Three thousand years ago, after he created the world, the great god of the Carib Indians, Kobo Tano, decided to populate the world with creatures in his own image. Being a kind god, Kobo Tano let the first men and women wander that area on earth he considered most beautiful - the Caribbean Islands.

It did not take Kobo Tano long to realize that the people he had created were a lazy lot, without the desire to devote too many hours to hard work, so in pity for their hunger, the god created a great tree that contained on its branches all of the fruits of the world. Realizing that men and women could not live on fruit alone, he seeded the earth with vegetables and put fish in the seas and animals on the land. And, to make the world perfect, he created the cacao tree and taught men and women to make chocolate.

It was probably the Nahuatl Indians in Mexico who first discovered the true potential for chocolate, the name of which is derived from the Nahuatl words xocotl (fruit) and atl (water). In old Mexico, the beans of the cacao tree were considered so valuable that they served as currency, and most Indians bartered the seeds for all kinds of merchandise including the kind recorded by one 16th century Spanish missionary who wrote that "he who wants a Mayan public woman for his lustful uses can have one for 8 - 10 cacao beans."

Once the Spaniards had completed looting the New World that they had conquered, they quickly acquired a taste for chocolate. Every early writer about Mexico was fascinated by the subject. Sahugun wrote that it should be consumed only in "moderate amounts, for, like the mushrooms found in the region, chocolate has deranging qualities, sometimes powerful enough to make ordinarily devout men as wild as aborigines". In his 1656 book, Travels in the New World, Thomas Gage devotes an entire chapter to chocolate and tells how the women of the city of Chiapas were excommunicated by the bishop because "they would not give up sipping their cups of chocolate to sustain them during high mass."

After the Spanish introduced other Europeans to chocolate, it did not take long until the new taste became the rage throughout Europe. Only the British scorned it: on several occasions, when they captured Spanish ships on the high seas that were laden with cacao they threw it overboard in disgust, calling it sheep's dung.

By the early 17th century, a good amount of chocolate paste was being exported to Italy and Belgium, but it was not until 1659 that the new taste became widely known in France. At first the French court was enthusiastic, encouraged by the fact that the Paris faculty of medicine had bestowed its imprimatur on it. It did not take long, however, before strange tales began to circulate, culminating in one of the Marquise de Sevigne's finest pieces of gossip: "The Marquise of Coetlognon", she wrote, "took so much chocolate, being pregnant last year, that she was brought to bed of a little boy who was as black as the devil."

When chocolate finally did become popular in cakes and candies it caught on like wildfire. The prototype chocoholic (chocolate addict) was probably the Spanish Infanta Maria Teresa, the wife of Louis XIV. According to the historian Sanchez de Gramont, Maria Teresa ate more than a kilo of chocolate a day "and it was this excessive fondness that gave her the dreadful complexion and black teeth pocked with cavities that so repelled the king." Louis, it should be noted, became so disgusted with his wife that he insisted that none of his 22 official mistresses ever eat chocolate in his presence.

Chocolate Souffle

confectioners' sugar as required
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
50 gr. chocolate, grated
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla extract
whipped cream for serving

Prepare an 8" (20 cm) souffle dish by buttering it well and then dusting lightly with confectioners' sugar.

Stir the flour into the remaining butter, stirring well until thoroughly blended.

In a saucepan gently heat the milk, chocolate and sugar until the milk begins to bubble around the edges, stirring regularly. Add the hot milk mixture to the flour, stirring constantly until blended.

Beat the egg yolks and then beat part of the sauce into the yolks. Add the yolk mixture to the rest of the sauce and stir the mixture over a very low flame until the yolks thicken slightly. Remove from the flame and let the mixture cool for 1 hour. After the mixture has cooled, add the vanilla and mix well.

Whip the egg whites stiff and then fold them lightly into the mixture. Transfer the mixture gently to the souffle dish. Stand the souffle dish in a pan of hot water and bake in a medium oven until firm (about 20 minutes). Serve at once with whipped cream.

Chocolate Mousse

2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
125 gr. finest quality sweet chocolate, grated
4 egg yolks, beaten
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. Cognac or brandy
whipped cream, for serving (optional)

In a saucepan mix together the milk, sugar and chocolate. Heat over a low flame, stirring rapidly, until the ingredients are well blended and the milk begins to bubble at the edges. Remove from the flame and pour about 1/4 of the mixture into a bowl with the beaten egg yolks. Mix well and return all of this sauce to the pan. Over a low flame, stirring constantly, heat until the mixture thickens. Set aside to cool for at least 1 hour.

In a separate bowl whip the cream until stiff and then add the vanilla and Cognac. Fold the cool custard into the whipped cream until well blended. Fill individual dessert cups with the mixture. Chill thoroughly before serving. May be served with sweetened whipped cream.

Chocolate Cream Custard

2 cups sweet cream
180 gr. finest quality sweet chocolate, grated
2 Tbsp. sugar
6 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine the cream and chocolate and cook over a very low flame until the ingredients are well blended and the milk begins to scald. Remove from the heat and beat in the remaining ingredients. Strain and pour into individual custard cups. Cover lightly and chill thoroughly.

To see my suggestions for the World's Best Chocolatiers, click here.

To see my suggestions for the World's Best Chocolate Desserts, click here.

© Daniel Rogov