Indeed, this is quite true, as based on scientific research findings that may very well alter the image of chocolate forever — from junk food to health food! Isn’t it quite refreshing? Millions all over the world would be thrilled to know that the treat they all love is also very beneficial for our health.

So start chanting now, eat chocolate for a healthier you!

Well, before, we start getting excited over this, let us discover what the scientific studies have found out about chocolate, dark chocolate in particular – the type that quite a lot of people favor.

Findings have sufficient proof to declare that dark chocolate contains much more health benefits compared to white chocolate and milk chocolate. These two latter types actually have higher contents of fat and lesser health benefits to consumers.

Dark chocolate, also considered as bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, has been found to be very beneficial for people. One of its foremost benefits is that it enhances your mood and keeps you on a lighter, happier state of emotion. It has serotonin that affects a person much like an anti-depressant would.

So now you have discovered the why your mood becomes visibly improved after a bar of chocolate on a bad day.

Furthermore, aside from soothing us and lightening up our mood, it also improves the flexibility of our blood vessels and thus, eases the circulation of blood in our system.

Another outstanding aspect of chocolate that is very beneficial for people is the fact that nutrients can be found in it that are now known to prevent cancer. Cacao, an ingredient which dark chocolate has in abundance, contains antioxidants that are essential for the body to have in order to fight free radicals that cause heart ailments and other types of diseases.

Flavonoids can be found in chocolate and is a major enemy of free radicals that may come from other foodstuffs ingested by the body or absorbed from the environment. Flavonoids, called Epicatechins and Catechins, help a lot in protecting the body’s immune system. This is why, consuming chocolate with higher cacao content, or consuming dark chocolate for that matter is healthier.

Who would think that even with the delightfully thick and velvety texture of chocolate, minerals are present in it, minerals such as iron and magnesium? Now, you know that even if you cannot resist chocolate, you are not wasting yourself away. As long as you keep it moderate, eating chocolate is perfectly healthy!

The antioxidants in chocolate have been found beneficial for joints and help in reducing pain and stiffness caused by arthritis. Getting better sleep for a well rested you on the following day is another benefits offered by chocolate’s antioxidants. Vitamin B is also present which significantly increase the energy level of the brain and body.

Who says that eating chocolate would increase your calorie consumption leading to higher cholesterol and blood pressure levels? Well, they are mistaken – and what’s best, we have the studies to prove it! Eating dark chocolate actually even helps lower the cholesterol and blood pressure levels of the body. That’s definitely a resounding “Yay!” for all chocolate lovers. Even if chocolate has fats and cholesterol, they are the good kind that does not interfere with production of insulin in the body.

Who says you will become a diabetic if you eat chocolate? These people got it all wrong – a healthy dose of dark chocolate is beneficial for diabetics, who must constantly limit their sugar consumption. Since dark chocolate is low in carbohydrates, it is good for diabetics.

However, citing the health benefits of chocolate does not mean that you have to start eating loads of chocolate now. As in all things, excessiveness is not healthy. Remember to keep things in moderation – especially in consuming your favorite chocolate.

Your Very Own Chocolate Festival

Salon Du Chocolat, Chocolate Lovers’ Festival, Eurochocolate, Chocolate Rush, Garfield Park Chocolate Show, Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival, these are just some of the best chocolate festivals celebrated all over the world. And they are usually attended by hundreds of thousands of chocolate lovers like me. They flock to these events to view and taste fantastic creations from world-renowned chocolatiers and take pleasure in chocolate inspired activities.

The joy and fun you will experience is doubled when you attend this festival of merriment in the company of your chocolate loving friends. You will surely get crazy eating loads of chocolates of different kinds and sizes. Now, you do not necessarily have to spend a lot of money to go to these festivals why not think of having a chocolate party in your place? You can be an expert party planner to make this happen, all you need is a little help and some flickers of ingenuity!

Start with the Menu

Don’t force a sit down, four course meal. Do it just like you would on a regular barbecue Sunday. Serve grilled chicken, pork chops, pasta, and mashed potatoes, anything you are familiar with! Now, the simple chicken pieces and pork chops can be made magical by adding chocolate inspired sauces like mole, a Mexican, chili-chocolate essential. Round it up with chocolate deserts such as chocolate cakes, pastries and don’t forget to serve a pile of different kinds of chocolates. Make sure to have tons of them because you will be using them on games and other activities, anyway! You don’t need to buy those expensive gourmet chocolates, just grab the regular ones, your favorite brands – unless the gourmet chocolates are really what you’re going for.

