Cacao

SANTA FE, N.M. - It's fair to call me a chocoholic, but it wasn't until a trip to Santa Fe that I realized I'd never had the good stuff. What was supposed to be a casual late-December exploration of this New Mexican cultural hub wound up becoming a full-on chocolate extravaganza in which I dragged my husband, Jay, to a new exhibit, "New World Cuisine: The Histories of Chocolate, Mate y Más," at Santa Fe's Museum of International Folk Art, and...

SANTA FE, N.M. - It's fair to call me a chocoholic, but it wasn't until a trip to Santa Fe that I realized I'd never had the good stuff. What was supposed to be a casual late-December exploration of this New Mexican cultural hub wound up becoming a full-on chocolate extravaganza in which I dragged my husband, Jay, to a new exhibit, "New World Cuisine: The Histories of Chocolate, Mate y Más," at Santa Fe's Museum of International Folk Art, and...

You don't usually hear the word "chocolate" in conjunction with "dynasty," but that's the focus of "Chocolate Wars" by the British author Deborah Cadbury (yes, of that Cadbury clan). Her fascinating book chronicles the history of chocolate, from its Mayan and Aztec origins to the Victorian-era rise of the chocolate industry and her family's formative role in it. In the 1860s in Birmingham, England, two Quaker brothers, Richard and George Cadbury, owned a small factory that, along with other manufacturers, were trying to figure out how to make use of an intriguing New World commodity called "cacao" or cocoa.

Archaeologists have found residues of cacao -- or chocolate -- on 2,500-year-old plate fragments from the Northern Maya Lowlands in Yucatan, Mexico. Although cacao residue has been found in cups from other sites that are 1,000 years older, this is the oldest trace of cacao in this northern region. Perhaps more important, it is the first evidence that the Maya used cacao for anything other than as a drink. The presence of cacao on a plate suggests that it was used as a spice or sauce for food.

The TV commercial for an insurance company — the one in which a gecko is seen putting a dollar bill that's bigger than it is into a vending machine for a bag of chips — is certainly memorable. But it's also implausible. Anyone who truly knows the little lizards realizes they'll take a sweet treat over a salty one (like chips) every time. Just ask Bob and Pam Cooper. The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Kailua-Kona (Big Island) offers tours Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. The cost is $10 for adults.

Archaeologists have found residues of cacao -- or chocolate -- on 2,500-year-old plate fragments from the Northern Maya Lowlands in Yucatan, Mexico. Although cacao residue has been found in cups from other sites that are 1,000 years older, this is the oldest trace of cacao in this northern region. Perhaps more important, it is the first evidence that the Maya used cacao for anything other than as a drink. The presence of cacao on a plate suggests that it was used as a spice or sauce for food.

Dear SOS: The Some Crust Bakery in Claremont has amazing mocha cookies. Every time I need a reward, that's where I head. If you could get the recipe, it would be wonderful. Catherine Voss Ontario Dear Catherine: These cookies are so appealing that word quickly spread throughout the building whenever the recipe was scheduled for testing. They're soft, rich and dark, studded with chunks of chocolate. Some Crust Bakery mocha cookies Total time: 1 hour Servings: Makes about 20 (3 1/2 -inch)

Dear SOS: Recchiuti Confections has a store in the Ferry Building in San Francisco, where I had the most incredible dark chocolate brownie I have ever tasted. I was hoping that you might be able to get the recipe. Louis Boish Aliso Viejo Dear Louis: When we saw your request for a brownie recipe from Recchiuti, we were anxious to procure it and try it out. Everyone loves brownies, after all, whether secretly or publicly, and knowing that Recchiuti is an amazing chocolatier, we thought they just might hold the secret to brownie nirvana.

La Cuevita is the new incarnation of the former Little Cave bar in the heart of Highland Park. Remodeled by the prolific 1933 Group, which owns the Thirsty Crow and the Bigfoot Lodge, La Cuevita is modeled on an old Mexican grotto, the kind of place where a few fierce hombres straight out of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" might stop in for a snort of tequila. Mixologist Cooper Gillespie has come up with a nice list of specialty cocktails alongside a good mix of agave-based spirits that will put hair on your chest and spurs on your boots.

If you go Some shops have multiple locations. Jacques Genin, 133 Rue de Turenne, Paris; 1-4577-2901 Jean-Charles Rochoux, 16 Rue d' Assas, Paris; 1-4284-2945, http://www.jcrochoux.fr Cacao et Chocolat, 63 Rue Saint Louis en L'lle, Paris; 1-4633-3333, http://www.cacaoetchocolat.com Servant , 5 Rue de Sèvres, Paris; 1-4548-8360, http://www.chocolaterie-servant.com

La Cuevita is the new incarnation of the former Little Cave bar in the heart of Highland Park. Remodeled by the prolific 1933 Group, which owns the Thirsty Crow and the Bigfoot Lodge, La Cuevita is modeled on an old Mexican grotto, the kind of place where a few fierce hombres straight out of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" might stop in for a snort of tequila. Mixologist Cooper Gillespie has come up with a nice list of specialty cocktails alongside a good mix of agave-based spirits that will put hair on your chest and spurs on your boots.

