mkidd (and their answers) about chocolate. It deals with eating, cooking with and buying chocolate. Archive-name: food/chocolate/faq URL: http://www.qrc.com/~sholubek/choco/faq.htm "Life is like a box of chocolates...you know exactly what you're gonna get if you bother to look at the inside of the lid where a full description of the chocolate assortment can be found. Thus montelimars can be distinguished from strawberry creams and you can avoid almond clusters with ease..." ~ Posted by Quin (pha2kvq@south- 02.novell.leeds.ac.uk) THE OFFICIAL REC.FOOD.CHOCOLATE LIST OF FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS This FAQ is posted on the sixth day of every month. The most recent copy of this document can be obtained via anonymous FTP as have access to anonymous FTP, you can retrieve it by sending email to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the command "send === CONTENTS === (* = sections changed since last edition) 0. The Not-So-Fine-Print 1. General 1.1 What is chocolate? 1.2 What is the history of chocolate? *1.3 How is chocolate made? 1.4 What is conching? *1.5 What kinds of chocolate are there? 1.6 What is this white, blotchy stuff on my chocolate bar? 1.7 I just bought a whole bunch of chocolate. What's the best way to store it? *1.8 What is lecithin and why is it in my chocolate? 2. Cooking with chocolate 2.1 What is tempering? 2.2 What is couverture? 2.3 How do I melt chocolate and what's the best kind to use? 2.4 I was melting some chocolate, and suddenly it changed from a shiny, smooth liquid to a dull, thick paste. What happened? 2.5 How do I make chocolate covered strawberries? 2.6 Where can I get some recipes for chocolate? 2.7 I saw a recipe for Chocolate _____ on the newsgroup a while back. Can someone repost it? 3. Chocolate trivia 3.1 Hey! Did you hear about this lady at Neiman Marcus who wanted to buy a cookie recipe...? 3.2 Is chocolate really an aphrodesiac? 3.3 Can I give chocolate to my dog? 3.4 How much caffeine is in chocolate? 3.5 Doesn't chocolate cause acne? 4. Chocolate resources 4.1 Stores and Catalogs 4.2 Net resources 4.2.1 World Wide Web Resources 4.2.2 E-mail Resources -=-=-=-=- 0. The Not-So-Fine Print This document is intended to provide answers for some common questions posted to rec.food.chocolate. It is by no means comprehensive. Discussion on any topic discussed in this FAQ is certainly encouraged. Additions or corrections are always welcome. This document was compiled by Monee Kidd , to whom questions, comments, queries, concerns, additions, corrections and/or deletions should be directed. Flames should be directed to dev/null. Most answers were gathered from posts to rec.food.chocolate. Many thanks to the many people who help make this FAQ a reality. In addition, some background information was shamelessly lifted from The World Book Encyclopedia [(c) 1983. so what, it's an old version, I know]. All internet sites (e-mail, telnet, WWW and otherwise) were up and running at the time this FAQ was released. This FAQ is Copyright (C) 1995 by Monee C. Kidd. This text, in whole or in part, may not be published in print, or sold in any medium, including, but not limited to, electronic or CD-ROM without the explicit, written consent of Monee Kidd. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 1. General A reader of the old alt.food.chocolate once asked: "I would be very much obliged if someone could tell me how a food that has been associated with acne, headaches, obesity and many a trip to the dentist has managed to attract so much favorable attention." In the eighteenth century a Swedish naturalist named Carolus Linneaus who created the modern system of naming all the living things on the earth called the tree from which chocolate comes 'Cacao theobroma' - Cacao, food of the gods. For centuries, the world has had a sweet love affair with this most delectable of foods. Why *does* this sweet confection have so many admirers? Perhaps we should start at the beginning... -=-=-=-=- 1.1 What is chocolate? Where does it come from? Chocolate is a food made from the seeds of a tropical tree called the cacao. These trees flourish in warm, moist climates. Most of the worlds cacao beans come from West Africa, where Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria are the largest producers. Because of a spelling error, probably by English traders long ago, these beans became known as cocoa beans. -=-=-=-=- 1.2 What is the history of chocolate? (Excerpted with permission from the Godiva WWW site) * In 600 A.D. the Mayans migrated into the northern regions of South America, establishing the earliest known cocoa plantations in the Yucatan. It has been argued that the Mayans had been familiar with cocoa several centuries prior to this date. They considered it a valuable commodity, used both as a means of payment and as units of calculation. * Mayans and Aztecs took beans from the "cacao" tree and made a drink they called "xocoatl." Aztec Indian legend held that cacao seeds had been brought from Paradise and that wisdom and power came from eating the fruit of the cacao tree. * The word "chocolate" is said to derive from the Mayan "xocoatl"; cocoa from the Aztec "cacahuatl." The Mexican Indian