What is Chocolate?

🍫 An Essential Primer to Chocolate Chemistry

Hello!

Based on sales figures from 2022, chocolate contributed $2.5 billion to the $4.1 billion seasonal sales during Valentine’s Day week. One would think February 14 is National Chocolate Day. It is not! I had to Google this: National Chocolate Day is designated as either July 7 or December 28. In my world, every day could be National Chocolate Day; I eat a few squares after dinner as part of my self-care ritual (all those antioxidants and all) with a cup of my blueberry herbal tea (I’m drinking a lot of herbal teas since last year, I don’t know why - this is a conversation for another day). This year, I’m keeping things simple for Valentine's Day - low effort, big rewards. It’s a grilled chocolate sandwich with a light sprinkle of flaky salt. It takes less than 5 minutes to make and makes me VERY HAPPY! This newsletter is all about chocolate.

A special shoutout this week to my book designer, Lizzie Hunter, at Chronicle Books, who’s worked on two of my three cookbooks and for winning an award at the PubWest Book Design Awards for her work on my latest, VEG-TABLE. A great book designer is like a therapist who listens to you and transforms your thoughts and soul into paper. Lizzie does all this and more to make my books special; congratulations!

Have a great week,

Nik

🥕🥕🥕 My NEW COOKBOOK, VEG-TABLE, now a Best Cookbook of 2023 and Winner of the Golden Poppy Book Award, is now available worldwide! Please check it out, and thank you for your support. If you have a moment to spare, please leave a review for Veg-Table on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, or the many indie bookstores where you purchased the book. Thank you! 

It’s all about chocolate this week, so let’s stick to the theme. First, I took a photo essay from a chocolate maker’s class in Oakland in September 2016. It’s gorgeously messy. Then, I’ve got my favorite chocolate recipes to enjoy your way through.

I am a chocolate nerd. I’ve got a big framed poster of the chemical structure of theobromine, the chief chemical in the cacao bean, gifted to me by Guittard when they celebrated their 150th anniversary a few years ago. Theobromine, along with caffeine, is what makes us love chocolate so much. It affects our moods and can make us more alert and happy. As a biologist, I find the chemistry of chocolate, from how it affects our minds to how it’s produced and used, remarkably fascinating. This week, we take a deep dive into the important science of chocolate and how it ties into the kitchen.