If you want to serve fondue, then prepare fondue matches like marshmallows, pretzels and fruits. Research on wines that would go well with chocolates and keep the idea for the party! And last of all, max out on a variety of drinks that could help clean your guests’ palates.

Stage the Grandeur

Take out your best linens. If you have chocolate designed-linens, that would be great! You can line two or three tables with them. One table will be for eating and the other for chocolate and wine tasting. It can also be a place where you can display desserts that fellow choco lovers may want to indulge in anytime they want to while in the party.

Decorate your party area by incorporating chocolate brown colors in your design. Set the sound system and make sure you have great happy music to match the ambiance. And finally, make sure that your programme is ready along with the materials that you would need in games or activities.

Make the Chocolate Party Fun

Here’s a list of things that you can do at your chocolate party aside from chocolate and wine tasting. You may choose one or few of them, at least whatever is possible and could easily be done without having to spend so much.

1. Game – Who Can Eat The Most Chocolates?
2. Chocolate Painting – where you use chocolates and your hands to draw pictures
3. Stage an exhibit on the history of chocolates, print pictures and put them on display so everyone could have a look and learn while having fun
4. Chocó Poker – Use chocolate pieces as chips. Your guest may take home whatever chocolates they can win.
5. Bake-off Challenge – Who Can Make The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie?
6. Special cooking demonstration – learn a new chocolate recipe and share it with friends

It’s so simple, right? You don’t have to wait for a special occasion to throw a chocolate party! Being a chocolate lover is reason enough. But if you want to make your birthday, Thanksgiving, reunion or any get together fancier let the chocolate lover in you come out and let your loved ones experience a feast that was originally made for gods and kings!

Meat recipes that have chocolate in them have aroused much attention. Little do most people know that these chocolate-related recipes have been around for many years. Since the Aztecs valued the chocolates so much and believed in its power-harnessing abilities, they’ve used chocolate in practically everything!

Imagine this: your favorite meat and the luxurious taste of fine, smooth chocolate combined in one recipe that would leave you mouth-watering. We have all that here in Mole.

A Saucy History

Mole is Mexican delicacy that is Aztec in origin. It came from the word Molli, which means sauce. It wasn’t until mid-17th century that chocolates were added to mole and we now know them Mole Poblano.

Chocolate Mole instantly became a sensation, a staple during the holidays and special occasions, that it eventually became a national dish. It is normally served as a sauce for chickens and has bittersweet, nutty and spicy flavors.

The Hot Ingredient

Mole is mainly made up of about 10-30 ingredients, most of which are spices – specifically chilies. Varieties such as Pasillas, Guajillos, Chipotles, Anchos and Mulatos are commonly used each giving out very different flavors that when mixed is simply scrumptious.

Other ingredients may include Ceylon Cinnamon from Mexico which is also called canela, a type of sugar called Pilloncillo, plaintains, pineapples, ground nuts. You may replace raisins with dried apricots, tortillas instead of almonds, or yams instead of plaintain.

Toast them Chilies

The secret in successfully bringing out that nutty, charred flavor in mole is to partially burn most of its ingredients. Nuts, chilies and all the other spices need to be toasted on a pan, while tomatoes have to be charred until their skins are dark.

Other Mole Recipes

Mole Verde
Ingredients such as cilantro, tomatillos, epazote, Romaine Lettuce, and pumpkin seeds give this recipe its distinct green color.

Mole Coloradito
Spices include almonds, sesame seeds, garlic, Ancho, Pasillas, or Guajillo chilies banana, sugar, tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, garlic and crackers. The color should be rich red.

Mole Rojo
Mole Rojo is much like Mole Coloradito but lighter in color. Do not be mistaken of its lightness, though, because Rojo is much spicier! Use the same ingredients as coloradito but add more chilies, onion, pecans, and chocolate.

Mole Amarillo
The ingredients to make this mole are garlic, cumin, onion, cilantro, black, pepper, Ancho, Guajillo and Costeno chilies, chilcoxle, hoja santa and green tomatoes.

Mole Chichilo
This variety has a distinct ashy flavor to it. The chilies used in this dish are pasilla, Chilguacle Negro and Mulato. For anise flavor, they use avocado leaves.

Mole Mancha Manteles
You often see this mole partnered with pineapple or plaintain and has a strong Ancho flavor.

Mole de Cacahuete
The mole you add to chicken is literally a peanut sauce mixed with chilies.

Today, moles are readily available at local supermarkets and specialty stores and usually come in bottles of green, yellow or blackish paste. Although popular as sauce for various preparations of poultry, any other meat could do well with a little mole flavor. This delicacy is popular at weddings, holidays, Cinco de Mayo and Quincenneras . The Mexicans also offer Mole to their dead during Dia de los Muertos.

