You know it tastes good. You know it does you some kind of good, but do you know what scientists have actually found in their attempts to find out why chocolate is such an addiction for so many of us? One chocolate manufacturer is making some progress in this area.
Nestlé Steps Forward
The Nestlé research centre in Switzerland has decided (and we hope this isn’t just a marketing ploy) that a precise chemical signature is programmed into your metabolism that decides whether you are a chocolate lover or if you can leave it alone – all of this from testing your blood and urine.
The tests are run by Professor Jeremy Nicholson from Imperial College, London, who founded metabonomics. This science seeks to measure the smallest changes in metabolism, which is the intricate web of chemical reactions running through a body, to see what results from toxins, drugs or illnesses like heart disease. His findings are that gut bacteria plays a major role in breaking down food like chocolate.
Eleven chocolate lovers and eleven who were uninterested in chocolate (all male) were given either chocolate or placebos over a five day period. The process analyzed their blood and urine over the time period. A metabolic summary for the chocolate lovers showed low levels of bad cholesterol but slightly raised numbers for albumin, which is a good protein.
The chocolate lovers showed the same chemical profile even if they didn’t take more chocolate as part of the experiment. The scientists could easily distinguish the chocolate lovers from the others, metabolically. Interestingly, the people choosing to eat chocolate scored better for gut microbial metabolic profiles than those who didn’t prefer chocolate.
Introducing Polyphenolics
So what's the science behind all this? It could be a result of antioxidant polyphenolics, which are found in chocolate and are recognized as being good for you. And then there are flavonoids, an indispensable element of cocoa, the most active of polyphenols. Cocoa beans and chocolate hold more active polyphenols than any other food. Catechin and epicatechin (polyphenols) reach the bloodstream quicker after eating chocolate. This halts oxidation so you can stay healthier. So that buzz you get after eating chocolate may not just be in your head.
Why Bad For Me Is Good For You
The professor’s research further shows that having a preference for chocolate might not actually be your choice. It might be pre-programmed into your system. In general, eating too much chocolate will make you gain weight and won't keep you healthy. But just the same way some people can eat red meat and suffer no ill effects, some chocolate eaters' bodies show no adverse effects. For the rest of us, though, we can't overdo chocolate consumption.
Men Now, Women, Later
So far, the chocolate test results are male based only. The researchers didn’t want to unbalance the results by including women at this stage due to the differences in metabolic results because of their menstrual cycle. (You can bet, though, that when the trial opens to women, there will be hundreds clamoring for a spot!)
The Nestle people are keen to stress that future trials will include women with the results being analyzed both separately and together with the men so see how and why they vary. The chocolate manufacturer also believes that additional biomarkers will be identified through the same scientific tests. This will perhaps lead to finding new health benefits linked not only to chocolate, but to other foods.
Heart Knowledge
In the meantime, there's more good news for chocolate lovers. Recently the Heiss 2010 studies showed that high levels of flavanols (a type of phytochemcial usually found in plants) reduced the likelihood of death by heart attack. This isn't a license to just eat chocolate; the report stressed the need to exercise (so no more lying on those sectional sofas)and to maintain healthy eating habits. But since heart attack is the leading cause of death in the US, it’s good to know that compounds of flavanols found in cocoa and chocolate have enhanced vasodilation – keeping blood pressure under control.
Keep on eating the chocolate; it appears to do you more good than just the taste.
 
 
Article by Izzy

This is a blub about the new Gestalten book, Delicate. Its subtitle is New Food Culture. I thought it brought together alot of the thoughts going round the food scene at F&R...and we got a great review in the book to boot too....
 
"Eating is so much more than merely fulfilling a fundamental bodily need. Eating appeals to all of our senses; it boosts our well-being on every level. Now, more than ever, it is an expression of our mindset, identity, spirit, and culture.

