SWEET CRAVINGS

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." That sentiment, uttered by Lucy Van Pelt of the "Peanuts" cartoon strip, is an appropriate one for today, Valentine's Day. But Miranda Ingram goes even further when she asserts, "It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man." Apparently, she's not alone in her views. A recent Gallup poll conducted in Great Britain revealed that more women would prefer to give up sex than to give up chocolate.

In any case, the relationship between love and chocolate has always been a powerful one. In Mexico, where chocolate originated and was thought to be the divine gift of the god Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec emperor Montezuma reportedly consumed some 50 cups of it a day, usually prior to visiting his harem of 600 women. In the ancient Mayan culture, which preceded the Aztecs, cocoa beans were traditionally exchanged between bride and groom as part of the marriage ceremony. Moreover, chocolate was a favorite drink of Casanova. He clearly knew what he was doing. Last year a scientific conference on chocolate held at London's Royal Institution examined the nature of the substance and found that it contains methylxanthine and theobromine, both stimulants, phenylethylamine, a mood elevator, anandamide, which opens synapses in the brain, and magnesium, which can aid in the production of serotonin and a feeling of well-being. So why shouldn't chocolate make us feel the same way we do when we fall in love?

Recent surveys suggest as much. They show that couples who regularly eat chocolate are three times more likely to engage in romantic activity than those who never eat chocolate and, what is more, men who drank hot chocolate after dinner were far more likely to give their mate a massage that evening than those who drank something else. No wonder the Marquis de Sade fed his party guests chocolates, though taking no chances he laced them with Spanish fly. Nor is it surprising that some expensive perfumes, such as "Rush" by Gucci, incorporate chocolate aromas.

Chocolate, as it turns out, is the single most craved food, especially among women. So it's no coincidence that this Valentine's Day close to $1 billion will be spent to purchase almost 40 million boxes of the stuff. A recent poll by the Chocolate Manufacturers Association revealed that nearly 80 percent of us identify Valentine's Day as the No. 1 occasion for chocolate gift giving.

But how do you know whether you should pay $4 per pound, the price of Hershey's bar chocolate, or $56 per pound, the price of a Godiva assortment in a heart-shaped box? A chocolate tasting is one way to find out.

Just as a wine tasting can help further your appreciation of fine wine as you explore its many varieties, the same organized approach to sampling chocolate can enhance your knowledge and enjoyment of it. Even some of the lexicon is the same, as professional chocolate tasters routinely refer to the acidity and astringency of chocolate, whether its flavor is heavy or light, whether it is marked by woody or mossy notes or the flavor of fruit, and whether it has a good "finish." After all, as Debra Waterhouse, author of the book "Why Women Need Chocolate," points out, "Chocolate contains more than 500 flavors, which makes it more complex than any other food." To analyze those complexities requires some systematic investigation.

That was precisely the rationale underlying a so-called "Grand Cru" chocolate tasting conducted a couple of years ago at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. Participants savored single bean chocolates from Venezuela, Ecuador, and Madagascar and compared them to chocolate made from a blend of cocoa beans. But you hardly need to go to such lengths to set up a chocolate tasting of your own. All you need is a handful of different brands or types of chocolate and a little organization.

You could limit yourself to several brands of the same kind of chocolate, such as bittersweet or milk, for example. Or you could sample several different kinds of chocolate -- extra-bittersweet, semisweet, milk, white -- all from the same manufacturer. Or you could taste chocolates from a single country or from many countries. You don't want an overwhelming number; three to five types should be sufficient.

Chop each chocolate into small chunks, place them on separate plates, and label by number only, concealing their identity until after the tasting is completed. Issue tasters score cards to keep track of their judgments. Universally recognized criteria for tasting include appearance (good chocolate is shiny, not dull), aroma (there should be no chemical or musty smell), snap (good chocolate breaks firmly and cleanly and doesn't crumble), texture or mouthfeel (poor chocolate is waxy), melting point (good chocolate melts evenly), sweetness (sugar is sometimes used to mask inferior flavor) and overall taste.

Tasters need nothing more than water as a palate cleanser between samplings, but champagne adds a festive note. After all chocolates are tasted, have guests share their impressions and determine the overall rankings, which are occasionally surprising. At a recent tasting at our house, for example, France's vaunted Valrhona chocolate came in only third after Lindt from Switzerland and Perugina from Italy. Ghirardelli, on the other hand was, predictably, beat out by the imports. Other good brands to try in a tasting are Callebaut, Poulain, Droste, Guittard, Scharffen Berger, and Karl Bissinger. It can be instructive to also include something cheap like Hershey's.

Though hardly necessary, at our house we like to engage in a bit of overkill and follow the tasting with several desserts made from the chocolates that were sampled. An even simpler approach, and perhaps even more fun, is to make fondue out of the remaining chocolate. In any case, guests will come to appreciate why Linnaeus, the father of modern botany, gave cocoa the scientific name Theobroma, meaning food of the gods.

Chocolate Fondue

Though cheese fondue was invented in Switzerland, chocolate fondue, like chocolate itself, originated in the New World. It was invented in 1964 by Konrad Egli, the Swiss-born chef at New York's Chalet Swiss restaurant. You can spike this recipe, adapted from Judith Olney's "The Joy of Chocolate," with a couple of tablespoons of Grand Marnier, Kahlua, Chambord, or other liqueur.

Ingredients:

12 oz. semisweet chocolate

3/4 cup heavy cream

assorted dippers (pound cake, fresh fruit, or even chocolate cookies)

Directions:

Melt chocolate with the cream over low heat (or in a microwave). Transfer to fondue pot or bowl and invite guests to skewer dippers and dunk them into the chocolate.

Listen to A Harte Appetite Friday mornings and Saturday afternoons on KRCU, 90.9 on your FM dial. Write A Harte Appetite, c/o The Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semovm.semo.edu.