Sweet Indulgence

By: Chris Valletta

The taste and smell of chocolate is unlike anything else in this world and has played a significant role in fulfilling pleasure for centuries. As Wolfgang Schivelbusch portrays in his book Tastes of Paradise, where he explores the history of spices, stimulants, and intoxicants, chocolate was the counterpart to coffee in the 17th and 18th centuries in southern Europe. Although chocolate does not contain the same stimulating effect as coffee, the nutritional value of chocolate proved to be very valuable, especially to the Catholic countries who were able to use it during periods of fasting. This fact highlights the clear difference between Protestantism and the constant work ethic with the Catholicism way of life and nourishment of body and soul. In time as chocolate grew in prestige and popularity, it became a symbol of status for the European aristocracy.

The aristocracy enjoyed their chocolate in the morning for breakfast as they woke up, not to make them more alert and ready for the day, but in a lazy and relaxed way as a period between getting up from bed and then actually starting their day. This is in contrast to the middle-class family who were up at breakfast in the morning sitting at a table and drinking coffee. What also evolved out of chocolate was an eroticism where even up until the 19th century people believed that chocolate was an aphrodisiac. In contrast, Protestants saw coffee as the "anti-erotic" drink, thus contributing a reason why drinking and eating chocolate can be viewed as sinful.

Schivelbusch notes that establishments referred to as chocolate parlors were constructed that served chocolate to its customers. These chocolate parlors became a place for a diverse population of people to come together and interact with one another. The parlors were known to be very erotic, thus people must have desired for human interaction and sexual feelings and used the substance of chocolate to facilitate these needs. Even though we now know chocolate is not an aphrodisiac, people at the time acted on what they wanted to believe and it did have an effect on the way they behaved. The parlor served as a place where no shame would exist between its inhabitants so chocolate and eroticism could run rampant and no one on the outside would have anything to say about it.