Chocolate has been eaten all over the world for hundreds and hundreds of years. Cacao beans have been used in drinks, sacred rituals, and foods, and the cacao fruit is believed to have been fermented into some sort of alcohol beverage. People ate cacao products for medicinal, nutritional, and even aphrodisiacal purposes. Today, chocolate is everywhere; whether it's a Hershey's Kiss, a cup of hot chocolate, or chocolate covered strawberries, it's not hard to find. People try to justify eating chocolate with "oh, it lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, and it's high in antioxidants." My roommate just told me that chocolate releases endorphins, so I guess that's why chocolate does make you feel happier. And okay, so all of that may be true, but I still think society has gone a little overboard with the whole chocolate thing.
I walked into a candy store on the Fourth of July last summer with a few friends and we ended up having a somewhat lengthy conversation with the woman behind the counter. She ran the store and made all the chocolates herself. We saw chocolate covered strawberries, bananas, pretzels, cherries - all the normal stuff. Then we saw the chocolate covered bacon. Mind you, this was not the chocolate covered bacon at the fair where there's a chocolate bar with little, itty-bitty bacon bits in it. This was a giant piece of meaty bacon dipped in chocolate, as if chocolate or bacon didn't have enough sugar/fat on its own. Now, I get the whole contrasting sweet and salty idea, but chocolate covered bacon just doesn't sound appealing to me. If the chocolate bacon wasn't enough, the woman started telling us about a chocolate covered jalapeño pepper she makes; apparently, that was one of the top three most popular items in her store. (I don't understand. And, in case you were wondering, bacon flavored soda was the most popular item in this store. WTF.) Other bizarre things I've heard of being dipped in chocolate: crickets, carrots, squid, potato chips, chick peas, the list goes on...
It's gotten to the point where certain foods combined with chocolate are unnecessary and gross. People use chocolate both appropriately and inappropriately, just like commas. I'm not saying that I know how to use commas in the correct manner, and I'm also not one to judge whether some one else is using chocolate in an acceptable fashion. However, I will say that chocolate and squid are like two independent clauses that should never be combined with a comma, or in this case chocolate. Some people use commas excessively, some use them inappropriately, and others just don't know when to use them. If you're dipping squid in chocolate you are obviously an excessive and unnecessary comma user, metaphorically speaking.
If you haven't completely lost your appetite, here's a chocolatey snack.
Milk Chocolate S'mores Popcorn
Popcorn dipped in milk chocolate
Popcorn dipped in caramel
Graham Cracker (small) pieces
Mini Marshmallows
Peanuts (optional)
(Slightly altered recipe from Harry & David's Milk Chocolate S'mores Moose Munch)
Enjoy :)
I have to tell you that I think I'm going to run right to that store and buy that chocolate covered bacon! How could you pass it up????
ReplyDeleteWow, this is such a funny post. People get overly creative with chocolate since everyone seems to love it. What about simplicity?! What's wrong with simply a good Lindt Chocolate ball or something? Great connection to class :)
ReplyDeleteChocolate pepper may be pushing it, but chocolate bacon is my shittt
ReplyDeleteChocolate covered fruit and pretzels I get...chocolate covered crickets..not so much
ReplyDeleteyou know that cacao tastes nothing like chocolate! had some in one of the cacao farms in Dominican Republic and you can tell that regular chocolate has lots more sugar and added flavor that the real stuff that comes from the plant. its much more bitter! even more than dark chocolate!
ReplyDelete