Just getting that out of the way first, as it's proved nigh on impossible to mention this event to anyone without their invoking Roald Dahl's tale of confectionary hedonism. Pastry chef Laurent Richard has crafted a carnival-themed, all-you-can-eat chocolate dessert buffet at New York City's Ritz-Carlton's 14th floor Rise Bar, and for the price of admission, one receives the privilege of sticking one's face into the endless treat plates borne by spinning ferris wheel, carousel and roller coaster, and not coming up for air until every last Nutella crepe, haute faux Twix (Chef Ricard calls it a Raider Bar), chocolate financier, Valrhona-slathered strawberry and morsel of Black Forest griotine has been gobbled up. Don't worry -- he'll make more.
Don't find yourself scrambling on Valentine's Day for a good gift for the chocolate lover in your life. Get them half a dozen of Green & Black's chocolate bars in the knowledge that happiness is assured when you come with good chocolate in hand. Green & Black's makes a wide variety of high quality, organic chocolate. It's available nationwide and I can even pick several different kinds up at my local corner store (making it perfect for last minute hostess gifts).
If you want something a little more elegant than a simple bar, Green & Black's also individually-wrapped chocolate coins that come packaged in tall, slender boxes.
For inexperienced cooks who want to cook up a simple but romantic dinner for their sweetie this Valentine's Day, here's a step-by-step plan, complete with recipes.
Looking for a new way to tell your kids or your sweetie how much you love them this year for Valentine's Day? Consider the I Love You Toast Stamper! I realize it's a little silly, but it could also be just the think to perk up your holiday breakfast routine. I haven't tried this product out personally, but I imagine with some butter and strawberry or raspberry jam, it could be fun.
I am curious though, how well it would work on whole wheat or pumpernickel bread, where the surface area is darker and experiences less darkening during the toasting process.
If buying a gadget to engrave your toast seems a little silly, there are other ways to profess love on food. Do a little freehand engraving with a steak knife or write out the sentiment in a fruit sauce (a fine tipped squirt bottle would work well for that).
Do you do anything special to the food you feed family and friends on Valentine's Day?
There's no denying that dinner in a cozy bistro or a homey trattoria sets a certain mood, but my personal pick for most romantic cuisine might just have to be Moroccan - rich lamb dishes spiced with cinnamon, shared platters of fruit-and nut-studded couscous, desserts scented with rosewater and mint, slices of oranges splashed with perfume-y orange flower water, steaming hot tea from intricately carved silver pots. Especially if you get to lounge on embroidered cushions on the floor. But a big tray of sushi and other Japanese tidbits à deux would be a close second - a tangle of seaweed salad, a spill of jewel-like salmon roe, slippery mouthfuls of briney sea urchin. Of course, if you really want to seduce me, you'd fry me a chicken and bake a coconut cake!
Next in our series of good chocolate for Valentine's Day is Dagoba's baking chocolate. Since 2001, Dagoba has been making a variety of organic chocolate products in their Ashland, OR factory (they were one of the very first organic chocolate producers). I'm a sucker for their Mint-Rosemary Bar, but recently, I've also become a total convert to their line of baking chocolates.
These chocolates turn a standard brownie recipe into something revelatory. If you're planning to bake something special for your sweetheart this year, instead of reaching for your regular baking chocolate, get yourself some of this Dagoba goodness. If you're on the hunt for the right recipe to romance your chocolate-loving Valentine, consider this flourless chocolate cake (I'd recommend the bittersweet chocolate for that cake, not the unsweetened variety pictured above). Pair it with raspberry sauce and freshly whipped cream for a dessert that says, "I love you."
Studies reveal that certain sweets, like chocolate activate the libido. Just last week, The Times of India had an article reporting on the aphrodisiac effects of chocolate particularly on men. Food scientists tracked down a specific ingredient responsible for these effects - Eurycoma Longifolia Jack.
Chocolates have long been associated with romance. As far back as the eighteenth century, food enthusiasts, like Brillat Savarin, raved about chocolate's corporal effects. So, when thinking about sweets for Valentine's Day, I often think of various chocolate confections and cakes.
Below are 8 chocolates I highly recommend this Valentine's Day:
Dozen Box of Roni's Roses - These chocolates are flavored with rose petal jam, powdered rose petals and exotic rose liqueur. If you're in NY, I highly suggest that you check out Roni-Sue's in the Essex Street Market in the Lower East Side.
Poco Dolce Burt Caramel Tiles - Everything made by Poco Dolce is phenomenal. They have truly mastered the delicious combination of salt and sweet.
Cheese, like chocolate, can help create a romantic ambiance. While certain cheeses may carry an unappealing funky aroma, others are full of a captivating sweet luscious creaminess. Even those stinky cheeses can become agents of cupid with the right condiments and wine. Cheese can definitely be romantic.
When selecting cheeses for Valentine's Day, pick out ones that have complex textures and flavors. Try an aged Gouda, such as Reypenaer, or something fresh, rich, and buttery, like Robiola di Roccaverano. My main advice is to overwhelm your palate with culinary enjoyment without over consumption. A stomach ache is never romantic.
