The Green Wine of Italy
November 21, 2008
Tocai is an aromatic dry white wine that is made from the grapes of the same name. It is grown in the Fuilia area of Italy and it is named after small eccentric glasses it is served in Italian taverns. The glasses are small and look like juice glasses. The grape is also sometimes known as Sauvignon Vert which translates to mean “green wine.” It is also grown in Chile and France. The name is pronounced Toe-Koi.
Tocai is not to be mistaken for a Hungarian wine called Tokay. These two wines are very different and in fact the Hungarian wine maker sued the Italian wine maker to exclusively own this name and lost. There is also a Japanese saki type wine known as Tokei. Tocai is quite different and is strictly grown in Italy.
Belgian Chocolate
November 21, 2008
There is chocolate and then there is CHOCOLATE.
There are the everyday variety to the more exotic Godiva and Ghirardelli-style that can be found in many coffee houses and specialty. Then there is Belgian, seen by many the best that can be had in chocolate. Belgian chocolates are considered the gourmet standard in which other chocolates are measured. Even by the Swiss, who are known for their own high standards of quality. The Swiss, who had imported the basic recipe from the French and the Belgian.
When chocolate first started to take off during the 1880’s it was supported by the Belgian Congo. There was about 10 million Africians that were killed under the Belgian ruler Leopold II to obtain the cocoa. In spite of the war going on, the Belgians were able to continue with the cocoa importing. But it was only when in 1857 that Jean Neuhaus used Couverteur a special version of chocolate. It was one hundred and fifty years later his grandson started to use Couverteur, he called to create what he called ‘pralines’. Which is not to be confused with the sugary treat that can be found in American candy stores these days. These pralines can be filled with a variety of flavored creams known as nougats: like coffee, hazelnut, fruit or more chocolate. It was in 1912 that Belgium chocolates were first used as a gift. These gifts were even wrapped in a special wrapper designed just for Belgian chocolates, this wrapper is called Ballotin.
All About Chocolate
November 21, 2008
From personal experience in dealing with a diabetic in my family, I know how difficult it is to look for a gift for a chocoholic who has to cut down sugar. The one thing about chocolate the diabetic person in my life is looking for is the one thing most chocoholics are looking for in sugar-free chocolate. That is that doesn’t taste like it that is sugar-free. Since regular sugar is what gives regular chocolate it’s taste, texture, feel good feeling. It is up to producers of chocolate to find the sugar-free alternatives.
Sorbotol, mannitol, isomalt, lactate, and xylitol are what you would look for in a sugar-free chocolate. Since these are sugar alcohols, they are slowly metabolized in the system because they are absorbed in the small intestine and are what produces the same mass, volume and texture of regular sugar based chocolate.
Sugarfree Chocolate
November 21, 2008
Taken from the experience of someone who has spent countless hours searching in the past for sugar-free chocolates for the diabetic chocoholic(s) in their life. I remember hours of pouring over the numerous catalogs only to find only one or two chocolate items.
Then not too many years ago the age of inter-net shopping started. There was maybe a lot less paper but the problem was still remained. Simply because not many people at that time were interested in making sugar-free chocolate. But as more people are either finding out that they are diabetic or that they simply want to cut down on their carbohydrates, sugar-free chocolates has taken off.
Can Chocolate Make People Happier?
November 21, 2008
When we’re sad and stressed, what do many of us do? We resort to chocolate. There’s a long history of people using chocolate to make themselves happier, but the question still remains: is there a scientific basis behind it, or is the mood boosting ability of chocolate just an old wives’ tale? Here are the facts on the chemical composition of chocolate and how it can affect our moods.
One of the things that could account for the satisfaction we feel upon eating a lot of chocolate is that it’s so sweet and rich. Even dark chocolate has a high percentage of fat and sugar, and these properties stimulate the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the part of our brain responsible for pleasing sensations. When you eat chocolate to improve your mood, the sensations distract you from whatever’s making you upset.