FIND AN ESTABLISHED MAN to buy you Chocolate! White, Dark, Milk?
It's no wonder our planet has its share of chocoholics. Whether its milk, white, or dark chocolate; melted, solid, or hollow; stuffed with raspberry filling, drizzled atop donuts, or mixed into double-churned ice cream, chocolate is global tongue-pleaser. Its sheer versatility is wondrous in and of itself. Godiva and Ghirardelli are two of the most recognized names in chocolate.
Chocolate is produced from roasted and fermented beans that grow on the Theobroma cacao tree. The beans aren't naturally sweet (which explains the unsweetened and semi-sweet varieties), so chocolatiers add condensed milk and sugar to the cacao. People in Mexico, Central, and South America have cultivated cacao for nearly 3 millennia. Today's chocolate is a combination of an ancient tropical seed and modern manufacturing technology.
Chocolate has been enjoyed throughout most of history as a beverage. Aztecs and other Mesoamerican people had been using cacao beans in a popular drink, called xocoatl, since as far back as 1100 BC. When Spain invaded the Aztecs in the 16th century, the armies brought cacao beans back to Europe and introduced the drink to the Spanish court – and thus began the modern, worldwide obsession with chocolate. Over the next century, chocolate beverages spread throughout Europe – although it was still strictly an elitist treat – and Spanish armies enslaved Mesoamerican people to cultivate cacao in the New World to keep up with Europe's seemingly endless chocolate fix.
No longer confined to its liquid form, today's chocolate is predominantly consumed as a solid – something that wasn't invented until 1847. Modern technology provides the necessary tools for producing chocolate that is deliciously sweet, such as milk chocolate, or more potently cacao-y, such as 90% dark chocolate. Not only can we customize the sweetness of our chocolate, but we can also mould the scrumptious dessert into various shapes. For example, many people give chocolate bunnies on Easter, chocolate Santa Clauses at Christmas time, and chocolate coins for Hanukah. I'm sure we've all either given or received heart-shaped chocolates on Valentine's Day.
Beyond tasting delicious, chocolate has certain health benefits when consumed in moderation. Milk chocolate supposedly increases serotonin levels in the brain, which can make you feel happier. Dark chocolate is high in antioxidants and can reduce blood pressure and have other positive effects on the heart when consumed regularly and in small doses.
While chocolate has plenty of wonderful qualities, it's important to consider where your delicious treat is made – and how and by whom. Early cacao cultivation was possible through the enslavement of Mesoamerican people and there is controversy as to the conditions in which most of today cacao cultivators operate. Nearly 75% of the world's chocolate is produced from cacao beans cultivated in West Africa and there are many questions surrounding child labor in cacao farms in this region. If you can find chocolate that is organic and fair trade, you'll be able to enjoy your delicacy with a clear conscience. It might cost you a couple dollars more, but at least you'll know that your chocolate addiction isn't perpetuating child labor in West Africa.
Politics and human rights aside, chocolate is a great way to break the ice on a first date and impress a woman that you would like to get to know better. If you know that a woman likes chocolate, seducing her will be a piece of cake – perhaps literally! Why not make yourself memorable by arriving to your dinner date with a box of decadent Godiva truffles? Even if the box of chocolates lasts longer than the relationship, the woman will always remember your sweet gesture. You'll stand out by bringing her something that you know she likes (because who doesn't like chocolate?!) and going the extra mile to follow through with the thought of bringing her a small, delicious present. Plus, if the date goes well, she might even share the chocolates with you over some red wine back at your place later in the evening.
If you still need convincing that giving a woman chocolate might lead to romantic success, may I remind you that chocolate is an aphrodisiac. (Translation: it will have you – and your date – feeling frisky.) Like oysters or champagne, chocolate arouses the senses the puts people in the mood for some intimate exploration. Sometimes even an allusion to chocolate is enough to get someone sexually excited.
Chocolate goes well with fruit, red wine, champagne, and great company. Sharing a decadent chocolate dessert or a bowl of mixed berries with a hunk of dark chocolate on the side is a romantic way to experience life's simple, sensuous – not to mention ancient – pleasures.