More good health news about chocolate

Again in the free magazine I was handed at the tube, chocolate is EVEN better for us that we first thought: “Cocoa could stop killer diseases.” Apparently unrefined cocoa contains a compound that has health benefits with effects that will make it a breakthrough comparable to penicillin and anaesthesia. Epicatechin is apparently so important that it should be considered a vitamin. It is also found in tea, wine and some fruits and vegetables, but is not present in most commercial chocolate. So, reach for the dark stuff! Pour yourself up a cup of cocoa and toast to a long, healthy and happy life!

Helping at the Masai school

I really didn’t expect that we wouldn’t see many more flushing toilets again during this trip. I should have read the small print! Though the ecotoilets in the Masai camp were pretty impressive: a high straw fence around a toilet seat on blocks and wrapped in black plastic; the ground covered in gray stones like some kind of water feature, and atmospherically lit by a kerosene lamp, with ash as a flush. Almost like it belonged in House and Garden. I’m afraid I can’t say the same for our dome tents, but the mattresses provided helped a lot.

What an interesting few days have just passed: On Thursday I visited a poor Tanzanian school, Friday I was on safari, Saturday I was laying on a sunlounger by a hotel pool, Sunday I was iceskating in Kenya and yesterday I got back at 5am and worked for 12 hours. I’m on the train on the way to work again. Surprisingly not too tired. Though I am definitely going to bed early tonight.

The time spent with the Masai tribe was really interesting. It was great to see that so much of the school had been built already with the money we sent earlier. We didn’t contribute much by our actual labour (though I did have fun throwing the mud and cement mixture at the walls!), but I am certain we did by our presence – the message it sent that we cared. On the final evening of our three nights the local children were brought to the school building, more than 20 of them ranging from babies to young men and women. They sang for us, and then we sang for them, this was followed by a dusk football match on the pitch that most of our group had spent the last few days clearing by hand. When the school is finished it will teach about 20 students. There are two rooms off the main room, one will house a local teacher, and the other a Western teacher.

The next day we visited the local school where the students currently attend. Many of the students who attend walk 1 ½ hours each way to get there. We went in to meet them and discovered even the youngest class are very familiar with the word “picture” and were thrilled to ham it up for the digital cameras flashing about. A bittersweet moment, cameras worth thousands of pounds capturing images of a school that struggles to provide pens and books for all of its 375 students (with just seven teachers!). We brought them pens and will send more.

Forty-eight percent of the Tanzanian population lives below the poverty line; one of the poorest countries in the world. Education is a particular problem in rural areas, most families are unable to afford school fees, and although women have been given rights to land ownership, enrolment and literacy rates remain particularly low amongst girls and women. Additionally, HIV/AIDS infection rates double among young people who do not finish primary school. If every girl and boy received a complete primary education, at least seven million new cases of HIV could be prevented in a decade. Pretty impressive how amounts of money that can seem small to us can so dramatically affect the lives of others. It was so nice to directly meet the people the money we are sending will help. Below are the girls whom thought it strange that most of us didn’t have children. In their culture I would be a grandmother already! They are standing in the main school room, we smacked the mud on the wall that you can see behind them; it is supposed to represent Mt Kilimanjaro.

The baby was so cute! He happily let all of us in the room have a turn holding him.

Did I say not too tired earlier? Journey is not even over and I am starting to feel it now, lulled by the gentle rocking of the carriage. I'm going to bed early tonight.

Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro

Alive. Sore. Definitely alive though. Two massages later I think I may actually feel worse. Though I am sure it must be just accelerating the healing process. It must be. Neither my feet nor my legs actually hurt until Day 6 (the last day). But after a massage that evening (last night) I could barely walk. A second one this morning and I am still hobbling like a 95 year old. We have stopped in town briefly to pick up more supplies before we head onto the school site. This will be the last chance I get to go onto the internet until Saturday or Sunday. I believe it’s Monday now? Apparently altitude can cause memory loss. I say that lightly but I don’t think any of us realized quite how seriously altitude can affect people.