word "chocolate" comes from a combination of the terms choco ("foam") and atl ("water"); early chocolate was only consumed in beverage form. * Christopher Columbus is said to have brought back cacao beans to King Ferdinand from his fourth visit to the New World, but they were overlooked in favor of the many other treasures he had found. * Chocolate was first noted in 1519 when Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez visited the court of Emperor Montezuma of Mexico. American historian William Hickling's History of the Conquest of Mexico (1838) reports that Montezuma "took no other beverage than the chocolatl, a potation of chocolate, flavored with vanilla and spices, and so prepared as to be reduced to a froth of the consistency of honey, which gradually dissolved in the mouth and was taken cold." The fact that Montezuma consumed his "chocolatl" in goblets before entering his harem led to the belief that it was an aphrodisiac. * The first chocolate house was reputedly opened in London in 1657 by a Frenchman. Costing 10 to 15 shillings per pound, chocolate was considered a beverage for the elite class. Sixteenth-century Spanish historian Oviedo noted: "None but the rich and noble could afford to drink chocolatl as it was literally drinking money. Cocoa passed currency as money among all nations; thus a rabbit in Nicaragua sold for 10 cocoa nibs, and 100 of these seeds could buy a tolerably good slave." * Chocolate also appears to have been used as a medicinal remedy by leading physicians of the day. Christopher Ludwig Hoffmann's treatise Potus Chocolate recommends chocolate for many diseases, citing it as a cure for Cardinal Richelieu's ills. * With the Industrial Revolution came the mass production of chocolate, spreading its popularity among the citizenry. * Chocolate was introduced to the United States in 1765 when John Hanan brought cocoa beans from the West Indies into Dorchester, Massachusetts, to refine them with the help of Dr. James Baker. The first chocolate factory in the country was established there. * Yet, chocolate wasn't really accepted by the American colonists until fishermen from Gloucester, Massachusetts, accepted cocoa beans as payment for cargo in tropical America. * Where chocolate was mostly considered a beverage for centuries, and predominantly for men, it became recognized as an appropriate drink for children in the seventeenth century. It had many different additions: milk, wine, beer, sweeteners, and spices. Drinking chocolate was considered a very fashionable social event. * Eating chocolate was introduced in 1674 in the form of rolls and cakes, served in the various chocolate emporiums. * Nestle (The History of Chocolate and Cocoa, p. 3) declares that from 1800 to the present day, these four factors contributed to chocolate's "coming of age" as a worldwide food product: 1. The introduction of cocoa powder in 1828; 2. The reduction of excise duties; 3. Improvements in transportation facilities, from plantation to factory; 4. The invention of eating chocolate, and improvements in manufacturing methods. * The New York Cocoa Exchange, located at the World Trade Center, was begun October 1, 1925, so that buyers and sellers could get together for transactions. * In 1980 a story of chocolate espionage hit the world press when an apprentice of the Swiss company of Suchard-Tobler unsuccessfully attempted to sell secret chocolate recipes to Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. * By the 1990s, chocolate had proven its popularity as a product, and its success as a big business. Annual world consumption of cocoa beans averages approximately 600,000 tons, and per capita chocolate consumption is greatly on the rise. Chocolate manufacturing in the United States is a multibillion-dollar industry. According to Norman Kolpas (1978, p. 106), "We have seen how chocolate progressed from a primitive drink and food of ancient Latin American tribes -- a part of their religious, commerce and social life -- to a drink favored by the elite of European society and gradually improved until it was in comparably drinkable and, later, superbly edible. We have also followed its complex transformation from the closely packed seeds of the fruit of an exotic tree to a wide variety of carefully manufactured cocoa and chocolate products. Beyond the historical, agricultural and commercial, and culinary sides to chocolate, others: affect on our health and beauty, and inspiration to literature and the arts." -=-=-=-=- 1.3 How is chocolate made? Workers cut the fruit of the cacao tree, or pods open and scoop out the beans. These beans are allowed to ferment and then dry. Then they are cleaned, roasted and hulled. Once the shells have been removed they are called nibs. Nibs are blended much like coffee beans, to produce different colors and flavors. Then they are ground up and the cocoa butter is released. The heat from the grinind process causes this mixture of cocoa butter and finely ground nibs to melt and form a free-flowing substance known as chocolate liquor. From there different varieties of chocolate are produced. -=-=-=-=- 1.4 What is conching? Raw unprocessed chocolate is gritty, grainy and really not suitable for eating. Swiss