Chocolate As Comfort Food
We all go through tough times, we get sick, we get sad and all that. And usually, at those moments in our lives, we tend to look for comfort. Comfort food always comes in handy. They just magically make us feel all the better. What is it with these foods, really? Why do they bring such magic?
Chocolates are known to be the universal comfort food. And chocolate’s reputation as a mood-lifter makes it a frequent and cherished gift, especially to people who are particularly rolling with the punches. It gives a lift to their spirits that most of us can relate to.
The term “comfort food”, which was added to the Webster’s Dictionary in 1972, is defined as “food that gives a sense of emotional well-being,” or “any food or drink that one turns to for temporary relief, security or reward.”
Research shows that when we eat chocolate, the brain elicits feel-good hormones into the body to make up for the bad vibes that overwhelm us in our everyday life like stress and fatigue. These particular hormones are also released when we feel happy such as when we hug someone. Interesting, I know.
One’s comfort food is another’s dieting archenemy. We all know how figure-conscious people muster everything they can just to avoid a bar of chocolate. Just so you know, completely depriving yourself of the things you love will just cause you to yearn for them even more intensely. The trick to this is to not totally rid yourself of them, but just have them in moderation.
People who are very uptight with what they eat often crumble down when they just can’t take it anymore, and the result? They go overboard with eating what they have been craving. So not ideal. So yes, it still boils down to having the things you want in moderation.
These comfort foods don’t essentially have reasons why they give us comfort and boost our moods, but they do make our lives a little better and get us back to our sense of self.
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: chocolate education, chocolate lovers, Craving, Diet, learn about chocolate, stress reduction
Chocolate And Wine
Wine is sensational on its own, I know that all too well. But people nowadays find pleasure in pairing it with different foods as wine is said to intensify the taste. It pairs splendidly with a lot of food, even chocolate! When done correctly, it gives an interesting and flavorful blast in the mouth.
The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on an appropriate type of chocolate. Ordinary chocolate bars you’ll find in your fridge aren’t good enough as they don’t contain distinctive flavors. The best choice are gourmet chocolates, be it dark, milk, or white chocolate.
Regarding your wine of choice, you have to find one that is at least as sweet as the chocolate, perhaps even slightly sweeter. One thing you have to keep in mind when creating this pair is to make sure that the distance between the sweetness of the wine and chocolate shouldn’t be far. Otherwise, the sour notes of wine will make the combination horrible since the wine will make it appear hollow if it isn’t sweet enough.
In general, red wines go along better with chocolate compared to white wines. The acidity of sparkling wines and Champagne reacts with chocolate causing a bitter taste, but that’s not to say they can’t go along well together at all. Correct combination is always key.
Another thing to know about this pairing is that elegant flavored light chocolate taste better with lighter-bodied wines. The stronger the flavor of the chocolate, the more full-bodied wine you need for that perfect combination. Quality of wine is of the essence since bad wine only gets worse when paired with chocolate.
Always taste the wine first. Only then should you start enjoying your chocolate. Doing so paves way for proper assessment of the flavor and taste of the wine itself. Otherwise, your mouth and taste buds will be covered with a thin layer of cocoa butter. Since it is already overwhelmed with chocolate, it can prevent you to taste the wine.
It was once taboo, but pairing wine with chocolate is now becoming commonplace that some people have this particular pair as their comfort food!
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: chocolate lovers, Drink, Pairing, Wine
From the Bean to the Bar
There is much more to making fine chocolate than picking a cacao bean and cooking it. Going from tree to chocolate bar takes a special touch to achieve the perfection you’re looking for.
Bean selection is the first step in making chocolate. If the bean chosen isn’t of high quality, the end result will be a less than desirable chocolate. Therefore, many fine chocolate makers take time to personally select the best beans.
Once a chocolatier selects the beans they are roasted. The roasting process has a great impact on the finished flavor. After roasting, the beans are put into a grinding process. The pulverized mass is called chocolate liquor and is turned into the actual chocolate.
To create the final chocolate bar from chocolate liquor, sugar and other ingredients are added to the liquor. Then another grinding process called refining is begun. Refining crushes everything and helps ensure that that the chocolate bar doesn’t have a grainy feeling in your mouth. Following the refining process, the mix is cooked and stirred in a process called conching. This step can take place over a few hours or days. It is at this point that chocolate begins to take on the flavor that most chocoholics love.
After conching, cocoa butter can be added to change the flow. Then the chocolate can be put into its final form, liquid or solid. If the final product is in solid form it must be tempered. Then it is packaged and shipped. If it took the form of a chocolate bar, now it’s finally ready for you to purchase and eat. Yum.
For a fun and tasty chocolate education visit Chocolate University Online.