May I suggest, if you are considering climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, NEVER climb the Marangu Route. Particularly not in six days or fewer. There were 19 in our group – one of the largest groups the guides had ever seen – and every one of us suffered at some point. You cannot predict who it will hit – fitness and size are not factors – and for some reason we were briefed so little about it that I don’t think everyone was even aware of all the symptoms. I kept falling asleep whilst climbing the biggest stretch from Kibo to Gillman’s point (from 4700m to 5700m). I thought it was because we set off just before midnight and I hadn’t eaten since dinner at 5pm (which we had after finishing a 7 hour hike from 3700m), nor had I drunk more than 500ml in the 7 hours it took me to reach the point. I suspect all of this contributed but I learnt later that falling asleep and losing your balance are symptoms of altitude, as is the loss of appetite. That one I knew about. It was very frustrating not to be able to eat anything. I felt if only I could consume some fuel I might be able to make the two hour hike to the real summit of 5895m, Uhuru. After hearing from the guide that we should have arrived at 5am if we wanted to go on to Uhuru because the sun melts the snow and makes it dangerous; and speaking to other groups who weren’t allowed to continue I decided I did not have the wherewithal to negotiate an icy path (falling asleep on the edge of a cliff was not an appealing prospect). I also had no idea where I was going to find the energy to get back down the cliff we had just dragged ourselves up, let alone do another 4 hour round trip.

I made the right decision. About half way down, a little after I had negotiated the more difficult boulder section near the crest, I was completely devoid of energy. I crumpled into the scree and contemplated falling asleep there. The guide, who was taking me and three other girls back, was a little further down and stopped to wait. I got up and inched and slid my way down further. Another 100m or so I sank to the ground again. I felt I may be there all day. The guide had taken my pack from me on the way up, so I had no water and no food, not that I could take any anyway. I felt sure the others would pass me on their way back down, even with the extra 4 hour stretch they were taking. I finally reached the amazingly patient Philip again and sat at his feet for a while. Eventually he encouraged me to “pole pole” (“slowly slowly”) continue. He held my arm for parts of our descent and eventually put my arm over his shoulder and slid us both down the slope (like skiing through the scree). Like an angel, our one team member who had turned back hours before because of breathing difficulties greeted each of us four girls as we arrived back to the hut with a fresh bottle of water and offered to give us a rub down. Philip organized passion fruit juices for us. I still couldn’t swallow either liquid.

After having my feet rubbed I heaved myself into my top bunk and except for a toilet trip I didn’t move until they told us we had to head back down to Horombo huts at 5pm (where we had only set off from at 7am the day before). Up and down more than 2000m in less than 24 hours. Having not eaten and drunk less than 1L in 24 hours I was still pretty weak. There was one stretcher which was going to be used solely by our friend who had temporarily lost the use of his legs up by the summit, but as he was much better they suggested he share it with me and another woman who also hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before. I managed to swallow 300ml of diarolyte and eat 5 goji berries (just to line my stomach for an ibuprofen to stop the pounding in my head). I was told it would take two hours to get back down the 11k route we took seven hours to ascend. I offered to try and walk so the others could have more space and then – after most of the team had started walking already – was asked if I would walk.

By now it was snowing so, pole pole, I started back down the route to Horombo. Fortunately two others caught up with me and I decided to walk faster to have company. I felt better with every step. It was then I realized that a lot of my illness was altitude related, though I’m sure exhaustion and dehydration played a part. By half way down I was starting to feel hungry and I was so grateful for their company as it had started to get dark. Also incredibly grateful I had my head torch in my pack. 3hours and 20 minutes later (at a reasonable pace too!) we returned to what had been our home for two of the nights of the trip. I ate well.