chocolate manufacturer Rudolph Lindt discovered a process of rolling and kneading chocolate that gives it the smoother and richer quality that eating chocolate is known for today. The name 'conching' comes from the shell-like shape of the rollers used. The longer chocolate is conched, the more luxurious it will feel on your tongue. -=-=-=-=- *1.5 What kinds of chocolate are there? Depending on what is added to (or removed from) the chocolate liquor, different flavors and varieties of chocolate are produced. Each has a different chemical make-up, the differences are not solely in the taste. Be sure, therefore, to use the kind the recipe calls for, as different varieties will react differently to heat and moisture. * Unsweetened or Baking chocolate is simply cooled, hardened chocolate liquor. It is used primarily as an ingredient in recipes, or as a garnish. *Semi-sweet chocolate is also used primarily in recipes. It has extra cocoa butter and sugar added. Sweet cooking chocolate is basically the same, with more sugar for taste. * Milk chocolate is chocolate liquor with extra cocoa butter, sugar, milk and vanilla added. This is the most popular form for chocolate. It is primarily an eating chocolate. * Cocoa is chocolate liquor with much of the cocoa butter removed, creating a fine powder. It can pick up moisture and odors from other products, so you should keep cocoa in a cool, dry place, tightly covered. There are several kinds of cocoa: ~ Low-fat cocoa has the most fat removed. It typically has less than ten percent cocoa butter remaining. ~ Medium-fat cocoa has anywhere from ten to twenty-two percent cocoa butter in it. ~ Drinking or Breakfast cocoa has over twenty-two percent left in it. This is the cocoa used in chocolate milk powders like Nestle's Quik. ~ Dutch process cocoa is cocoa which has been specially processed to neutralize the natural acids in the chocolate. It is slightly darker and has a much different taste than regular cocoa. * White chocolate is somewhat of a misnomer. In the United States, in order to be legally called 'chocolate' a product must contain cocoa solids. White chocolate does not contain these solids, which leaves it a smooth ivory or beige color. Real white chocolate is primarily cocoa butter, sugar, milk and vanilla. There are some products on the market that call themselves white chocolate, but are made with vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter. Check the label to avoid these cheap imitations. White chocolate is the most fragile form of chocolate; pay close attention to it while heating or melting it. * Decorator's chocolate or confectioner's chocolate isn't really chocolate at all, but a sort of chocolate flavored candy used for things such as covering strawberries. It was created to melt easily and harden quickly, but it isn't chocolate. If you want quick and easy, use decorator's chocolate. If you want the real thing, use real chocolate and patience. -=-=-=-=- 1.6 What is this white, blotchy stuff on my chocolate bar? A white, filmy residue on chocolate is called a bloom. It occurs when some of the cocoa butter in the chocolate separates from the cocoa solids, usually when the chocolate is stored in a warm area. If you buy a chocolate bar and find it has bloomed, don't let the sales person convince you the taste has not been altered. -=-=-=-=- 1.7 I just bought a whole bunch of chocolate. How should I store it? Chocolate is best kept at around 68-72 degrees Farenheit, the temperature of a nice pantry or dark cabinet. Kept at this temperature, chocolate (assuming it isn't covering fruit or other perishables) has a shelf life of about a year. Freezing chocolate isn't such a great idea; when you freeze it, then thaw it out, it will have a greater tendancy to bloom. but if you must, let it warm gradually to room temperature before you try cooking with it. -=-=-=-=- *1.8 What is lecithin and why is it in my chocolate? Lecithin is an emulsifier used to reduce the viscosity, or thickness of chocolate. Thinning out the chocolate slightly reduces the amount of cocoa butter required to produce the correct texture in the manufacturing process. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 2. Cooking with chocolate Chocolate is a very tricky food to cook with. Temperatures that are too high can scorch it, temperatures too low can cause it to harden unevenly. It must be watched very carefully. But if you can master the art, you can create some breathtaking desserts. Below are some things to know about cooking with chocolate. -=-=-=-=- 2.1 What is tempering? How can I temper chocolate at home? In order for chocolate to cool into a hard candy and not a mushy goo, it must be tempered. This is a process where the chocolate is slowly heated, then slowly cooled, allowing the cocoa butter molecules to solidify in an orderly fashion. The following is a pretty thorough method for tempering at home: (credit to Pete Lockhart, pete@teleport.com) Frankly, I've had decent luck with microwave ovens for melting the chocolate. It's an iterative process of nuking, stirring, nuking, stirring, etc. But I like the idea that the chocolate is not getting steamed as it is with a double boiler. You might try 15 seconds