This year, Anne Saxelby is teaming up with Ronie-Sue's Chocolates to sell a pairing of cheeses with chocolates. As Murray's Cheese announces, "Valentine's Day is for cheese lovers." They're selling a "love box" full of cheese, chocolate covered almonds from Spain, hazelnut chocolate, and more. Of course, if romantic cheese means heart-shaped cheese, you can find those as well. Try Coeur du Berry, a fresh goat's milk cheese from the Loire Valley.
When I make Rice Krispie Treats, they invariably come out uneven and misshapen. So just from that perspective, I'm totally impressed by Joy's perfectly formed slab of cooled treats. And the idea of cutting them into hearts? Brilliant! Perfect for celebrating the upcoming holiday and it also leaves the cook with plenty of extra bits on munch on. I wholeheartedly endorse this cutting tact.
Next Saturday is Valentine's Day. I know that for some people, it's a holiday about love, romance and jewelry. However, for me, it will always be a day devoted to candy, particularly chocolate. When I was growing up, my mom would always leave little baskets of treats at our places at the breakfast table, and so my sister I would start the day with a chocolate heart, along with our Cheerios. The school day would progress with a parade of conversation hearts, red gummies and more chocolate.
In honor of coming holiday, I'm going to be featuring some of the best chocolates that have come my way in recent days. One of my very favorites that I discovered last summer is Askinosie Chocolate. It's made by a man who is absolutely passionate about chocolate and who travels the world to meet the farmers who grow his beans. The resulting chocolate bars are single source and hand roasted, making for seriously intense and unique flavors. If you're shopping for a dark chocolate lover who's interested in terroir and the artisanal process, this would be an excellent choice.
In her A Good Appetite column, New York Times food writer Melissa Clark describes her quest to create a perfect cup of Valentine's Day hot chocolate for her husband. The catch? Her husband can't eat cream, or milk, or soy milk, or rice milk or nut milk. So Clark turned to Maricel Presilla's "The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao With Recipes," for some pre-Columbian secrets to dairy-free hot chocolate, then, on the advice of a French chocolatier, tries a simple dark chocolate-and-water concoction. Finally, she combines the two concepts, mixing coconut milk with the pure dark chocolate, and comes up with a creamy, rich, deeply chocolatey yet lactose-free winner. She even figures out a merengue topping to mimic the fluffy goodness of whipped cream.
So by now you've probably heard on 60 Minutes or read in numerous news stories that red wine is good for you, and that you have resveratrol to thank for the excuse to tip one back every night. Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant found in the skin of the grapes that has numerous health benefits, most especially for the heart.
So, really, can you think of a better love gift than a resveratrol necklace, handmade by a scientist-turned-artist in San Francisco? It's the perfect expression of wine, science, and love, all rolled into one piece of jewelry.
It's no secret that what was once inexplicable about the seductive power of chocolate can now be explained with science. In fact, there are a lot of foods we call "aphrodisiacs" that have a real, studied, tested, and documented chemical basis for amor. They're good for your general health, contain compounds that stimulate hormone production, or simulate chemicals that have effects on the brain.
However, there are some aphrodisiac foods that have no scientific basis whatsoever. None! And yet people still use them to woo a lover. Like men and women who pout their lips, put on a red dress, coyly look out of the corner of their eye and lightly touch the other's forearm, these foods have seductive powers based mostly on what they look like and how they feel in your hands, mouth, and throat. Sure, love is about those deep, warm, inner things, but there's something to be said about seduction through visual and sensual stimulation.
Here's a list of nine foods that have the "Look of Love."
Another food that relies on shape and texture, the phallic banana has long been considered an aphrodisiac. It definitely helps that bananas also have a luxurious, smooth texture.
However, there might be some romantic chemistry involved with bananas. Bananas are rich in potassium and vitamin B, which are two components for sex-hormone production. Studies have also shown that the naturally occurring enzyme bromelain enhances male performance.
While bananas might not make it onto the Valentine's Day dinner table for two, they're a good thing to include for Breakfast in Bed the -- ahem -- next morning. Banana-stuffed French Toast or Banana Pancakes are a natural choice.
Even before finding out that avocado has been known as an aphrodisiac, I could always be seduced by an avocado. The way the ripe, creamy flesh of the fruit feels in the mouth probably has a lot to do with it.
The visual appeal of avocados applies to both men and women. The gentle curves of the avocado are similar to the curve of a woman's body, though I'm not sure how many women would want to be "avocado-shaped." Our word "avocado" comes from the ancient Aztec word "ahuacatl," which translates to "testicle tree." The ancient Aztecs thought the avocado, which hangs in pairs on the tree, resembled male testicles.
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.
Next Saturday is Valentine's Day. I know that for some people, it's a holiday about love, romance and jewelry. However, for me, it will always be a day devoted to candy, particularly chocolate. When I was growing up, my mom would always leave little baskets of treats at our places at the breakfast table, and so my sister I would start the day with a chocolate heart, along with our Cheerios. The school day would progress with a parade of conversation hearts, red gummies and more chocolate. 
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
