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Proper Temperature for Enjoying Chocolate
at Mon, 08 Dec 2003 02:36:02 GMT in
>, (Suvrit)
wrote :
>i prefer my chocolates frozen --- gives them more time in my mouth and
>thus a longer span of enjoyment
Interesting. I think there may be 2 leanings: those who prefer the "maximum
intensity" approach to sensory experience, and those who prefer the
"maximum duration". Proponents of the first approach would try to condense
all the sensation into the shortest time at the greatest strength, those of
the second to spread out the sensation at lower power into a longer time.
I know I'm definitely of the former school. Not just in chocolate, but in
essentially any other pleasant sensation, I'd find complete contentment in
experiencing infinite strength for the briefest instant, while a continual
experience of the sensation at a low level for eternity would be entirely
unsatisfying. In a similar vein, unpleasant sensations to me are much worse
if they're intensely unpleasant for a short time as opposed to somewhat
unpleasant for a long time. I can withstand a dull pain for hours without
it bothering me, while a sharp pain that lasts only a moment is torture.
For instance, for me the pain of a twisted ankle is far better than the
pain of a hypodermic needle, so that I'd rather put up with that pain for a
day or so than get an injection of anesthetic to make it go away.
With chocolate, it makes sense you'd prefer frozen chocolate if you were of
the "duration" school because it diminishes the intensity of flavour but
spreads it out over a longer time. Likewise, since I'm of the "intensity"
school, I prefer slightly warm chocolate that lasts less but packs more of
a punch. I wonder if this might also have an effect on choice of chocolate,
e.g. for the same amount of total cocoa solids intake, might a duration
person prefer milk chocolate where an intensity person would head for
bittersweet?
--
Alex Rast
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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