Yesterday we covered another 18km back down to our starting point. Across two days we had passed from snow, through rocks, scree, dirt plains, scrub, forest and rain forest. The first three days walking up were beautiful, and really fun too. What made this trip so incredible was the phenomenal 18 other people I shared it with, and some smiling guides and an eager-to-please chef. I was grateful for our huts and mattresses every night. And flushing toilets at every hut except Kibo. For the porters who carried bottled water we were able to buy at each camp. For the guides who carried my bag on the last climb, to Phillip who carried me down. For great conversations, and great lessons learnt. For having amongst our group someone who could somehow assist in every ailment, and for a team that kept smiling the entire time, ever patient, and unendingly supportive of each other. Now that we have completed our personal challenge we are off to give our time and the energy we are rapidly regaining to helping children in this country. If you would like to help you can go to www.justgiving.com/ycakili and donate money. Thanks so much to those of you who have given money so far. I am really excited about this project, and I am looking forward to be telling you about it first hand.

Oh, and I discovered that chocolate doesn’t taste as good up Kilimanjaro, likely because the temperatures were far from ideal. Shame. Two small squares did get me down the last hour and a half to Horombo from Kibo though! Ever grateful!

Chocolate in Africa

It felt quite a long journey to get here but stepping onto the tarmac at Nairobi, and smelling the warm, wet air of fresh rain on the hot ground, I felt like I had come home. I love stepping off planes into hot countries. As I write this I have a flash of getting off the plane in Australia almost exactly the same time last year, and feel a twang of longing to see my family back there. OK, that was momentary. I’m in Africa! The airport in Nairobi is hotter than outside, and they let people smoke in there. We didn’t have to stay long fortunately. Long enough to step into the duty free shop and discover chocolate! It was swiss chocolate, but no unnecessary ingredients, and they had a dark chocolate with lemon and pepper! Had to buy it. I am sure it will help me up the summit.

We are now safely in Arusha and packed and ready to begin climbing tomorrow. And we have already raised over £1000 for the school, which we will get to next week. I am excited. Money will go towards the ongoing maintenance and to help pay for the teacher. For now, I have to go back to the table in the tent where we just enjoyed a BBQ: we are about to get briefed on the wonders (and dangers) of Kili.

potential chocolate shortage

I have been unrestrainedly (this is a word, right?) eating chocolate the last few days (I made the brownie again - "oops"). This is because I am going to Africa in a few hours and, although Cacao is grown in Africa, I don't like my chances of getting some. I am struggling to decide just how much chocolate I should take with me. And perhaps it might be wise to have a little break from it? Nah! Do you think customs puts a limit on chocolate?

Because of this trip I will be out of touch for the next two weeks. I will be climbing a rather large mountain and then helping to build a school for a Masai warrior tribe. If you would like to support the building of the school you can donate at www.justgiving.com/ycakili. I will post some pictures when I get back!

My sympathies to anyone who decided to give up chocolate for lent... Next time choose meat!

Chocolate in pancakes

Did I mention the pancakes last night? We made two batches. Mine with organic flour, an organic egg, some water and coconut milk. Yum. (I'm not too much of an organic snob, I swear, I just read things, and tend to believe everything I read. Like, apparently, using organic flour makes a big difference to whether cakes rise. Though I wasn't looking for the pancakes to rise... Anyway, when they were cooking they smelt like some kind of coconut pancakes I remember eating in Bangkok. They didn't taste much like it though, they were only mildly coconuty. I began eating them with lemon and syrup. Then I decided to great some dark chocolate onto one, put lashings of black cherry compote and thick (organic!) cream. Divine....

I think every Tuesday should be pancake Tuesday.

The gym is a scary place

I arrived at the gym at 6.45 and almost every machine and floor mat was full. When I left 45 minutes later they really were all full. [It's pancake Tuesday! I had to get home to have pancakes!] I did manage to walk onto the machines I wanted as I wanted them [I'm quite good at getting what I want! Usually without even asking...]. I still don't like it being that busy. I'm glad I decided not to renew my membership when it expires at the end of the month. I much prefer running outside, alone. And going rock climbing with friends. I've just bought a bike too! Haven't put the pedals on yet. It cost less than my next month's gym membership would (yeah, not a super-fancy bike). This is a much nicer way to exercise.

