I am greatly tempted to discuss here the new ´Spanish revolution´… Next time.

The ´food of gods´goes first.

Chocolate is said to have the power to help restore our own emotions after a let down. We have seen it so many times in romcoms that it is now part of our ´emotional´ culture. I am not sure we/ I really believed that though. I went to the museum of chocolate in Bruges last summer to further explore one of my favourite obsessions.

The journey into my own mind was fully packed with loads of social history. The museum provided visitors with an insight into social habits, some of which we still have. Who doesn´t like a cup of hot cocoa on a cold, rainy night?

What´s really in that unsweetened little bean and everything else around it? Chocolate, as it is know today, is made with cocoa beans. Cocoa heavily impacted the way they lived to the extent that the beans were used to pay for goods. Both Mayan and Aztecs drank, ate and used cocoa and the tree where it grows. It was used in rituals and it still is considered to boost sexual performance today.

A quick look at 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 my own childhood and remember the Nestle commercials when I see that red and white package in the supermarket shelves.

Sweet…

Now, the children have grown up and indulgence follows. Health factor does not really matter that much anymore. You can ask Magnum product managers. Some of those TV commercials do seem to be soft porn to me! Emperor Montezuma had about 50 cups a day of ´xocolatl´, 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´t think it works, though. Otherwise that beautiful chocolate with rose powder that I bought in Belgium last year would have had certain effect on me.

Has that worked for any of you? I promise I won´t tell anyone. 😉

Godiva store managers probably know a thing or two about it too. I took a stroll down Regent´s Street last 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 Godiva?

As well as those luscious strawbs heavily dipped in chocolate, of course.

Oh, how I wish Godiva had paid me to do their marketing! I once applied for a job at Gü for the same reason, but it turned out that many others were in the same situation. Chocolate is really popular, isnt´t it?

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!

The visit to the museum of chocolate ended with a few chocolates we had previously seen the  ´master patissière´ making. Beautiful!

Now, Cadbury´s is not a reason why I am staying in London. It certainly can´t be, because the average chocolate in most other countries is way better in quality, etc. Chocolate lovers can also be quite picky at times.

How many of you out there are obsessed too?