increments on high for a pound of chocolate. Keep an eye on the time as the chocolate gets into its melt; you may want to ramp it down some what. However, for either nuking or using a double boiler, it's not a bad idea to break up the chocolate into little pieces. For a double boiler be careful not to have the water boiling or touching the bottom of the upper vessel. It sounds from your description like you might have the heat cranked up too much, even given convection from the bottom vessel to the top. Be patient. Dark chocolate can be taken up to about 115 degrees F and milk chocolate can be taken up to 110 degrees F. Once you've gotten a complete melt, letting the chocolate cool slowly while stirring it or working it will encourage the cocoa butter to arrange itself in a way that is particularly useful for making candy. This is 'tempering' the chocolate. Turns out that cocoa butter molecules can arrange themselves in a variety of ways [six that I know of] and it is these different arrangements that determine the melting temperature of the chocolate. The respective melting temperatures range from about 60 degrees F to about 97 degrees F. The one you're looking to get is the most stable form, and has a melting temperature of 93 - 95 degrees F. Which is good, because it means that your chocolate will tend to be that way, as long as you're patient. It also means that the chocolate is going to feel delightfully cooling in your mouth. So, you've taken your chocolate up to 110 -115 degrees, and that has had the effect of breaking up [melting] all of the cocoa butter molecules. Now you want them to arrange themselves in a stable arrangement; but you also want to manipulate the chocolate now that it is a liquid. úÿ There are a couple of strategies for encouraging the cocoa butter into its stable arrangement. As mentioned above, stirring it or working it with a spatula will tend to bring about the proper 'crystallization' of the cocoa butter molecules. Another technique is to 'seed' the molten chocolate by putting in little pieces of solid chocolate. The molten cocoa butter then will do a kind of follow-the-leader and arrange itself after the fashion of the solids. Which is what you want. The hazard with seeding your chocolate is that you might get little air pockets associated with the solid pieces. I tend to just stir the chocolate. Traditionally, small batch chocolate is tempered on marble slabs. Just pour it on and work it with a spatula until it becomes kind of slushy-mushy. I don't use a marble slab, I use a bowl that I can pop back into the microwave if I need to. The next tricky step is to maintain enough heat to keep the chocolate molten, but not heat it up so much that it forgets how to arrange itself. This is where the 85 - 90 degrees F comes in. [I think the heating pad idea sounds cool]. The marble slab will retain some of the heat. Be careful about using the same vessel in which you heated the chocolate. I know it's convenient, and that's what I do, you just gotta be more careful about over heating the chocolate. Overheating the chocolate will make the cocoa butter separate from the cocoa solids, and that's a bad thing. Indication that you're overheating the chocolate is either chocolate bloom in the hardened chocolate or out and out separation of cocoa butter in the chocolate soup. -=-=-=-=- 2.2 What is couverture? Couverture is a special kind of chocolate that has more cocoa butter than regular chocolate, anywhere from 33% to 38% for a really good brand. This type of chocolate is used as a coating for things like truffles ("couverture" is French for "covering") There are two ways of coating candies, either by hand dipping into melted chocolate or enrobing, gently pouring chocolate over the treat. -=-=-=-=- 2.3 How do I melt chocolate and what's the best kind to use? There are two ways to melt chocolate, in a double boiler or in a microwave: 1. Double boiler method: A double boiler is basically two pots designed to fit together for melting wand warming fragile foods. The bottom pot holds a bit of water - never enough to touch the bottom of the second pot, the top holds the food, in this case chocolate. You should never place chocolate directly on a heat source, you run the risk of scorching it. Cut the chocolate up into small pieces, this will reduce the melting time. Adjust the heat so that the water in the bottom pot gets hot but doesn't begin to boil. Place the chocolate in the top pot and stir every so often. Dark and bittersweet chocolate are the most 'hardy' forms of chocolate, they will require less stirring than milk and white chocolates, which will burn very easily if you do not pay close attention. 