Chocolate, saints, sexy lingerie, red wine: pleasure, then guilt. So what exactly started this mixed-up holiday, and why chocolate?
Valentine's Day is the mid-winter celebration of love, oh yeah! So why is this holiday named after three saints who all died horrible martyr's deaths way before chocolate arrived in the Old World? We may never know.
Chocolate came from some say the ancient Mexican Aztecs, where Montezuma is said to have drank "chocolatl" daily to, um, increase his manliness. Ah, now we're making connections; the royal aphrodisiac. Others say it was the Mayans who first used chocolate; we're in the right neighborhood at any rate, Mexico/Central America.
In England and France, it was noted during the Middle Ages that birds began mating in the second week of February. Lovebirds. Ok - still no saints, but hey, whatever - the birds are mating, spring is on its ways once winter is half over. We need to celebrate something in mid-February.
Meanwhile, all those uptight pseudo-religious peoples stuck their noses in the air at this "barbarous treat" that Cortes brought back with him from the "New World", until medical folks in Paris decided it had "medicinal value". We're still talking liquid chocolate up to this point; the Aztecs had it down to a science, roasting and grinding the cocoa beans and then mixing them in water with corn meal, vanilla and chili. I'll take mine without the chili, thank you; but still, I see how this would be a nourishing, delicious drink.
I see a theme developing here, directly related to Valentine's Day as we know it: sort of naughty-but-nice, delicious, seductive, stimulating, red lingerie, red wine, then a bit of guilt...
But what's this about chocolate being healthy? What, no guilt? Studies have shown that dark chocolate helps prevent heart disease and cancer. It has also been shown to make you feel good by boosting the brain chemical serotonin, much like Prozac and other mood-enhancing legal drugs.
It seems that chocolate and red wine are also a perfect mix on Valentine's Day because they both contain anti-oxidants.
Some people say that a chunk of chocolate eaten before meals lessens the appetite. I knew I could use daily chocolate as one of my New Year's resolutions.
Chocolate was once accepted as having come to Earth from heaven as "a gift of the gods." Amen to that. Definitely something to celebrate. Have a lovely day on February 14th!
Become a master chocolatier in record time! Want to learn four secrets that will make you an unstoppable Candy-Making Queen or King? Learn this secret system of pumping out chocolate candy and other chocolate delights fast and at low cost with the Dessert University video course. Dozens of categories, hundreds of recipes--get the audio guides, ebook tutorials, and the whole chocolate multimedia learning system today for only $19.95!
It's so easy to find all your chocolate candy making needs - chocolate, equipment, tools, and wrappers!
Here are the latest articles published on this site:
Valentine's Day is the mid-winter celebration of love, oh yeah! So why is this holiday named after three saints who all died horrible martyr's deaths way before chocolate arrived in the Old World? We may never know.
