Valerie Beck
National Ice Cream Month? Why not? Of course as long as chocolate is involved, any idea is a good idea, right!
July has officially been National Ice Cream Month since 1984, and National Ice Cream Day is the third Sunday of the month. This year, the big day is Sunday, July 15.
What does all of this mean for chocolate lovers? Chicago Chocolate Tours will highlight ice cream treats throughout the month, by inviting tourguests to sample scrumptious ice creams at participating stores, at no extra charge. And, our tours on July 15 will include a full-on ice cream extravaganza. Enjoy ice cream the Chicago Chocolate Tours way!
Meanwhile, what's the scoop on ice cream? While chocolate was cultivated and enjoyed by the Olmec people in Central America as early as 4,000 years ago, and frozen treats were popular millennia ago in Asia when Chinese emperors sent their slaves to the mountains for ice to mix with fruit and possibly yak's milk, ice cream became popular among the elites of Europe - without chocolate - in the 1500s in Italy, and then spread to France, England, and elsewhere. Catherine di Medici had an ice cream recipe in the 1500s, Charles I loved it in the 1600s, and George Washington spent $200 on ice cream one summer in the 1700s. Today, after industrial techniques of the 1800s that made ice cream more affordable for all, Americans spend $20 billion per year on this creamy delight.
Ice cream and chocolate eventually converged into not only chocolate ice cream, but also hot fudge sundaes, and chocolate milshakes; the latter were created in the 1880s as a healthful tonic, often including ingredients such as eggs and whiskey!
For the 21st century versions of chocolate ice cream, sundaes, and milshakes, see you on a July Chicago Chocolate Tour!
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What fun we had on our first "practice tour" yesterday along our new Chicago Chocolate Tours route through Chicago's Loop! Thank you, Erin and Alena, for joining us! We'll continue to tour Loop chocolate shops Fridays at 12:45; please see our Tours page for details.
Along the way, the question of pralines came up. What exactly are they? According to Gregory Rothman, manager of the Leonidas shop which carries fine, fresh Belgian chocolates, a praline in European chocolate parlance is a chocolate filled with a creamy nut-sugar blend.
How did pralines begin? Legend has it that the 17th century French Duke of Plessis-Praslin's cook accidentally dropped almonds into caramelized sugar, ruining the dessert he was making for the duke. The duke called for his dessert, so, with nothing else to serve, the cook served the accidental sweet with a flourish, calling it a "praslin." The duke was enchanted, and the cook - knowing a good thing when he saw it - left the duke's employ to set up a praline shop on his own.
Chocolate was added to the mix (hooray!) in 1912 when Belgian chocolatier Jean Neuhaus put a nut paste blended with sugar into a chocolate shell.
And what of the marvelous New Orleans and southern pralines made of pecans with caramelized sugar? The cooks there used the nuts on hand: pecans. Add chocolate, which enhances all things, and you have what might be referred to as a turtle, a pixie, or a delight. Delightful!
Chocolate is at once marvelously simple (tastes great!) and fascinatingly complex (contains over 300 chemicals and can take a myriad of forms). Here's an advanced chocolate question that came up on a tour: What's the difference between ganache and fondant? Susan and Daniel, I'm glad you asked!
According to Gilles Noyer, proprietor of Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland, the difference between these two chocolate concoctions is in the ingredients. Ganache is the creamy center of a true chocolate truffle and is made with chocolate, cream, and butter. Fondant, often used on cakes, is moister and lighter, consisting of chocolate, sugar, and eggs.
What's in a name? As long as it contains chocolate, we love it.
Meanwhile, are you joining me on our new Loop route? Chicago Chocolate Tours is headed downtown! In addition to our Michigan Avenue routes, we're putting in a tour of six wonderful chocolate shops located in Chicago's Loop. The Grand Opening of our Loop route is Friday, March 16, at 12:45 pm. Or, join a "practice tour" at half price on Friday the 2nd, or Friday the 9th. Click here for details.
Happy Valentine's Day!
What's Valentine's Day without chocolate? Chocolate and romance have been linked in our minds since ancient times. It's said that Aztec emperor Montezuma used to drink 10 golden goblets of chocolate before visiting his harem. Early Valentine's Day followers believed that giving chocolate as a gift would make your beloved return your emotions. Legendary lover Casanova of the 18th century reportedly preferred the seductive powers of chocolate to those of Champagne. And, in contemporary times, a poll showed that 50% of women preferred chocolate to, ahem, something else.
What is it about chocolate that connects it to feelings of love? It might be the phenylethylamine, which doesn't necessarily sound romantic, but which is a chemical that gives a mood boost and which is found in chocolate. It might also have something to do with the fact that chocolate melts at body temperature, giving it that luscious melt-in-your-mouth quality. In the end, many say it's an aphrodisiac if you think it is.
Whatever the reason we love chocolate, chocolate lives up to its scientific name Theobroma Cacao: food of the gods. Come celebrate chocolate and romance on our Valentine's Day Chicago Chocolate Tours on Wednesday, February 14, at 12:45 pm or 5:30 pm. Romantic carriage rides for two are available after the tours. Contact us at info@chicagochocolatetours.com for details. Here's to love and chocolate!