When it comes to desserts, chocolate is king. From luscious dark chocolate candy to decadent chocolate souffle, few can resist.
But chocolate leads a secret life. Check around and you can find it in tobacco, alcoholic beverages, even fuel for the car. Imagine that. We used to joke about following the aroma of french fries in cars that run on used cooking oil. How heavenly would it be to follow a car that leaves behind it the delectable aroma of hot cocoa?
There’s an art to making chocolate-flavored cigars totally by hand like the ones available at Cuban Crafters in Florida.
Rene, a Cuban cigar maker with many years of experience, has it down pat. Years ago he opened a factory in the Dominican Republic where all he does is produce these flavorful sticks. The cigars are handmade with premium Dominican tobacco wrapped around smooth and aromatic, chocolate-flavored pipe tobacco. Premium pipe tobacco is soaked in pure and natural chocolate flavorings and then hand rolled inside long-filler tobacco.
The result is a taste that can only be described as amazing.
Available online at cubancrafters.com.
At a collaborative bioenergy workshop in São Paulo in May 2012, Professor Lynne Macaskie, applied microbiology at the University of Birmingham, says “Fuel cells need clean energy to run them. If you provide bacteria with a supply of sugary waste from, for example, chocolate production, the bacteria can produce hydrogen. At the moment, manufacturers pay to dispose of waste, but with our technique they could convert it to clean electricity instead.”
In one study, Macaskie and her team of researchers found a way to produce hydrogen by feeding waste products from a chocolate factory to Escherichia coli bacteria.
The researchers fed the bacteria diluted caramel and nougat waste left over from the chocolate-making process. The bacteria fermented the sugars in the chocolate waste, which generated organic acids so toxic to the bacteria that they began converting formic acid to hydrogen.
The researchers used the hydrogen to power a fuel cell, which generated enough electricity to run a small fan. Hydrogen is one of the cleanest renewable fuels around. When it is used to power fuel cells, for example, the only byproduct is water.
Only available in the depth of Winter, Foothills Brewery in Winston-Salem offers Sexual Chocolate, a cocoa-infused Imperial Stout. The beer is opaque black in color with a dark brown head. It has a big chocolate aroma with notes of espresso, blackstrap molasses, dark sweet toffee and dark fruit.
At the Great American Beer Festival, Bourbon Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate received a gold medal in 2010 and a silver medal in 2011; original Sexual Chocolate won bronze at the GABF in 2009; and a silver at the World Beer Cup in 2010.
This seasonal release should be available at the end of January. Visit foothillsbrewing.com for information on availability.
Lucero Olive Oil Co. LLC has selected a buttery extra virgin olive oil from olives grown and milled at the Lucero olive mill in Corning, California, and infused them with a little bit of chocolate flavor. Even though it looks like ordinary olive oil, company millers say the milk chocolate aroma will wow you.
They recommend using this oil when you want a little extra chocolate flavor in your banana bread for a snack or in your breakfast muffins for work, or even use it in Mexican Molé over tamales. It is meant to replace “other” un-healthy oils and butter. You get all the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil with the added benefit of chocolate flavor and no added calories.
Two recent lab studies reported on at AllChocolate.com on cocoa and the growth of cancer cells in test tubes have shown promising results.
One study showed that cocoa reduced the growth rate of colon cancer cells. Another study showed that breast cancer cells stopped multiplying when combined with specific flavanols. Flavanols naturally found in dark chocolate and cocoa have been shown to suppress compounds that create the overactive immune responses in the body thought to cause arthritis.
When rats were given supplements of the flavonoid antioxidants similar to those found in chocolate, researchers observed that they performed better on memory-testing, water maze tests. Another study using a catechin antioxidant similar to one found in chocolate showed improved memory for mice with previous brain problems.
On a more day-to-day level, chocolate acts as an antiseptic, diuretic, parasiticide and pilatory. It is used to treat burns, cough and listlessness. Cocoa has theobromine which has a similar effect to that of caffeine. It stimulates the muscles, heart and kidneys. In fact, it can relieve congestion during colds by simply opening the bronchial passages in the lungs.
So, depending on what ails you, take one steaming cup of hot cocoa and call us in the morning.
Some people aren’t content to just eat chocolate — they want to wear it, inhale it, bathe in it. Chocolate body products can be found in boutiques and specialty shops everywhere. Some products, like those available at Karie’s Kloset on N.C. 42 in Asheboro (karieskloset.com), are a little suggestive, maybe even a little naughty. PacificaPerfume.com offers a spray perfume called Mexican Cocoa, described as a passionate blend with “the rich, dark scent of Mexican Chocolate at its base. Rounded out with mild notes of bitter almond, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla” that is “indulgent, warm and delicious.”
If wearing your chocolate seems a little extreme, go for a chocolate-scented candle like those found at Bath and Body at Randolph Mall in Asheboro.