Confection of the gods

NONE of the popular hagiographies of St Valentine give any hint of him liking chocolate, or even being vaguely associated with the confection. For good reason: it would be another millennium before descendants of the patricians and plebeians of Ancient Rome would learn of Mesoamerica, let alone sample the delights of xocolatl (a linguistic blend of Mayan and Nahuatl for “hot drink”).

Europeans only started importing the seeds of Theobroma cacao, a tree native to the Andes foothills between the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, after Christopher Columbus’s fourth and final mission to the Americas in 1502. But once the Spanish started adding honey or sugar to the bitter drink, Europeans embraced chocolate as a refreshing beverage to sip throughout the day. So much so that the Dutch, the Belgians, the French and the British would eventually plant swathes of cacao trees in their newly acquired colonies in the tropics—and thereby established the foundations of their chocolate industries of today. West Africa accounts for two thirds of the world’s current cocoa production.

To return briefly to Roman times, legend has it that, of the several martyrs named Valentinus who were persecuted for ministering to Christians, one in particular is venerated above all others. As the story goes, Valentine of Rome healed the blind daughter of his jailer during his imprisonment, and wrote a note to her signed “Your Valentine” prior to being thrown to the lions. Whether his unhappy end happened on the day the Gregorian calendar now calls February 14th is unknown.

The martyrdom myth aside, there is no association between St Valentine’s Day and romantic love until “Parlement of Foules”, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 1300s, to celebrate the first anniversary of Richard II’s engagement to Anne of Bohemia. Chaucer’s lines in colourful Middle English (pronounced like modern-day Geordie) read: “For this was on seynt Volantynes day/When euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.” (“For this was on St Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”) As a point of interest, both Richard and Anne were 15 at the time.

However, it was not until the late 18th century that young couples in England started using the occasion to express their love for one another, by offering gifts of flowers, greetings cards (known as Valentines) and confectionery. Today, the weeks prior to St Valentine’s Day are among the chocolatiers’ busiest of the year. Meanwhile, the tradition of exchanging Valentine cards anonymously commenced when the penny post spread uniformly across the British Isles in 1840, and saved shy admirers from having to deliver their tokens of affection in person.

Before delving deeper into the chemistry of romance and confection, some terms need clarifying. First, the Spanish word cacao (derived from cacahuatl, the Nahuatl name for the species of the tree) tends these days to describe the raw chocolate material. Second, the English word “cocoa” (a corruption of the Spanish) refers to the processed products. Chocolate is either the beverage or the actual confection.

At this point, the question usually asked is how so tempting a delicacy as chocolate could be derived from something as bitter as the beans of the cacao tree? It is all in the processing, plus the addition of sugar. First, the cacao seeds are partially fermented. Then they are roasted (like coffee) to bring out their flavour. The shells are removed and the inner “nibs” ground into a thick, creamy paste known as cocoa liquor. Over half the liquor is a more solid substance known as cocoa butter. This is separated out by pressing. The rest of the liquor is usually dried to form a cake of cocoa solids, from which the powder for drinking chocolate is made.

The bitter chocolate used for cooking or making dark chocolate contains mainly cocoa solids and cocoa butter. The more popular sweet chocolate has sugar added, while milk chocolate includes powdered milk as well. White chocolate is made of cocoa butter, sugar and milk, but no cocoa solids. Vanilla is invariably added to enhance the flavour.

Chocolate is a singularly appropriate gift for a loved one. Providing the recipient does not over-indulge, numerous health benefits may accrue from drinking cocoa or nibbling chocolate confectionery. Both are rich sources of natural antioxidants, thanks to their high level of flavonoids (plant pigments), especially epicatechin.

By scavenging free-radicals from the body, antioxidants like epicatechin may help preserve cell membranes and protect the body from cardiovascular disease. It should be noted, though, that any such health benefits that may accrue apply only to raw cocoa and, to a lesser extent, dark chocolate. The flavonoids in foodstuffs degrade quickly during heating and processing. Also, flavonoids like epicatechin are often removed from commercial grades of chocolate because of the bitter taste they impart.

Norman Hollenberg, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, spent years investigating the effects of epicatechin among the Kuna indians of Panama. He found Kuna people living on the San Blas chain of islands had a much lower risk of dying from four of the most common killer diseases (stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes) than those residing on the mainland. Unlike their cousins across the water, the islanders lived longer, did not suffer from dementia, and did not develop high blood pressure.

Initially, Dr Hollenberg and his colleagues assumed any difference was genetic. But they subsequently found that when islanders migrated to the mainland—with all the dietary benefits and impediments of urban life—their blood pressure rose with age, and hypertension became common. The only difference between the two otherwise identical groups turned out to be environmental factors: the island people consumed up to 40 cups of cocoa a week—the only beverage they drank from the day they were weaned to the day they died. The mainlanders, by contrast, had a much wider choice.

The benefits of cocoa and its chocolate derivatives do not stop there. Like coffee and tea, cocoa products contain varying amounts of stimulants—raw cocoa and dark chocolate the most; milk and white chocolate the least, or none at all. The effect comes from an alkaloid called theobromine found in the cacao plant. Theobromine gets its name not from the element bromine, but from the genus of the cacao tree Theobroma cacao (“food of the gods” in Greek).

Apart from being a stimulant, theobromine is also a vasodilator (widener of blood vessels) and a diuretic. While it has less of an impact on the central nervous system than caffeine, theobromine stimulates the heart to a far greater extent. By being able to increase heartbeat, while dilating blood vessels, theobromine can help reduce high blood pressure. There is some suggestion that it can also boost “good” cholesterol over “bad” cholesterol, and prevent plaque from forming on artery walls.

The benefits of chocolate do not stop there. By loosening the muscles of the bronchus' air passages to the lungs, theobromine may also help alleviate the symptoms of asthma. In other studies, it has turned out to be rather good at suppressing coughs—proving, in fact, a better antitussive agent than codeine. Finally, some researchers suggest it may be more effective than fluoride at fighting tooth decay.

There is, however, a dark side to dark chocolate. Its theobromine has been linked to increased risk of prostate cancer in elderly men. And, like caffeine, theobromine can cause sleeplessness, anxiety and tremors. Other side effects include nausea, vomiting, increased urination and loss of appetite. While the amount of theobromine in chocolate is generally small enough not to cause a problem, there is always the risk of theobromine poisoning—especially in elderly people. That can occur if too much chocolate is eaten regularly.

The danger is still more acute for animals, many of which metabolise theobromine more slowly than humans. A small dog, for instance, can succumb to theobromine poisoning after eating just a few ounces (say, 50 grams) of milk chocolate. With ten times the theobromine concentration, dark chocolate is even more lethal to pets. In New Hampshire last year, four bears were found dead after snacking on 90 pounds of chocolates and doughnuts. Autopsies showed they had all died of heart attacks. Cats are unlikely to be fatally tempted, as their taste buds cannot detect sweetness.

So, be warned. Enjoy the gifts of chocolate from loved ones on Valentine’s Day, Easter, Hanukkah or Christmas. But do not over-indulge—save them for sharing on a special occasion. And never, ever give any to the family pooch.