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With Valentine’s Day approaching, it seems an appropriate time to present to you a fairly recent book by journalist and author Mort Rosenblum, Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light.

He cites a quotation from Brillat-Savarin, the famous French chef, in his introduction: “Nine out of ten people say they love chocolate. The tenth person lies.”

Rosenblum blends fact, fiction, history, legend and even includes a chapter on recipes for molé poblano, traditionally made in Mexico with 27 ingredients.

Restaurateurs will tell you that diners order chocolate desserts two-thirds of the time, no matter what else is offered.

Americans consume about twelve pounds of chocolate a year per person, which sounds like a lot, but we are number 11 on the list of nations — Britons, for example, wolf down an astounding 30 pounds each.

Chocolate triggers endorphins in the human body, leading some to consider it an aphrodisiac, while others call it a sedative or tranquilizer.

Surely these characteristics are diametrically opposed. You shall have to decide for yourself, but if you want to win your true love, the author advises that nothing melts the heart like chocolate.

Archeologists have found evidence that the ancient Toltecs and Olmecs of Central America drank a chocolate beverage as long ago as 1000 B.C. The Mayans and Aztecs loved chocolate, and Cortes and his Conquistadors were offered a silver chalice holding the fiery liquid laced with wild honey, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, anise and hot chile peppers. Orange blossoms were often floated on top.

The Spanish took to this drink immediately, and dominated the trade in cacao beans for some time, with the other colonial powers eventually joining in. These nations transported trees from their tropical homes to island possessions in the Caribbean, while monks in Europe held a monopoly for quite a while on developing the beverage for the masses.

The craze for drinking hot chocolate spread all over Europe and chocolate houses sprang up to compete with coffee houses. The first candy bars were offered in England at coffee shops in the 18 century — rough and unattractive, but we might dub them the father of the Hershey bar.

Cacao beans were once used as coins for barter in Central and South America (ten beans for a rabbit, 100 for a slave) and beans went into the tombs of kings there.

In Central America, the drink is usually made with a tablet composed of chocolate, sugar and flavoring dissolved in hot water. A wooden molinillo (stirring stick) is used to froth it. Elsewhere, milk is more often the basis of the beverage.

Today, production of chocolate has grown to a worldwide multibillion dollar, but is still often shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Secrets are closely held by competing companies and woe be to the man who steals a rival’s recipe.

Cacao beans grow only within 20 degrees of the equator and many natural plagues of insects and disease exist to spoil the crops.

Presently 70 percent of the beans come from Africa, where raising them is sometimes a small family industry. The average maximum age of a tree is often 40 years, so it’s a good investment. Around the world, three million tons of beans are harvested in a good year.

A highly simplified version of processing is as follows: The beans grow inside of colorful seed pods on the trees, and are carefully tended. After gathering, the beans are removed from the pods and subjected to a fermentation period, then mixed with clay to “polish” them as they dry. After hulling and roasting, the cacao “nibs” inside are ground to make a uniform mixture and pressed into cakes of bitter chocolate for use in cooking and confections.

If sugar is added, the result is sweet chocolate, and the addition of sugar and milk yields milk chocolate. When a majority of the fat is removed, the result is cocoa powder, and the fat is made into cakes of cocoa butter for use in food processing, pharmaceutical products and cosmetics.

The white variety is not actually chocolate at all, but is derived from the pod of the carob, another tropical tree. It is now widely available for eating and cooking, and makes a pleasant contrast to its dark cousin.

Many fortunes have been made with chocolate, and names like Hershey, Nestlé, Mars, Cadbury and others are well known almost around the world. Candy makers will argue endlessly about where to buy the best chocolate for their confections (Switzerland usually comes out on top, with Holland not far behind).

If you’ve ever traveled with the Holland America cruise line, you will recall with pleasure a night called Chocolate Extravaganza that is almost indescribable, proving that the Dutch indeed do know a thing or two about the commodity.

Chocolate Breeze

Certainly one person who did very well by concentrating on chocolate is Maida Heatter, who has published several books on the subject. She learned this recipe in an elementary school home economics class and remarks that it’s a breeze to make, like the name.

2 ounces unsweetened cooking chocolate

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

¼ cup cold water

3 large eggs, separated

½ cup sugar

Boiling water as needed

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Sweetened whipped cream

Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over hot water and moderate heat. While chocolate melts, sprinkle gelatin on cold water in a glass measuring cup and set aside. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar together for about a minute. Add melted chocolate to egg yolks and whisk until thoroughly blended.

Now add boiling water to gelatin up to the 1-cup line. Stir to dissolve and then add gradually to the chocolate mixture, stirring until smooth. Add vanilla and chill mixture thoroughly, stirring occasionally, until it coats a spoon.

In a large bowl, whip egg whites and salt until stiff. Slowly add the cold chocolate mixture to the whites, folding gently. Spoon into six individual dessert cups or into a serving bowl, and chill again. Serve with a garnish of sweetened whipped cream.

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Marion Nicolay is a regular contributor to the Marco Eagle. Contact her via e-mail at marion387@earthlink.net.