Around the world, a scene of young food entrepreneurs is developing that brings together creatives, tradespeople, and activists. This scene aspires to deal with both the food that we need, and the food that we enjoy, in more creative, more sensuous, and more responsible ways. It is united by a passion for making food an experience as well as by a high appreciation for the quality, origin, aesthetics, and workmanship of food."

i was at the russian bath house speaking to a friend of mine from LA. the bath house is a new york institution for several reasons, of which my favorite is the conversations that you can get into there - quintessential lower east side dialogue that runs the gambit from politics to esoterica to good old fashion recipe swappin’.

 
well, my friend and i were discussing sustainability and the state of the planet – a popular topic at this locale. the conversation took an existential/buddist turn towards  the notion of 'purpose'. im not sure if it was because we had been in the russian radiant heat room pushing our cerebrum beyond the red line of heat delirium, or if it was simply time to get deep in the conversation. regardless, the 'purpose' in question was the same one that brought out the number 42 in Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy.
 
at that juncture my friend pulled out one of the best 'purpose' augments trump cards i've ever heard. through the steam and faux sweat lodge heat exhaustion he said "we need to save the planet. its the only one with chocolate."
 

last year we were invited to celebrate the pepper season at the Brooklyn botanical gardens' Chili Fiesta. there's only one thing thats better than a celebration and that's a spicy chocolate celebration! this year we went back to the gardens for another round of hot fun...and found that we'd developed a small addiction to spicy chocolate;) to be more precise, we're addicted to chipotle bonbons! the chipotle pepper, which is generally used in mexican-inspired cuisine, adds a smokey spicy complexity to the bonbons thats both a flavor rush and an indulgent release....if that sounds like something you could sink your teeth into check 'em out at our store: 2 piece box &  8 piece bonbon box
 

spicy chipotle peppers

FINE & RAW FOODLOVERS

as you know.. ny is submerged in a feeding frenzy this week - with all kinds of Fancy comin' at ya. Us? We're not known for our Fancy.. UNFancy however.. we got that one in the bag. So come help us celebrate all kinds of UNFancy at the Bell House on Sunday in BK. Icy Creamy Yummy. Chocolatey Deliciousness.

http://brooklynbased.net/the-unfancy-food-show/

If you have yet to do so.. get yourselves to the Winter location of the Brooklyn Flea .. it's rockin'!

All of your favorite Flea vendors and some new faces are camped out each Saturday and Sunday in the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank.

Fine & Raw are keeping the chocolate stash safe in the old Vault downstairs, with the rest of the Food crew.

Come visit with us ... we're only there for a few more weeks before we take it all to the sunny outdoors again.

Brooklyn Flea

One Hanson Place

Brooklyn

Sat/Sun ten till five.

Fine & Raw crew @ the Flea

YUMMMM!

table choc full o' choco

the chocolate ghost exists...

the majestic Flea @ One Hanson Place

“I wanted to create access to a remarkable celebration of chocolate, food, love and good living,”
- Virginie Delavaud
Migration of Senses & CINY Founder
Viginie is hosting a week long Valentines event. Come celebrate chocolate with us and Virigie on Wed 10th Feb. 
511 W. 25 Street (btwn 10th and 11th Ave)
New York, NY 10001
We will also be exhibiting and sampling FINE & RAW during the course of the event.

CHOCOLATE Gifts for the season at the Columbus Circle Holiday Market
Central Park S. at Central Park W.;
We might be making hot cocoa with our chocolate too...

• Dates: Dec. 3–Dec. 24; Mon.–Sat. 10 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.–7 p.m.; market closes at 4 p.m. on Dec. 24

FINE & RAW will be at the NEW AMSTERDAM MARKET on 13th Sept! New Amsterdam Market will demonstrate the abundance of our NY region, as expressed by the farmers, producers, distributors, purveyors, caterers, chefs, and others who are collectively creating an emerging food system. We're gonna express the creaminess! The market is at the Fulton Fish Market site in Lower Manhattan’s Seaport neighborhood - New York’s oldest market district. Come hang out any time between 11am-4pm.