2. Microwave method: Place chopped pieces of chocolate into a microwave proof bowl and heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove the bowl, stir what you can then return it to the microwave for another 30 seconds. Continue this until the chocolate is just about melted. You might be tempted to increase the time intervals, but remember that warmed chocolate will keep its shape, even if it is melted, unless it is stirred. Don't judge time on looks alone. When the chocolate is almost completely melted, remove it from the microwave and stir, letting the warmth of the bowl and surrounding chocolate complete the melting. Here are some suggestions for brands to use (from a post by from Pete again) _Cook's Illustrated_ Nov/Dec ['94] issue contains an article by Bishop and Meldrich that ranks the following chocolates in the following order. The evaluation was by a dozen or so refined Californian palates, so it should work for you. *Highly Recommended* Van Leer Bittersweet Chocolate #1121-115 (approx $4.00/lb) -- Chocolate Gallery @ 212-675-2253 Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet (approx $6.40/lb) -- Ghirradelli @ 800-877-9338 Callebaut Bittersweet (approx $9.00/lb) -- Williams-Sonoma @ 800-541-2233 Merckens Yucatan Classic Dark (approx $4.20/lb) -- A Cook's Wares @ 412-846-9490 *Recommended* Guittard Gourmet Bittersweet Hawaiian Vintage Bittersweet Nestle's Semi-Sweet *Not Recommended* Vairhona Le Noir Gastronomie Bittersweet Lindt Surfin Baker's SemiSweet Baking Hershey's Semi-Sweet Baking -=-=-=-=- 2.4 I was melting some chocolate, and suddenly it changed from a shiny, smooth liquid to a dull, thick paste. What happened? As discussed before, chocolate is very sensitive. Any slight variance from the instructions can cause disastrous results. What you have described here is called seizing. Seizing can happen for several reasons: 1. The chocolate is burned. Even temperatures that aren't too hot for your finger can be too hot for chocolate. When melting chocolate, keep the heat low and keep stirring, especially for milk and white chocolates. 2. A *small* amount of moisture has been added. Chocolate is very finicky about liquids. Even the moisture from a damp spoon can contaminate a batch of melting chocolate. This is what happens after a while to chocolate fondue - moisture from strawberries or cheese can ruin the texture. Be careful if you are melting pure chocolate by itself to keep everything very dry. 3. Cool liquids have been added. Another oddity about chocolate: small amounts of liquid can spoil melted chocolate, but large amounts are o.k., so long as the liquid is warmed to match the temperature of the melted chocolate. If you add cold cream or milk, for example, the chocolate will begin to solidify and you'll end up with a mess. Regardless of how your chocolate gets seized, you'll have to throw it out and start again. There is no way to "un-seize" and remelt chocolate once it has been contaminated in this way. -=-=-=-=- 2.5 How do I make chocolate covered strawberries? Covering strawberries is not an easy task, but if you exercise a little patience, you can come up with an excellent dessert treat. The main thing to remember: Make sure the strawberries are _DRY_. Remember, even the slightest moisture can ruin an entire batch of chocolate. If it's a real humid day, wait until tomorrow, you'll have better success. Prepare a cookie sheet or other flat surface with wax paper, small enough to fit into your refrigerator. Lay your *dry* strawberries out on a plate. Melt some chocolate, following the steps outlined above. Holding each strawberry by the stem, dip it into the chocolate and place it on the wax paper. If the chocolate gets too thick, return it to the heat, carefully. Place the finished strawberries in the refrigerator and allow them to cool. This is probably the best place to keep them; unless you are sure you've tempered your chocolate well, the chocolate will melt at room temperature. Some people choose to add a bit of baker's wax or parafin to the chocolate. This is an edible substance that also helps to keep the chocolate solid at room temperature. Purely a subjective move, not necessary. -=-=-=-=- 2.6 Where can I get some recipes for chocolate? There are dozens of cookbooks for sale that dedicate themselves entirely to chocolate. This list is therefore by no means comprehensive. * _365 Great Chocolate Desserts_ by Natalie Haughton. (Harper Collins 1991) A whole year of chocolate desserts! What more could you ask for? The recipes here are designed for the busy, working woman, so they are relatively simple and inexpensive to prepare. * _Chocolate Classics_ by Barbara Grunes and Phyllis Magida. (Contempo Books 1993) This is a small book that contains recipes on a variety of levels of difficulty, along with some of the history and folklore surrounding chocolate. * _Chocolatier_ This isn't a book, but a magazine - new chocolate information every month! Each issue has recipes in it, as well as tips and other tidbits of interest to the chocoholic. A year's subscription can be had for $19.95 (add $6.00 overseas) and can be requested at: Chocolatier Magazine; Dept A92; P.O. Box 333; Mt. Morris, IL 61054 - or if you're too anxious to wait for snail-mail, send your request off to chocolatier@godiva.com. * _Cocolat_ by Alice Medrich. (Warner Books 1990) Named for the decadent chocolate restaurants in Berkley, California, and elsewhere, this book will remind you why cooking is often times referred to as 'culinary art'. The recipes in this book require a master's touch, but if you can create these confections, your guests and family will love you for days. * _Death by Chocolate_ by Marcel Desaulniers. (Kenan Books 1992) Straight from the famous Trellis