Four Chocolate Questions Answered

Joseph DeLeo Mary Goodbody goes inside the world’s obsession with chocolate for answers to four eternal questions—from why we like it to why some chocolates are so pricey.

Restaurateurs know it, little kids know it, and brides know it: The world loves chocolate.

Most restaurants sell more chocolate desserts than any others on the menu combined; small children beg their parents for a bag of M&Ms at the supermarket checkout; adventuresome brides request chocolate wedding cakes because they know their guests will love it.

Why is it possible to buy a Hershey Bar for a little more than a buck, and yet indulging in a pound of Noka Vintages Collection truffles can set you back more than $850?

As a nation we eat more than 12 pounds of chocolate annually per person, and while that’s small change compared to the Swiss, who gobble up about 22 pounds for every man, woman, and child, that still means each of us spend about $50 on chocolate every year.

So why the chocolate fixation? Chocolate has little nutritive value, but it packs a wallop in the foods-that-make-you-feel-good department, and there are few foods about which we feel as passionate.

Ed Engoran, co-founder of Choclatique, an artisanal chocolate company based in Los Angeles, calls our love affair with the stuff an “obsession that runs deep, well beyond the love for the ‘sweetness’ of ordinary candies or desserts.” Just thinking about chocolate, he says, can evoke the most “pleasurable responses from the human body. Chocolate is warm, nurturing, fun, and sexy, and always tastes simply magnificent.”

1. Why do we like chocolate? As Tish Boyle, editor of Dessert Professional magazine, explains, “Chocolate has long been known as the ultimate comfort food (second only to macaroni and cheese), and despite the shaky economy, its relatively low price makes it a perennially popular mood elevator. Chocolate may be considered a luxury, but it’s an affordable one.”

Some say chocolate can give people the same sense of well being that is brought on by falling in love. Engoran claims that “chocolate has the ability to lift low spirits and give you a euphoric feeling.” And, he continues, “One thing is for sure: It’s hard to imagine life without it.”

2. What kind of chocolate do we like? Most people prefer milk chocolate for eating out of hand because of its creamy mouthfeel and mild flavor. The milk proteins that make milk chocolate so delicious to eat also make it tricky to bake with, and so it does not show up in a lot of recipes.

Many chocolate aficionados find themselves moving beyond milk chocolate to embrace dark chocolates. These are the chocolates that may also be called bittersweet or semisweet and which contain no milk solids at all—and not always a lot of sugar. Some think dark chocolate is an acquired taste, but those who like it have a true passion for it.