European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 14, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Chocolate the ultimate addiction by Linda Lowe Morris the Baltimore Sun for All celebrations throughout All seasons chocolate is the ultimate luxury. No other ingredient adds so much depth and complexity to a dessert. And no other ingredient has such Power to lure people into indulgence. Children who love chocolate Chip cookies grow up to love chocolate tortes and truffles As Well. And Little ones who thawed out from sledding with a cup of hot Cocoa will sip contentedly As adults on an elegant whipped Cream topped cup of hot chocolate. Quot its a very Complex flavor Quot says Nancy Baggett the Columbia md., food author whose newest Book the International chocolate Cookbook Stewart Tabori amp Chan has just been published. Quot there Are More than 100 different flavor components in Vanilla while chocolate has something More than 300 Baggett did t consider herself a Chocoholic when she started research and recipe testing for the Book Over two years ago she says. Quot and As a result i expected i would be tired of chocolate by the time i finished working with it. But i found even after two years that i was More impressed than Ever with How Good it is. And i was to a certain extent addicted i think. I be got some chocolate cookies in the oven even As we  the botanical name for chocolate is a a the Broma greek for Quot food of the gods Quot Baggett says. Quot Linnaeus dubbed it that. By Aztec legend it was the god quetzalcoatl who bestowed the gift of chocolate to humans but i Don t know if Linnaeus knew that legend or if he just liked  originally discovered by the Aztec and Toltec indians chocolate was first made into a dark Strong drink sometimes sweetened with Honey or spiced with cinnamon if those Warp available. Quot it was a far less refined product than we re used to Quot she says. But when you look just at the Long process it took even to get it to that relatively unrefined state she continues it seems miraculous that we even have chocolate at All. Quot it s amazing to me that they figured it out How to make chocolate in the first place that if you took these football sized pods and took out the seeds fermented them a and it does no to really taste like anything unless you ferment them a and then you dry them and roast them and then you Hull them. Quot and after that you have to grind it All up and you have to sweeten it. Each step is essential to its flavor. And if you missed any of them you  have anything you would Ever want to  when the Aztec emperor Montezuma handed a cup of his harsh and bitter drink to Cortez in 1519, chocolate started on the next part of its journey. In less than 150 years the chocolate drink was popular throughout much of Western Europe. There were chocolate houses like Coffee houses to Britain by the end of the 1600s. When working with chocolate it s important to understand just How heat sensitive it is. Quot chocolate is not like eggs where you have to Cook them Quot she says. Quot it is essentially ready to use. In some cases you might need to melt it. But you should keep in mind that it melts at human body temperature even a Little lower 88 to 90 degrees depending on the amount of sugar and milk in it. You have to apply very Little heat Quot it s often More a matter of having the patience to wait until the heat reaches the Middle of the chocolate rather than applying More heat to get it to melt faster. The Standard Way to melt chocolate is to use a double boiler she says. Quot but if you have a High proportion of Oil or fat that you re trying to melt at the same time you can carefully melt it Over direct heat. The fat will Bathe and insulate the chocolate from burning. That a usually the Only Case where i would melt it Over direct  that a Why using the microwave is Good for big pieces. You have heat generated All the Way through. One mistake that people make even people who write cookbooks she says is that they try to melt chocolate in milk. Quot sometimes recipes will Tell you to put v2 cup of milk in a Saucepan and then to put the squares of chocolate in there. But if you do you la find the chocolate does no to melt smoothly. No matter How hot you gel the milk the chocolate will Divide into Little tiny  the Best Way to blend chocolate and  i it it t liquid like milk is to add the liquid a Little bit at a time. Quot the easiest Way to do that is to take the chocolate and put it into a bowl. Then heat the liquid almost to boiling and Start pouring it Over the chocolate while you re stirring the chocolate. That will melt the chocolate and it very gradually introduces the  and she adds that Way you Don t have to worry about burning it. In search of the perfect truffle by Joan Drake the los Angeles times opinions vary on the Ideal size of a chocolate truffle. In the Cookbook chocolate sensations he books 1986author Faye Levy says Quot i find that the Small european style truffles give the most pleasure. The chocolate is so Rich that one or two bites Are usually enough a and one can always have a second or third truffle 1 y at the opposite end of the spectrum in Cocolas Warner books 1990alice Medrich explains How her recipe for american chocolate truffles evolved Quot when i first began making chocolate dipped truffles in addition to the simple Cocoa dusted variety lost control of the size while trying to perfect the dipping method by the time i realized that the truffles were much too Large my customers were totally hooked Quot these authors do agree however that truffles May be made without the chocolate used for coating being tempered. Tempering is the process of heating and Cooling chocolate to certain temperatures so the fat crystals stabilize and it dries hard and shiny and Breaks with a Crisp snap this is necessary when chocolate will be stored at room temperature untempered chocolate tends to Bloom turn whitish Gray or Streaky unless it s refrigerated this detracts from the appearance but does no to affect Quality. Since homemade truffles May be stored in the refrigerator and Are often coated with Cocoa powder tempering is optional. Quot this is Good news because tempering is not easy to master unless you do it almost every Day a despite the detailed and sometimes even simple sounding directions that you May find Quot says Medrich. Quot each Brand of chocolate behaves differently and even May require slightly different temperatures during each stage of tempering. The temperature and humidity of the Kitchen can also affect  the following is an adaptation of Medrich s recipe any Flavoured liqueur May be stirred into the truffle Center mixture before straining chocolate truffles 2 pounds 10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup whipping Cream to make the centers Cut the chocolate and butter into Small pieces and place in a medium bowl. Bring the whipping Cream to simmering in a Saucepan then remove from the heat and pour it Over the chocolate and butter. Stir gently with a wooden spoon or rubber Spatula until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Strain the chocolate mixture into another bowl and Cool without stirring. Refrigerate until very firm several hours or overnight. Scrape a Small ice Cream scoop across surface of the cold truffle mixture step 1 and use your fingertips to form the mixture into 1-Inch balls step 2. Place them in a pan and freeze uncovered several hours or overnight until very hard. Cut the remaining chocolate into Small pieces and place it in a dry medium size bowl. Melt by placing the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water or a microwave oven on medium 50 percent Power about five minutes stirring frequently. The chocolate is ready for dipping when melted smooth and 115 degrees to 120 degrees. If using a 14 the stars and stripes Friday Fet