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On Eating Chocolate: A Treatise by Kataklysma
In my life, brief though it has been, chocolate has played an assortment of roles. My love for chocolate goes beyond mere addiction. The very word "addiction" belittles the relationship we have, flattening chocolate into a mere two-dimensional adversary, some Bad Guy to be extinguished from my life FOREVER. In my happy world, chocolate is an old friend who plays with me, comforts me, teases me, and-as many friends do-likes to vie for dominance in its little power struggles with me.
Chocolate as art
Depending on its quality, chocolate can invoke responses in me that range anywhere from repulsion, to satisfaction, to awe. Awe-invoking chocolate, the high quality sort, takes my breath away. It is the Louvre. It is Kandinsky. It is Cecilia Bartoli singing a cappella on my tongue and in my olfactory glands. The smell of a really fine milk chocolate is warm, a little earthy, a bit high-pitched. When place on my tongue, its smooth consistency generates no friction between its body and my roving taste buds. Its rich flavor begins to melt over my tongue, spreading slowly in intensity until it engulfs my mouth and I must swallow or be consumed. When I visit a museum to view a painting by Kandinsky, I can sit for hours enjoying his work. I am that way with chocolate as well-I can sit for hours appreciating an excellent portion of chocolate, bit by bit.
Chocolate as community
Each Christmas I know I can expect to find a one-pound box of See's milk chocolate-covered cherries under the tree. At my high school graduation my mother bought me two-pound box of chocolate. Whenever I visit a friend in Oakland, she has a new kind of chocolate for me to sample and critique. The last two months have been so difficult financially it came to the point where a friend became concerned about me and sent me a gift certificate to Trader Joe's. The condition she stipulated-"Klysma, you have to promise me the first thing you buy will be an indulgence. Go down the sweets aisle and buy some really good chocolate!"
Chocolate means connection. It is a shared experience between friends. It symbolizes generosity and support. My mother only has to say, "I bought some Lindt Lindor milk chocolate truffle balls today" and my sister and I will moan, our eyes close a little, as we all three share a memory of that lovely taste. We consider the selection at See's Candies to be a sort of personality quiz: Mother = milk chocolate California brittle; Sister = milk chocolate butterscotch squares; Klysma = milk chocolate-covered cherries. It is a ritual of belonging. All I had to say to my sister was, "This year, RA (step-mother) gave me a box half full of dark chocolate-covered cherries..." and I knew she will roll her eyes, sigh, and make some remark about how RA doesn't know us at all.
Chocolate as enlightenment
With a particularly good piece of chocolate in my mouth, all my senses are turned towards my taste buds and olfactory glands. It is not uncommon for me to say, just before I pop a truffle in my mouth, "Don’t bother me for a minute..." I need to fully concentrate on the experience in my mouth. Trance is the act of focusing upon a single object. I would argue that sucking on a Lindt Lindor milk chocolate truffle ball is a form of trance. The world stands still. All meaning becomes this: to exist with a chunk of chocolate in my mouth, happy and salivating.
Conclusion
There are times when chocolate likes to gain the upper hand, attempting to capture my focus for long periods of time. I realize this could affect my health, given the many disadvantages of chocolate consumption. In addition to my awareness of the health hazards involved in my intimate relationship with chocolate, I am also far too stubborn to allow food, delicious though it may be, to control my life. There is only one Person I can think of (besides God, I mean) that I want to have any measure of control over my life, and Her name is not Chocolate. Unfortunately, my Dear Friend chocolate is so pervasive in my life, contributing so much meaning, it sometimes becomes difficult to separate the good from the bad enough to keep things respectful. I suspect that any change in our relationship (and my thoughts on 'change' are the subject of a separate paper entirely!) will require a certain degree of patience, discipline, and of course my favorite-punishment.
Mmm...punishment...
In my life, brief though it has been, chocolate has played an assortment of roles. My love for chocolate goes beyond mere addiction. The very word "addiction" belittles the relationship we have, flattening chocolate into a mere two-dimensional adversary, some Bad Guy to be extinguished from my life FOREVER. In my happy world, chocolate is an old friend who plays with me, comforts me, teases me, and-as many friends do-likes to vie for dominance in its little power struggles with me.
Chocolate as art
Depending on its quality, chocolate can invoke responses in me that range anywhere from repulsion, to satisfaction, to awe. Awe-invoking chocolate, the high quality sort, takes my breath away. It is the Louvre. It is Kandinsky. It is Cecilia Bartoli singing a cappella on my tongue and in my olfactory glands. The smell of a really fine milk chocolate is warm, a little earthy, a bit high-pitched. When place on my tongue, its smooth consistency generates no friction between its body and my roving taste buds. Its rich flavor begins to melt over my tongue, spreading slowly in intensity until it engulfs my mouth and I must swallow or be consumed. When I visit a museum to view a painting by Kandinsky, I can sit for hours enjoying his work. I am that way with chocolate as well-I can sit for hours appreciating an excellent portion of chocolate, bit by bit.
Chocolate as community
Each Christmas I know I can expect to find a one-pound box of See's milk chocolate-covered cherries under the tree. At my high school graduation my mother bought me two-pound box of chocolate. Whenever I visit a friend in Oakland, she has a new kind of chocolate for me to sample and critique. The last two months have been so difficult financially it came to the point where a friend became concerned about me and sent me a gift certificate to Trader Joe's. The condition she stipulated-"Klysma, you have to promise me the first thing you buy will be an indulgence. Go down the sweets aisle and buy some really good chocolate!"
Chocolate means connection. It is a shared experience between friends. It symbolizes generosity and support. My mother only has to say, "I bought some Lindt Lindor milk chocolate truffle balls today" and my sister and I will moan, our eyes close a little, as we all three share a memory of that lovely taste. We consider the selection at See's Candies to be a sort of personality quiz: Mother = milk chocolate California brittle; Sister = milk chocolate butterscotch squares; Klysma = milk chocolate-covered cherries. It is a ritual of belonging. All I had to say to my sister was, "This year, RA (step-mother) gave me a box half full of dark chocolate-covered cherries..." and I knew she will roll her eyes, sigh, and make some remark about how RA doesn't know us at all.
Chocolate as enlightenment
With a particularly good piece of chocolate in my mouth, all my senses are turned towards my taste buds and olfactory glands. It is not uncommon for me to say, just before I pop a truffle in my mouth, "Don’t bother me for a minute..." I need to fully concentrate on the experience in my mouth. Trance is the act of focusing upon a single object. I would argue that sucking on a Lindt Lindor milk chocolate truffle ball is a form of trance. The world stands still. All meaning becomes this: to exist with a chunk of chocolate in my mouth, happy and salivating.
Conclusion
There are times when chocolate likes to gain the upper hand, attempting to capture my focus for long periods of time. I realize this could affect my health, given the many disadvantages of chocolate consumption. In addition to my awareness of the health hazards involved in my intimate relationship with chocolate, I am also far too stubborn to allow food, delicious though it may be, to control my life. There is only one Person I can think of (besides God, I mean) that I want to have any measure of control over my life, and Her name is not Chocolate. Unfortunately, my Dear Friend chocolate is so pervasive in my life, contributing so much meaning, it sometimes becomes difficult to separate the good from the bad enough to keep things respectful. I suspect that any change in our relationship (and my thoughts on 'change' are the subject of a separate paper entirely!) will require a certain degree of patience, discipline, and of course my favorite-punishment.
Mmm...punishment...