Looking around the gym there is a huge range of people. I think that's why I don't like it being so full. I get so enthralled in people watching and with all the mirrors it's really hard to block it all out, when I would rather just get lost in my own thoughts, or focus on exercising itself. Looking at people and wondering who they are, and why they're there. It's a little bit scary watching some seriously skinny women really pushing themselves. It looks so un-fun it makes me think going to the gym at all is a crazy idea. What is it that makes people work so hard on physical "perfection"? Is the pounding of their muscles a way of punishing their psyche? Are they unable to stop whilst there is anyone around with smaller bones, bigger muscles or less body fat? Do they like themselves at all? I know there are plenty of people who push hard because they enjoy stretching the capabilities of their body and building strength and endurance. I don't mean them. The women I am referring to look so unhappy. I wonder if it is worth it.

It doesn't stop at the Chocolate Tour

You would think that walking around London eating chocolate for four hours might mean I didn't eat any chocolate for the rest of the day (at least). If you did think that, you would be wrong. True, I don't have too many chocolates along the way, and I skip the hot chocolate myself, but still...

Just a few short hours later I was having dinner with friends and they served chocolate pudding. Well, it would be rude not to! It was good. And I was happy to see it. Try as I might to blame it on etiquette, I was more than happy to eat more chocolate.

My longing for the land of Oz still lingers. This weekend though, I decided I had better try one of the recipes Holly gave me.

Oh.

My.

So good! I baked the triple chocolate brownie, served it up to the Sunday night guest to serious appreciation, and had to stop myself from eating the rest of it all at once. I finished it today. It has SERIOUS amounts of milk, dark and white chocolate in it. It is very different from the incredible brownies that I buy for the people on the tour (and you will also be able to buy here soon!). The brownies on the tour are pure chocolate fudginess. This one had big chunks of milk and white chocolate and was much less gooey. Both are great...

OK, I'm making myself hungry and cranky that it's all gone now. I want to make more!!

Hmmm, this time next week I'll be preparing to climb a big mountain.

Hope you got some chocolate!

Happy Valentine's Day

Er, yes, for yesterday! I was busy getting my newsletter out and forgot to wish the world a lovely day.

I hope you all got chocolate! In order to make sure I did, I gave a box away (he's sharing, what a nice man). I did get my favourite chocolate pudding as part of V Day dinner though.

Happy happy (chocolate) days.

Orgasmic chocolate

That get your attention?

This is a company that launched in 2005, out of the Business Design Centre in Islington. I went to a talk last night and was sitting in the rafters looking down on the audience below during question time and saw what looked like people eating chocolate! I nudged my friends and leant further to determine if my eyes had not deceived me. I quickly concluded that the man handing out the small bars must own or work for the company (because he had several and was handing them out freely) and that I had never seen them before. I decided that I had better find out what this chocolate was. As the presentation was ending I made a quick escape down the stairs to accost the chocolate man. I stood near him as he finished his conversation and then introduced myself. Turns out it was Orgasmic chocolate he was handing out, and the company is reopening and relaunching in the coming months. (Ahem.) He is going to be responsible for the new design. Very exciting. I was pleased to hear they are planning a new price point as well (I'm all for paying for quality but the previous prices were a bit crazy). The nice chocolate man gave us some chocolate to try. Hooray, I had scored dessert! It was the milk variety (which is obviously not as big a winner with me as dark). Organic and fair trade, made in Switzerland, a good quality chocolate. But this chocolate is not about the chocolate buzz, but the buzz that goes in it. Over 18's only. Harley Street men and women have been busy concocting secret herb combinations to elicit all sorts of feelings from these bards. I'm looking forward to their relaunch later in the year.

In other news, apparently people in Japan are having communal baths in chocolate in public spaces, as part of some Valentine's publicity stunt. Hmmm... I like the idea of bathing in chocolate, I'm not so sure I want it to be with a group of strangers though...

A strange chocolate baking habit

I am homesick.

