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Logan's Style Watch
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Is Chocolate Stylish?
by Logan Bentley Lessona
ROME -- Is chocolate stylish? I'm not sure, but I'll fess up right away. I am a chocoholic, and unfortunately it shows. "A moment on your lips, a lifetime on your hips," goes the saying, or something similar.
It seems that chocolate is mostly a secret passion, but every now and then a celebrity will admit to being unable to live without chocolate.
My friends who know about my vice are always bringing me delicacies, the finest products, but I'm forced to admit that what I most love is that most common of chocolate made in the United States, available in supermarkets and drug stores from coast to coast, milk chocolate by Hershey, especially in the form of Kisses or 7-ounce bars. There's something about the way they produce it that gives it an unmistakable flavor that no other brand has.
Years ago my aunt told me that as a tiny tot my father (whom I adored) would reward me for good behavior with a Hershey's Kiss. Guess I was doomed from that moment, associating the Kisses with my father's approval.
But according to scientists chocolate does have positive effects. For those who don't drink coffee in the morning to get them started it contains the stimulant caffeine as well as theobromine which is also a stimulant that acts on the circulatory system.
But that's not all. Forget Viagra! For centuries men have been convinced that chocolate stimulates the sexual appetite, so to speak. Such notables as Emperor Montezuma and Giacomo Casanova, famed for their capacity as lovers, were avid consumers. Some scientists believe the combination of pheniletilamine and theobromine present in cocoa are what render it a love potion.
There's more good news about chocolate.
According to a note in Time magazine, a defatted extract of cocoa may be good for the heart. "Rabbits were fed a cholesterol-rich diet along with 200 mg of the extract daily." After two months, the bunnies' blood vessels did a better job contracting and relaxing than the vessels of rabbits fed the same diet but deprived of the extract. Cocoa contains powerful antiodxidants called flavonoids that sweep up damaging molecules in cells."
Another study at the University of California showed that for two hours after consumption of a chocolate bar the risk of ictus and heart attack is reduced due to the bioflavonoids in cocoa which slow the coagulation of blood. There's also the business of the serontonin in chocolate that produces the same effect as Prozac. (Just kidding!) Of course, I don't believe for a minute that this is a green light to eat all I want, but I feel less guilty.
Although chocolate first became fashionable with the French, it was the "chocolatiers" of Turin in Piemonte who became renowned for the secret methods they developed for working with it. The original chocolate, actually cocoa, is very bitter, and they added sugar and then milk to make it tastier.
In fact, although Perugina is located in Perugia, other companies such as Ferrero (who invented Nutella), Caffarella, and Peyrano can be found in Turin. Giandiuotti, the oddly shaped candies that combine chocolate with the flavor of hazelnuts, were also invented in Turin. Another product from the Italians is Pocket Coffee, a square of chocolate containing coffee, a real double whammy!
A yearly festival lasting a week called "Eurochocolate" is held every October in Perugia but I'm scared to attend.
Special ceramic chocolate pots were developed for serving the hot beverage, many of them so beautiful they are featured in museum collections. Peyrano advertises a special glass pot with a metal handle and stirrer costing over $150 for making the divine beverage but I'm sure it's worth it.
Recently an Italian fashion magazine featured two pages of accessories for chocolate. They include a copper double boiler with white ceramic insert to help avoid burning, a silver-plated grater for sprinkling chocolate shavings on top of whipped cream or cakes, or Alessi's glass and stainless steel cocoa sprinkler designed by Ettore Sottsass of Memphis fame.
Tea Time, a specialty shop in Milan, will sell you a box of chocolate which, when opened, looks like a computer keyboard. They also have antique chocolate pots in silver or Sheffield. Or you can buy what looks like a book from another shop, which contains pages printed with the story of cocoa and chocolate candies.
How about a beautiful candle that looks a large teacup? Simpatie makes a greeting card that looks like a partly nibbled bar of chocolate with part of the wrapping left on. Ah, here's what I must have, a mousepad in the shape of a block of chocolate with one corner cut away. Now this would really inspire me when I write my column!
I don't drink liquor or smoke. Guess what! I've decided to stop apologizing for my vice and declare that chocolate is stylish. Viva la cioccolata! (Italian for "long live chocolate!")
© 2000 Logan Bentley Lessona
Syndicated by ParadigmTSA
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Fashion and Design from Italy has been on the web since February 1995. It was the first ever web about fashion. We're working on a new section about Italian Design - industrial design that includes furniture, ceramics, bathrooms, home and office accessories, automobiles and other articles that have won prizes throughout the world and are exhibited in museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
