Chocolate Is Healthy

The majority of my travels have actually been centered around food, so we thought this was an inspiring article about the boom in culinary travel.   You will find raw, culinary abundance when you travel in places like Central America.   If you plan it right, you’ll not only get to try the jungle termites that taste like carrots (been there, ate that), but visit cacao farms to view chocolate in its original state.  We think chocotourism is the perfect way to learn about local cultures, cuisines and the environment. And it helps illustrate where our food comes from.  Many culinary tours involve not only trips to markets and farms, but also food preparation using local ingredients.

Here’s a snippet of this culinary tour, which we think still needs more chocolate.

“The rest of the food for meals in the Playa Nicuesa’s family-style dining room come from local providers—eggs and meat from small farms, fresh fish caught daily in the Golfo Dulce by the lodge’s resident angler, Tomás. Breakfast and lunch are accompanied by chilled guava juice from one of the cas trees. Fruit plates—bananas, pineapple, mangos—are served with the sauce of another guava, the arazá. Grilled beef comes with a peppery condiment from the tamarindo tree, red snapper with a salsa of chopped mimbro, onions, and cilantro. One dessert consists of coconut meat dipped in pungent chocolate that’s been coaxed from the seeds of the indigenous cacao trees. The lodge bartender has even invented a cocktail that mixes Costa Rican rum with cane sugar, crushed ice and Playa Nicuesa’s homegrown lemon grass, lemon leaves and oregano.”

Culinary Ecotourists Turn Wilderness Foraging into Dinner: Scientific American.

Raw food nutrition expert and shaman Daniel Vitalis hosted a recent gathering where he emphasized the psychoactive properties of the cacao plant .  The evening featured a raw chocolate sampling, where participants sampled a variety of raw chocolates.  Many myths about chocolate were also debunked.

“Vitalis picked up on the theme of alchemy, stating that psychoactive plants, like the cacao tree, are the No. 1 missing nutrient in our diet.

“When you consume psychoactive plants, here’s what happens: The plant makes neural transmitters, brain chemicals just like the one your brain makes, but better,” he explained. “In the presence of neurotransmitters, new neural pathways are laid down. We call them synaptic networks. These networks are where the neurons of your brain start to link together, connecting this thought to this thought, so when you start to take in these plant substances, you become more intelligent.”

A celebration of chocolate’s psychoactive properties.

Cool Hunting had this sweet interview with Brooklyn-based artisanal chocolate company Fine & Raw.  Fortunately for us, we’re also located in Brooklyn, and will be trying some asap.

Along with having top-quality, conscious ingredients, they use low heat techniques to preserve chocolate’s wonderful raw flavor.  Made in small batches, their ingredients include heirloom raw cacao, raw blue agave nectar, cold-pressed coconut oil and Himalayan sea salt.

They sell raw chocolate bars in flavors including raspberry and lucuma & vanilla, as well as their signature bonbons. Fine & Raw gourmet chocolate products feature packaging by local designers.  And great chocolate gifts!

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

CH: Can you elaborate a little on the benefits of raw chocolate?
DS: Scientific studies have shown that raw cacao is the number one food source of magnesium and antioxidants. Raw cacao has up to five times more antioxidants than regular dark chocolate. Over 300 other elements have been found in cacao. Among them are phenylethylamine (which scientists believe is released when you are in love or at the very least releases endorphins in the brain and produces a mild feeling of euphoria); tryptophan (the precursor to serotonin), theobromine and anandamine (the bliss chemical). Other benefits worth mentioning are the aphrodisiac and appetite suppressant qualities.

CH: Is there a raw chocolate movement developing?
DS: Yes, it’s grass roots right now. Raw chocolate was only introduced to the public relatively recently. It’s taken time to reach the culinary world. But the culinary scope and nutritional benefits are compelling more people to become interested in it.

Fine & Raw Chocolate.

These Raw-Cacao Brittles are made by hand. First each batch of raw cacao is slowly ground with other high quality ingredients; this process takes about a week to get the right smoothness and consistency without heating the mixture over 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

Then the chocolate mixture is tempered and added to most heavenly fruits and nuts.

Each bite is a smooth, deeply flavorful, divine indulgence. The quality and nutrient content along with an extremely high ORAC* value – OVER 13,700 PER PACKAGE – make this exquisite chocolate the healthiest chocolate alive!
Divine Organics Sacred Cacao Golden Princess Brittle

With all of the news about the health benefits of dark chocolate, every candy company is producing dark chocolate counterparts to their traditional milk chocolate offerings.  There are dark chocolate Hershey’s Kisses, Nestle Black Magic, dark chocolate Kit Kat, Twix dark chocolate…need we say more?  read more »