Restaurant to your kitchen, this book contains finished products that could be works of art. A variety of skill levels are required, and tips from the chef accompany each recipe. * _Mrs Fields' I Love Chocolate Cookbook_ by Debbi Fields. (Time-Life Books 1994) Another cookbook for the working mother, filled with treats to delight children and grownups alike. -=-=-=-=- 2.7 I saw a recipe for Chocolate _____ on the newsgroup a while back. Can someone repost it? Each month the recipes posted on rec.food.chocolate, rec.food.cooking and rec.food.recipes are archived and sent out via a mailing list. To join this read-only mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@apk.net with the command "subscribe choco YourEmail Address" in the body of the message. You can also request back issues from that same address; send the command "index" in the body of a message to get a list of available archives. A HMTL version is available at the WWW site at http://www.qrc.com/~sholubek/choco/start.htm. Requests for individual recipe searches can be sent to owner-choco@apk.net; put the words 'recipe search' in the subject of your request. Please note that this service is not completely automated, and therefore is not immediate. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 3. Chocolate trivia Chocolate has been the subject of many stories and myths throughout history. Some are based on fact, others are apocryphal. Some common ones are unravelled here. -=-=-=-=- 3.1 Hey! Did you hear about this lady at Neiman Marcus who wanted to buy a chocolate chip cookie recipe...? Stop right there. The story to which you are referring is completely false. Unfortunately it's been floating around since the 1980's and simply will not die. Here's is the official story on this tale: Title: HEARD THE ONE ABOUT THE $250 COOKIE RECIPE? Categories: Desserts Yield: 1 servings No Ingredients by Daniel P. Puzo, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Fresh from a downtown Los Angeles bar, a sometime consumer gadfly arrived at The Times with a hot tip about yet another case of corporate callousness and greed. Brandishing a photocopied letter, she claimed a famous department store, in a sneaky and underhanded manner, had charged an unsuspecting patron an outrageous sum for a recipe- the company's popular chocolate chip cookie. The actual victim was apparently an unnamed, but credible, Beverly Hills matron. The single-page letter was full of indignation as it vividly described the incident and even contained exact dialogue of the transgression. It began: "My daughter and I finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas and decided to have a small dessert. Because our family members are such 'cookie monsters' we decided to try the Neiman- Marcus Cookie. It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and they said with a small frown, 'I'm afraid not.' Well, I said, 'Would you let me buy the recipe?' With a cute smile she said, 'Yes.' I asked how much and she responded 'two fifty.' I said with approval, 'Just add it to my tab,' which I had already signed." The letter continued: "Thirty days later I received my Visa statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285. I looked again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, 'Cookie Recipe- $250.00' Boy, was I upset!" The letter goes on to state that, in the spirit of revenge, the unnamed victim was providing all interested parties the $250 recipe at no charge. Knowing a good story from the start, The Times made several unsuccessful attempts to discover the identity of the aggrieved Beverly Hills party. The story was eventually forgotten, as is normally the case when nothing checks out. But then a respected Boston-based newspaper, the Christian Science Monitor, distributed an article throughout the United States that retold the tale of the egregious recipe overcharge, with incredibly similar detail, adding a condemning "fie upon Neiman Marcus." The cookie recipe caper thus got a new life. Now, after a lengthy investigation, the facts are unearthed: + Neiman Marcus does not sell recipes from its restaurants. The department store gives them away for free to anyone who asks. + There is no "Neiman Marcus Cafe" at any of the chains three Dallas-area stores. Instead, the restaurants are named Zodiac, Zodiac at North Park and The Woods. + Neiman Marcus does not sell or serve cookies at any of its restaurants. + There is no such thing as a "Neiman-Marcus Cookie." (And Neiman Marcus no longer has a hyphen in its title.) + Neiman Marcus does not take Visa. + The fashion cognoscenti would know immediately that you cannot buy a scarf at Neiman Marcus for $20 as the letter writer stated. Scarf prices start at $40 and quickly run as high as $215. How did this rumor get started? Pat Zajac, Neiman Marcus spokesperson in Dallas, said that the tall tale has been circulating since she came to work for the chain in 1986. The first newspaper story she saw on the bogus cookie recipe appeared in 1988. Zajac said that in the past few weeks, her office has been swamped with calls from the media trying to verify the story. She speculates that the letter recently has been circulating on electronic services like