the rich and satisfying experiences associated with chocolate. Have you ever met a cranky chocolate lover? I’ve had more fun with this Chocolate for Breakfast blog than with any other creative endeavor I’ve undertaken. People laugh with me. They talk with me about their chocolate adventures. They even brave ice and snow to send me free samples of the chocolates they’re creating.

You might think I’d be exploding from all the rich chocolate samples my mail carrier delivers, but I treat my chocolate with respect. I arrange it on a plate. I listen to the snap when I break a bar in half. I smell the aroma of the cacao bean. I make sure to clear my palette so that I can appreciate all the subtly complex flavors. After I take a bite, I sit with it a minute to see if there is a second rush of flavor on my palette or in my throat. I notice the crunch of the nibs when I’m lucky enough to find a chocolatier who fancies those little crunchy wonders as much as I do.

Sometimes I put a piece of chocolate in my mouth and just let it melt, noticing every nuance as the flavor notes unfold. I encourage my clients to invest in the finest, purest chocolate they can acquire. I want them to know what it means to truly savor a treat. Fill out the box at the right to claim your free “Top 12 Chocolate Finds” ebook. Some are just plain fun. Others I chose for the quality of ingredients or the integrity of the chocolate maker. Enjoy your chocolate adventures, share this post with your friends, and be sure to leave a comment!