I need a chocolate addict to describe chocolate to me. I enjoy chocolate, but I know there are people who feel a deep, physical and even psychological connection to it. What do you love about it? Why do you crave it? What do you feel when eating truly good chocolate? I'm looking for big sensory stuff beyond taste buds here. If it helps, the dessert in question is gourmet-level molten chocolate lava cake, and the character has never tasted chocolate. I want her to have a visceral experience I can't quite imagine on my own as a non-connoisseur. (Feel free to equate it to sex, if you need to. Half of the point of the scene is building tension toward bedtime fun time in the next page or two anyway. ) You don't have to write a scene. In fact, I'd prefer you didn't. I just want to know about your personal reactions to chocolate. Thanks for the help!
*ears fly up* Chocolate? Did someone say chocolate? Eating a piece of chocolate is a different experience for the senses and tastebuds than eating a chocolate dessert. I'd probably also contrast the molten chocolate lava cake with a bit of whipped cream. There will be a sweet, slightly bitter earthiness, and there will be two textures...a dense cake texture with a warm, silky, center. The outer cake will have a lighter taste of chocolate, and all of it will be contrasted with cool, sweetened whipped cream. All of it would have a lively affect on the tastebuds because of the contrasting textures. Because of that, I probably wouldn't find it sensual / sexy. Cake isn't sexy to me. That's what chocolate mousse is for. ;-)
I went with a copious dusting of powdered sugar and a sliced strawberry. I'll think about the whipped cream though. Not bad. I like the mouth feel thing, but what does chocolate make you feel that caramel or oranges or a steak can't?
[QUOTE="Rzero, post: 1769508, member: 88234" Not bad. I like the mouth feel thing, but what does chocolate make you feel that caramel or oranges or a steak can't?[/QUOTE] I should preface this by saying that although I love chocolate and even crave it, I don't get the gigantic endorphin rush from it some people allegedly have. For me, it's more about tastebud satiety... The flavor satisfaction of chocolate is about the multi-dimension and contrast of the various notes. If it's good chocolate, the flavor hits all the aspects of taste: sweet, bitter, salty, acid. There's a lot of earthy umami flavor in good chocolate, which is what I think probably makes some people feel full after they have a rich chocolate dessert. Contrasted with the examples you gave of steak or oranges or caramel: The earthiness of steak can provide one component of it, actually. Oranges aren't earthy or multi-demensional in taste and lack the silky texture. They're also too "bright" in high notes to be satisfying. And caramel, although it has a silky mouth feel and sweetness, lacks the bitter and earthy components. If you're talking about the sensuality aspect of chocolate, for me that would be more of a texture thing than a "chocolate" thing. Otherwise Oreo cookies would be damn sexy. But then, they may well be, for someone else. ;-)
CHOCOLATE!!! Chocolate is a devine experience, especially dark chocolate. It raises the same satisfaction as arousal (from phenolalanine?). The thought of it is much like the thought of the satisfaction of sex. You want to know how it will be next time, when it will come again. There is an anticipation of it within you. A chocolate lover is a passionate lover!
*GASP* Chocolate?? So, I'm not into that molten lava cake thing, think it's too rich personally. Not a fan of richer chocolates. I remember thinking when I was younger how chocolate was so strong it was like gently burning my mouth. Some people describe any cocoa (chocolate/hot chocolate/coffee) as the Earth being burnt, unsure if that has anything to do with it. None-the-less, it's still able to present itself as a strong/heighten/elevated sense of cocoa/Earthy taste. I believe the cocoa powder is the cause for the strong/elevated taste (not sure but it seems to be). This unique elevation in taste allows me to cherish/savor (what I think is cocoa powder blended with other ingredients). A heighten taste I don't at least personally get from other things including caramel. When I savor the taste I allow my senses to only pay attention to the chocolate. As it melts into a silky texture my other senses melt away, contributing more scenery detail to my taste-buds instead of sight/sound. Biting into chocolate is a slow delicate process because each bite contributes a new explosion of more taste, that will fade over time. Eat too quickly and you won't savor as long as you could have. Chocolate also has a smell which I recently found out people don't know. I can smell chocolate in same room as me as long as the wind blows in my direction and I've never been wrong when I think I smell chocolate. Plenty of times the nose has alarted me to knowing chocolates near-by before my other senses have the chance.
