{"id":87,"date":"2011-05-18T21:06:55","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T20:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/londonerfromafar.wordpress.com\/?p=87"},"modified":"2016-07-24T11:38:52","modified_gmt":"2016-07-24T10:38:52","slug":"gimme-chocolate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/gimme-chocolate\/","title":{"rendered":"Gimme Some Chocolate!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am greatly tempted to discuss here\u00a0the new \u00b4Spanish revolution\u00b4… Next time.<\/p>\n

The \u00b4food of gods\u00b4goes first.<\/p>\n

Chocolate<\/strong> is said to have the power to help restore\u00a0our own\u00a0emotions after a let down. We have seen it so many times in romcoms\u00a0that it is now part of our \u00b4emotional\u00b4 culture. I am not sure we\/ I really believed that\u00a0though.\u00a0I went to the museum of chocolate in Bruges last summer to further explore one of my favourite obsessions.<\/p>\n

The journey into my own mind was fully packed with loads of social history. The\u00a0museum\u00a0provided visitors with an insight into social habits, some of which we still have. Who doesn\u00b4t like a cup of hot cocoa on a cold, rainy night?<\/p>\n

What\u00b4s really in that unsweetened little bean and everything else around it? Chocolate, as it is know today,\u00a0is made with cocoa beans.\u00a0Cocoa heavily impacted the way they lived to the extent that\u00a0the beans were used to pay for goods. Both Mayan and Aztecs drank,\u00a0ate and used cocoa and the tree where it grows. It was used in rituals and it still is considered to boost sexual performance today.<\/p>\n

A quick look\u00a0at some of the adverts that I have seen all my life make me realise that there are two very distinct ways of portraying chocolate. One, the nutritious every day food that every child should consume. I can still relate to\u00a0my own childhood and remember\u00a0the Nestle commercials when I see that red and white package\u00a0in the supermarket shelves.<\/p>\n

Sweet…<\/p>\n

Now, the children have grown up and\u00a0indulgence follows.\u00a0Health factor does not really matter that much anymore. You can\u00a0ask Magnum product managers. Some of those TV commercials do seem to be soft porn to me! Emperor Montezuma\u00a0had about 50 cups a day\u00a0of\u00a0\u00b4xocolatl\u00b4, because he believed it boosted his sexual performance. Can you see any relationship here? I can still see choccies advertised almost as aphrodisiacs sometimes. I don\u00b4t think it works, though. Otherwise that beautiful chocolate with rose powder that I bought in Belgium last year would have had\u00a0certain effect on me.<\/p>\n

Has that worked for any of you? I promise I won\u00b4t tell anyone. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Godiva store managers probably know a thing or two about it too. I took a stroll down Regent\u00b4s Street\u00a0last week. One of the employees at the Godiva store had an audience while dipping pieces of pinneaple in chocolate and putting them on a tray. How good can that be for the store and for\u00a0Godiva?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> As well as\u00a0those luscious strawbs heavily dipped in chocolate, of course.<\/p>\n

Oh, how I wish Godiva had paid me to do their marketing! I once applied for a job at G\u00fc for the same reason, but it turned out that many others were in the same situation. Chocolate is really popular, isnt\u00b4t it?<\/p>\n

What was more worrying is what happened after that. I went into Zara Home, which is next door. One of the visual displays right at the entrance was very eye-catching. It did look like something else. But, when I got there it was door knobs!<\/p>\n

The visit to the museum of chocolate ended with a few chocolates we had previously seen the\u00a0 \u00b4master patissi\u00e8re\u00b4 making. Beautiful!<\/p>\n

Now, Cadbury\u00b4s is not a reason why I am staying in London. It certainly can\u00b4t be, because the average chocolate in most other countries is way better in quality, etc. Chocolate lovers can also be quite picky at times.<\/p>\n

How many of you out there are obsessed too?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am greatly tempted to discuss here\u00a0the new \u00b4Spanish revolution\u00b4… Next time. The \u00b4food of gods\u00b4goes first. Chocolate is said to have the power to help restore\u00a0our own\u00a0emotions after a …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[106,121,203,301,321],"yoast_head":"\nGimme Some Chocolate! - A Londoner from Afar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/gimme-chocolate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gimme Some Chocolate! - A Londoner from Afar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am greatly tempted to discuss here\u00a0the new \u00b4Spanish revolution\u00b4… Next time. 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