Since this is normally the time of year that I make my pilgrimage back to Australia I suppose this makes sense. England is my home, too. It's difficult sometimes having two homes. I suspect that this homesickness will pass, or at least abate, soon enough.

I spoke to my best friend from home, Holly, the other day and she gave me two new recipes to try. However, in my nostalgia, I decided to make the double chocolate chip cookies that we used to make on my parents’ farm when we were in high school. Usually there were other friends too, we used to make these biscuits, chopping full bars of cadbury’s dark chocolate and tipping it into the batter. Yummm. This weekend I made them with Lindt chocolate (Tesco has a special at the moment and I have stocked up!). I also made a batch with agave syrup and coconut oil instead of sugar and butter, but that’s another story (an almost equally tasty one, pleasantly).

Every time I bake something (which isn’t usually more than once a week, luckily) I seem to be unable to stop eating it on the days I cook it. I eat so much that the next day I don’t usually want to eat anymore. Which is very useful for whoever I am living with! I bake for immediate cravings, and for the joy of baking, which means after the day I have cooked it, I’m not so interested anymore! (And my body starts craving vegetables and fruits.)

I miss the days of baking with my girlfriends in high school. Claire had her second child a few weeks ago. A little girl, Carly. When I last saw her she was trying to get pregnant. Now she has a baby! I'm so happy for them. I suppose that makes me more homesick, not being able to share events like this with my friends. Three other babies were born to family and friends of mine in the last four weeks. Something must have been in the air last April!

Bravo!

I was at the opera last night. Why is it that non-Italian speakers emit cries of "bravo!" almost as though they don't even know they are doing it? Perhaps, the complete immersion in Italian language makes Italians of all of us. There are points when you almost feel like you don't need the subtitles suspended from the top of the front of the stage. Almost. We saw The Troubador (Il Trovatore) and it was brilliant. Stunning, stunning voices; and so satisfying to see men and women on stage who obviously are not afraid to eat food, as opposed to the often scarishly gaunt performers of other arenas.

We ate in the restaurant adjoining too (not the super-fancy one because it was booked out). Fine food, though extravagently priced for the portion sizes and quality combination. We did get mini-madelines and two Opera House wrapped squares of chocolate with our bill. Stock standard chocolate that I foolishly ate today after eating squares of Amedei and Pralus. Without that juxtaposition the ordinariness of the chocolate might not have been so apparent.

This weekend I have a long to do list. It includes "make a chocolate dessert". It's important to include these things, you know. Now to decide what to make...

Laduree

After being told last year that I had to visit Laduree whilst I was in Paris, and arriving at 6.01pm and not being let in, I was so excited when I heard that they had an outlet in London. I am rarely in that area of town but as I was meeting a friend who was delayed I decided a perfect opportunity to pop in. Over fifteen varieties of macarons. I chose a few to take away (I wanted to try them all!!). It really isn't until you have good food that you realise just how ordinary cheap imitations are. This is what macarons should taste like. Go and try the salted caramel version. Mmmmm... I am told their hot chocolate is quite good, too. Looks like I will have to go back!

chocolate intensity

After several days of not having real chocolate (the closest I have had was the raw cacao I mentioned last week), I went along to a corporate tasting with Seventypercent last night. As one of the team I needed to try all the chocolate as the guests were (obviously!); oh, all right, I was desperate to eat good chocolate. I think, though, that my tolerance levels went down during my abstinence. I don't think I tried more than two pieces of each of the ten delights we were sampling, which normally is easily done, yet somehow the chocolate high was totally overwhelming. In a delicious, delirious way, of course. It's 3.50pm and I haven't felt l'chocolat calling me back yet. Which is lucky because I deliberately left it all at home. I am getting very keen to try out some new recipes soon though. I imagine I will have no shortage of guinea pigs. Steve and Martin mentioned they sell Chuao and other great brands by the kilo. Hmmm... I think it's time to go shopping!

Chocolate high without the sugar...