some "computer virus." Needless to say, Neiman Marcus is not pleased with the rumor's persistence or tone. "We are concerned," said Zajac. "We like to think we are accommodating to customers and provide value at a fair price and quality at the same time. We want to create good will. . . . No one has ever showed us a bill where they were wrongly charged [for a chocolate chip recipe]. If they ever appear then we would be happy to look at the [disputed] charge." Zajac explained that Neiman Marcus, as one of the nation's leading department stores, is proud of its customer service record and would quickly satisfy someone who had been incorrectly billed. "The interesting thing in this phenomena is that no one ever knows the exact source of this letter. The information is anywhere between third- and 17th-hand information. There has never been a Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that we sold for $250. Never." When it comes to signature dishes, Neiman Marcus is most famous for its Orange Souffle Ring and its Caramel Souffle Ring. (Anyone interested in getting a copy of these recipes- free of charge- can write to: Neiman Marcus Food Service Division, 1618 Main St., Dallas, TX 75201.) The Neiman Marcus Cookie caper is remarkably similar to another rumor that circulated several years ago about the recipe for Mrs. Fields' Chocolate Chip Cookies. And veterans of the food world say the story formula goes back to the 1930s, when a similar tale was told about the Waldorf Astoria's Red Velvet Cake. A student of rumors, or urban myths, said that the Neiman Marcus incident meets many of the requirements for sustaining a bogus story. Chaytor Mason, USC professor of human factors-psychology said that the subject of a rumor is usually famous or attractive. And while circulating a fiction via an anonymous letter is somewhat unusual, it makes sense because "generally we place more value and validity on anything we read." -=-=-=-=- 3.2 Is chocolate really an aphrodesiac? Chocolate is the traditional gift of love, ranking right up there with roses as the most romantic gift one can give. But is it really an aphrodesiac? There is some evidence that the answer might be yes. Chocolate contains three substances, caffeine, theobromine and phenyethylamine that might be related to this myth. Caffeine acts as a stimulant. Theobromine stimulates the heart muscle and the nervous system. And phenyethylamine is reputed to be a mood elevator and an anti-depressant. The combination of these three substances, giving you extra energy, making your heart beat faster, making you a bit jumpy and slightly giddy....well, you can see how chocolate could be linked to love. In fact, Montezuma used to drink a frothy chocolate beverage before going to visit one of his wives. But before you go out to buy several cases of chocolate to ply your lover with tonight, remember that these substances show up only in small quantities in chocolate. -=-=-=-=- 3.3 Can I give chocolate to my dog? Unequivocally, no. The theobromine in chocolate that stimulates the cardiac and nervous systems is too much for dogs, especially smaller pups. A chocolate bar is poisonous to dogs and can even be lethal. -=-=-=-=- 3.4 How much caffeine is in chocolate? Although there is less caffeine in chocolate that there is in a cup of coffee, people who are avoiding caffeine should unfortunately stay away from chocolate as well. There are about 30 milligrams of caffeine in your average chocolate bar, while a cup of coffee contains around 100 to 150 milligrams. For more information on the specifics of caffeine in chocolate, consult the Caffeine FAQ, available on the WWW at http://daisy.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/caffaq.html -=-=-=-=- 3.5 Doesn't chocolate cause acne? This is another myth about chocolate. While some peope might be allergic to chocolate, or some of its ingrediants, the belief that chocolate causes acne universally has been disproven by doctors for some time. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 4. Chocolate resources So you've learned a lot about chocolate and now your mouth is watering. You want chocolate, and you want it now. Well, here are a few places to turn for instant chocolate gratification. -=-=-=-=- 4.1 Stores and catalogs * Bernard Callebaut Chocolates based in Calgary, Canada, recently opened their first US branch, in Seattle. 1-800-661-8367 (206) 822-8889 (in Seattle) úÿ Excellent Belgian chocolate; try some of their assorted chocolates At Christmas, ask for a box of their chocolate-covered cherries * Belgian Chocolatier Piron 509 Main Street Evanston, IL 60202 (708) 864-5504 * Chocolates and More 15203 Southwest Freeway Sugarland, TX 77478 Voice: (713) 565-5656 Fax: (713) 565-1616 Neuhaus, Leonidas, etc. Friendly service, overnight shipping * Pink Whale Chocolatiers P. O. Box 1247 Pacifica, CA 94044 1 800 239 8102 Wonderful, hand-dipped chocolate from the San Francisco Bay Area. They have monthly specials (like truffles in a moon shaped chocolate "box", and the most incredible fillings in their assortments. All original, all handmade. The best. -=-=-=-=- 4.2 Net resources Why leave your computer screen? Is there anything more exciting than having