Clearly the world just couldn’t stop thinking of many ways to use chocolates. Any excuse to lavish in this tasty delicacy seems appropriate! As if picking out bags of chocolates weren’t enough, this delightful piece of heaven has also found its way to our kitchen as exciting, uncommon but sumptuous chocolate-related recipes!

Best Gourmet Chocolate Makers

My farthest memory as a child takes me back to when I was still about five, and my dad would bring home some chocolates. Once, I forgot to bring the chocolates he gave me to school, and while at school, it made me so anxious to have a bite especially gazing upon a classmate opening her Toblerone bar. Getting a glimpse of her enjoying eating her chocolate, I started to drool inside my mouth, like a bone-deprived puppy! And there was this other classmate who turned out to also be one big chocolate lover like me! He tried asking her to give him a piece but my classmate refused! When she turned around for a while, he went to her seat, discreetly opened her lunch box and took some. That day I knew what surprising effects chocolates can have on anyone!

It is so unimaginable that one can become a thieving criminal for the love and passion for chocolates. Though I understand how a chocolate lover feels towards these sweet and delightful delicacies of goodness, I cannot bear to imagine that it can go as far as stealing. Or maybe it was just part of being a child. One thing though that became crystal clear to me now is, never deprive someone of what they so love. And never to keep chocolate lovers from away from them!

As a chocolate when I was a child, I grew up into an adult still enjoying hat passion for chocolates. When I buy them, it is as if there will be no next time.
Today, I keep stocks of chocolates on my fridge and even have chocolate luncheons with my friends once a month. When one of my friends arrived from Europe a few months ago, he gave me boxes of chocolates from Italy, France and Belgium. Too bad, his trip didn’t include Switzerland, because if here is one brand of chocolates I truly really love, it’s Lindtt from Switzerland!

With each chocolate, I carefully unwrapped one chocolate at a time, with each chocolate wrapped in intricately designed chocolate box; my eyes feasted on the beautiful bite-size pieces. It was almost painful to take a bite because they were so beautiful and they liked so good all jammed up in my fridge. I guess the chocolate lover in me has quite turned me into the chocolate monster hat I am now.

Now, my interests in chocolates have drifted to liking gourmet chocolates. I am particularly interested about how they are made; the best variations they offer, and of course, the best makers there are. And here is a list of the famous
gourmet chocolate shops all over the world where you will meet the best chocolate makers and get to mingle with fellow chocoholics like us!

La Maison du Chocolat– Paris, France
Robert Linxe opened La Maison du Chocolat in 1977 and now it has several shops in the romantic city of Paris. He was often called “ganache-magician” as he uses bitter-sweet chocolate, about 65% cocoa and specializes in mendiants, ganaches, fruity bars and truffles.

Geneva, Switzerland – Arn Chocolaterie

Forget the Alps! If you eat anything from Arn Chocolaterie it would be like you are floating way above the snowy mountains of Switzerland. Experience being served an array of coffee and tea with their specialty of champagne truffles.

Escriba –Barcelona, Spain

It is but fit to find one of the best hot chocolates in Barcelona. Anyway, it is the first country that ever developed chocolates. Barcelona is lucky to have Escriba, a humble chocolate shop opened in the 1900′s by a coal worker. People who have experienced the luscious goodness of hot chocolate in Escriba can only sip in silent awe because it is just so unlike any other. But apart from their mouth-watering hot choco, they also have a wide selection of desserts you can choose from!

Neuhaus– Vlezenbeek, Belgium

Neuhaus has been around for 150 years and its popularity has never waned. They now have an online store which will delightfully deliver their best Belgian chocolates right in front of your doorstep. But why do that when you can visit Vlezenbeek and enjoy magical sceneries while indulging in chewy chocolate delights?

L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates– Massachusetts, USA

Situated at the very heart of Harvard University, the chocolate café is a haven to chocolate lovers in this part of the East Coast. Aside from the Cambridge store, they also have one in Walpole, NH which also serves main courses.

New York, USA – Marie Belle
The beautiful pieces of chocolates from Marie Belle is so perfect, it is painful to even have a bite. But you will be surprised as to how much better they are when you eat them than when you simply look at them!

Melt– London, England
Try checking out Melt, a store in Nothing Hill, not just because of the instant popularity the town owes to Julia Roberts but because of their own hotly served great chocolates at very affordable prices. And just like the name of the store, their chocolates promise to melt in your mouth with the finest tang you will ever experience! These are all the seven heavens in my life being a choco lover! I wish I could go visit many more gourmet chocolate shops in the future!