Gods Eat and Drink Chocolate

The smart gods do, anyway. Pity the poor inhabitants of Mt. Olympus and other divine hangouts who had to make do with nectar, ambrosia and the occasional garlanded heifer. If they’d only known about the other side of the world, they could have feasted on potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers and chocolate! By the way, have you ever put cayenne in brownies? No? Next time you make a batch of brownies, add a pinch of cayenne, no more than an eighth of a teaspoon, to the batter. You don’t want to taste it or burn your mouth, but it adds amazing zip, not to mention warmth.

I thought I knew more than the average bear about chocolate, but then I checked David Wolfe’s ‘Naked Chocolate’ out of the library and was amazed. I knew more than the average bear about chocolate manufacture, not the cacao bean. By the way, the plant is the cacao, the hot drink is cocoa. There are several varieties of cacao, all having originated in Central and South America. The best is, of course, grown in very limited quantities because it is very finicky. Cacao grows best in latitudes within 20 degrees North or South of the equator, and is now grown around the world in those latitudes, where there is appropriate soil.

There are a number of ancient legends involving cacao. ‘Naked Chocolate’ is a good place to start reading about them. Like all really important things, there are stories told about how the gods brought chocolate to the people and taught them how to use it. The later history is interesting too, how the Europeans brought it back to Europe and the different ways they tried to utilize it before hitting on the recipes and techniques we use today. When Europeans were introduced to chocolate, they didn’t like it much. It didn’t taste like our sweet candy. It was a bitter and spicy drink, but they did notice the energizing effect of it. They also noticed the value that was placed on chocolate beans—they were used as money.

After they brought it back to Europe, and after people had experimented with it and found it delicious when it was sweetened, chocolate became all the fashionable rage. Unlike the fashion for powdered wigs and beauty spots, though, chocolate has remained one of the most faithful pleasures of life that we all can enjoy, whether we’re gods or not.

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