chocolate delivered right to your door? -=-=-=-=- 4.2.1 World Wide Web: Ultimately all these sites are connected through different WWW pages. But then again, that's the beauty of The Web! New sites are cropping up daily, those listed were up and operational at the time of publication. * Ann Hemyng Candy, Inc.'s Chocolate F A C T O R Y - http://mmink.com/mmink/dossiers/choco.html From Bucks County, Pennsylvania, you can place an order to this fine chocolate establishment via e-mail, phone, or fax. * Black Hound - http://www.ovation.net/blackhound/default.htm Black Hound is a premier chocolate truffle maker, baker of unique cookies, cakes and nut products. All our products are made by hand in small batches from the finest natural ingredients. * Chocolate home page - http://www.ios.com/~shag/chocolate.html An obvious lover of chocolate has gathered on this home page a listing of several online companies that can ship chocolate to you. * Chocolate Recipes - http://www.astro.umd.edu/~sgeier/chocolate.html If you can't find the recipe you're looking for in the rec.food.chocolate archives list, check out this site! Or, if you just can never have enough chocolate recipes, browse through the ones that are here. * Griffin Chocolates - http://branch.com/chocolate/griffin.html This company uses the finest European chocolates to produce various novelty gifts. You can order on line, or send for their $2.00 color catalog. * Godiva Chocolates http://www.godiva.com/ A bright home page invites you in with this cheerful greeting: "Welcome to a chocolate lover's playground." Here you can not only order Godiva chocolates or a subscription to Chocolatier Magazine, but there are excellent pages on the history of chocolate, and some recipes. * Hershey's Chocolate Gift Items http://www.hersheys.flowerlink.com/html/hersheys/hersheys.html What would a summary of chocolate sites be without one from our friends at Hershey's? You can order any of the 5 available gift items online, or call their 24 hour order line (1-800-4-KISSES) to order more chocolate. GIFs of the items are available for download. * I Need My Chocolate http://www.qrc.com/~sholubek/choco/start.htm#top This site has everything, links to chocolate trivia, vendors, places to go, recipies - you name it..if it's chocolate, it's here. This site also holds this FAQ and the ChocolateRecipe Archives. * Joan and Annie's Brownies Home Page http://www.cybermalls.com/cymont/joan/joan.htm Hmm, homemade brownies, right from your computer to your door. What more could you want? These brownies are famous for their rich chocolate taste. Buy them for yourself, or send a brownie gram to a friend. * Parenteaus Saskatoon Berry Chocolates Inc. http://www.wimsey.com/xr-cgi-bin/sspick?/101956117@/Magnet/shop/ psb/product.html Yes it's a mouthful of a URL! This site is filled with products made with saskatoon berries (and you know what those are right??). Teas, jellies as well as chocolates. You can order here or call the 800 number. * Pink Moment Sweets http://199.35.37.1/pink/ A variety of chocolate treats and novelty gifts are available for order from this company named for the sunset that basks this Southern California area eachi night. Various gifts for personal and corporate use are available. * Seattle Chocolate Company http://www.halcyon.com/IMG/seattle.html The Seattle Chocolate Company specializes in chocolate truffles, flavored with various liquors. Again, you can order here online or you can call or fax your order in. * Springs of Life - http://eMall.com/springs/Cupboard/choc.html Fat free chocolate?!?! Does it exist? It does at Springs of Life! Their web site contains many delectable treats that are perfect for diabetics or those who want to remove sugar from their diet. Selections include toffee, chocolate fudge gooey, and the ever popular turtle * Sophisticated Chocolates http://branch.com/sophisticated/ This company specializes in chocolate covered fruits, gift baskets, sugar-free chocolates and more. Several catalogue items are displayed, a phone number is available for ordering. * Toucan Chocolates http://branch.com/toucan/toucan.html Chocolate with a healthy splash of environmental conciousness. Toucan Chocolates provides several varieties of chocolate as well as nuts and toffee. A form page is available for ordering. * Yahoo Chocolate Site http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Food/Chocolate This site provides links to 18 different chocolate vendors, as well as other WWW pages. -=-=-=-=- *4.2.2 E-mail: * Chocolate Express ChocExpres@aol.com Sending your snail mail address to this company will get you a flyer with information on ordering chocolates from Ghirardelli, Lindt, Hebert and more. ** Chocolate List chocolate@idma.com A nice, quiet place to discuss chocolate, free of all the background noise found elsewhere. To subscribe, send e-mail to listserv@idma.com with no subject line and "subscribe chocolate" (without quotes) in the body of the message. * _Chocolatier_ Magazine chocolatier@godiva.com You can order _Chocolatier_ Magazine via e-mail. Send for info. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- End of FAQ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- (C) 1995 by Monee Kidd