Chocolate: more than an obsession - Recipe

EVER SINCE SPANISH PRINCESS MARIA THERESA PREsented cocoa beans as an engagement gift to Louis XIV, chocolate has been a symbol of devotion and love. And no wonder: Intense yet sweet, comforting yet exciting, with a bittersweet edge that keeps us wanting more, it has all the makings of a passionate love affair. And for some of us, the affair has bordered on obsession.

Why exactly do we love chocolate so much? Maybe it's because cocoa is usually swirled into sugar and fat, two of our favorite substances. Maybe it's the smooth, velvety way it slides across the tongue and arouses the palate. Or maybe, like falling in love, it actually does something to the brain.

"Chocolate is a potent mood modifier," says Chris Kilham, author of Psyche Delicacies (Rodale, 2001) and Tales From The Medicine Trail (Rodale, 2000). "Chocolate boosts serotonin, the `feel-good' brain chemical, and helps to brighten mood. It contains phenylethylamine (PEA), a chemical that occurs in higher concentrations in the brain when you're in love and when you have an orgasm, and it contains anandamide, a canabanoid also found in marijuana."

But your love affair with chocolate doesn't have to be an illicit one. Besides its positive effects on mood, cocoa has other noted health benefits. What's bad about chocolate isn't the cocoa. In fact, even the saturated fat in cocoa, stearic acid, appears to be benign and unsaturated-like in its effects on our vascular system, so it doesn't contribute to atherosclerosis, as far as is known.

So indulge yourself in a guilt-free chocolate affair of your own with the following taste-tantalizing recipes.