HANALEI, Hawaii - It's a warm Tuesday afternoon on Kauai and tourists are lining up - just a few at first, then a dozen or so. Finally more than 100 have gathered, waiting patiently. They're not here to swim with dolphins, snorkel in turquoise waters or even learn to hula at a luau. They're here for a farmers market. Manager Kalen Kelekoma climbs atop a wooden crate and welcomes the throng with a warm "aloha" and an explanation of the market rules. Then the horn sounds, and they rush the stalls.

Small farmers today have to do a lot of things to make a living. Still, you get the feeling that the Lydgate family at Steelgrass Farms on Kauai is overdoing it a little. The first Lydgates arrived in Hawaii in the 1860s. Will and Emily are fifth-generation Kauaians, the great-grandchildren of John Mortimer Lydgate, in whose honor Lydgate Park on Kauai is named. In the 1990s, the family bought 8 acres of scrub on a hill above the town of Kapaa. There they started growing cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made.

While medical researchers are busy trying to figure out why chocolate appears to lower the risk of developing heart disease, chemists are studying the more pressing question of just what gives cocoa beans their irresistible aroma and taste. Cocoa beans contain hundreds of compounds, all of which combine in the nose and mouth to produce the flavor we know as chocolate. But Peter Schieberle , a professor at the Institute for Food Chemistry at the Technical University in Munich, Germany, figured out that he needed only 25 of these compounds to trick taste testers into thinking they had sampled actual chocolate.

You don't usually hear the word "chocolate" in conjunction with "dynasty," but that's the focus of "Chocolate Wars" by the British author Deborah Cadbury (yes, of that Cadbury clan). Her fascinating book chronicles the history of chocolate, from its Mayan and Aztec origins to the Victorian-era rise of the chocolate industry and her family's formative role in it. In the 1860s in Birmingham, England, two Quaker brothers, Richard and George Cadbury, owned a small factory that, along with other manufacturers, were trying to figure out how to make use of an intriguing New World commodity called "cacao" or cocoa.

If you go Some shops have multiple locations. Jacques Genin, 133 Rue de Turenne, Paris; 1-4577-2901 Jean-Charles Rochoux, 16 Rue d' Assas, Paris; 1-4284-2945, http://www.jcrochoux.fr Cacao et Chocolat, 63 Rue Saint Louis en L'lle, Paris; 1-4633-3333, http://www.cacaoetchocolat.com Servant , 5 Rue de Sèvres, Paris; 1-4548-8360, http://www.chocolaterie-servant.com

Small farmers today have to do a lot of things to make a living. Still, you get the feeling that the Lydgate family at Steelgrass Farms on Kauai is overdoing it a little. The first Lydgates arrived in Hawaii in the 1860s. Will and Emily are fifth-generation Kauaians, the great-grandchildren of John Mortimer Lydgate, in whose honor Lydgate Park on Kauai is named. In the 1990s, the family bought 8 acres of scrub on a hill above the town of Kapaa. There they started growing cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made.

While medical researchers are busy trying to figure out why chocolate appears to lower the risk of developing heart disease, chemists are studying the more pressing question of just what gives cocoa beans their irresistible aroma and taste. Cocoa beans contain hundreds of compounds, all of which combine in the nose and mouth to produce the flavor we know as chocolate. But Peter Schieberle , a professor at the Institute for Food Chemistry at the Technical University in Munich, Germany, figured out that he needed only 25 of these compounds to trick taste testers into thinking they had sampled actual chocolate.

Chocolate in Paris is serious business. One can hardly walk from the Louvre to the Left Bank without bumping into a chocolate boutique. Hot spots such as Patrick Roger and La Maison du Chocolat tend to be found on "best" lists, but there are scores of smaller shops too, testimony to the Parisian love affair with gourmet chocolate. Here are just a few worth a taste: Jacques Genin : As I entered the room, the familiar aroma — pulpy, tart and fruity — overwhelmed me. "Passion fruit," I said, holding my hands to my heart.

The TV commercial for an insurance company — the one in which a gecko is seen putting a dollar bill that's bigger than it is into a vending machine for a bag of chips — is certainly memorable. But it's also implausible. Anyone who truly knows the little lizards realizes they'll take a sweet treat over a salty one (like chips) every time. Just ask Bob and Pam Cooper. The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Kailua-Kona (Big Island) offers tours Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. The cost is $10 for adults.