Well, I had some salmon last night at Yo Sushi, but have still not (knowingly!) eaten wheat, dairy or refined sugar.

On Thursday I found creative ways to get a chocolate hit, avoiding the chocolate in my cupboard. It's quality stuff and is much lower in sugar than anything you would buy in a supermarket, but still would break "the rules" which I was determined to try and carry on as long as possible.

So how did I get my chocolate high?

I took a teaspoon of organic white almond butter and put it in a mug with a date and poured a small amount of boiling water on them to mash them together into something of a paste. Then I added a large teaspoon of raw cacao powder and when they all blended together I added a bit of cold water, then a bit more hot to make a warm chocolate. It was really good. Perhaps I just thought so because it was my first taste of anything chocolate-y for 48 hours.

So far I am still without sugar but I'm currently looking at chocolate recipes on the web and getting very tempted to fall off the wagon. Do you think if I substitue agave syrup it will count as sugar free? :-)

A chocolate free day!

I did it!

Also minus wheat, dairy, animal products and refined sugar. Ahem, yes, pat me on the back. And then feel free to call me crazy.

It was easier than I expected it to be, so I might try keeping free of the wheat, dairy etc tomorrow too... We'll have to see about the chocolate...

It snowed!!

It snowed!! How pretty. Despite this being my third year living in London, I had not yet seen it snow. This was helped by expertly timed trips the last two winters, where I skipped off to warmer climes within days of blizzards beginning. Pretty though it was, it seemed to cause chaos to the traffic.

Chocolate resolutions

I made a new year's resolution to have two days a month completely free of sugar, wheat, dairy and animal products. I don't think I have a lot of these things anyway, but the last month or so have had a considerable amount of the first two. Eating chocolate every day makes the first one a bit challenging. I've managed one so far this month. I did eat some raw cacao nibs though. But no sugar. This is tough as am in the middle of a very busy work period. I think the second day will have to wait. Though, in theory, avoiding those things should really help me to cope during a busy period...

One more day this month to go...

Chocolate High

I love doing Chocolate Tours. Which I guess is a good thing! I always feel on such a high at the end of a tour. Which I'm sure is in part due to all the good stuff in good quality chocolate! But it's also fun getting to know other chocolate lovers. My theory that people who love chocolate are all the loveliest people continues to be reinforced!

I also think I'm beginning to understand why people like shopping: I'm a strange exception to my gender that generally dreads shopping. We pass so many lovely shops along the walk that even I am usually tempted. Yesterday I went back to one of them and I now I understand one possible reason why people like shopping: I asked the staff for help in finding me clothes. Sales assistants say all sorts of nice things to get you to buy things - great for the ego! They also hunted out good things for me so I just got to follow and approve or veto. So lazy! Way to feel good... Lucky there's still chocolate, which is likely to be a cheaper way to feel good!

Happy New Chocolate!

er, I mean Happy New Year!, of course.

Though I did decide to go walking in the rain on December 31st to visit the "new" chocolate shop in Kensington. We had planned to wait and just stepped out to get olives for the olive bread (incidentally found some amazing organic ones in Luscious Organic on the way) but then decided to keep walking. Good decision as also managed to (finally!) buy some new boots.

Sorry, the chocolate: one day Pierre Marcolini closed in Lancer Square; the next Luento Santoro opened. Named after a little boy who used to spend his time at the South American plantation the store looks strikingly similar but is confusing customers who wander in looking for Marcolini. I hadn't been in there myself for over a year. While I like Marcolini chocolates it just isn't in a convenient location for me. So this was a special trip to see what had happened. Why had the Marcolini store changed it's name? Were the chocolates actually different?

The very helpful lady behind the counter kindly let us try a chilli chocolate. Good choice. Very creamy and sweeter than some, this had just the right amount of chilli. So we bought one of almost everything. Except the pralines. And devoured them over the next few days. The chili remains the favourite. Like Marcolini (very like Marcolini in fact) these chocolates are good. Unfortunately not so good that I will make special trips to get some. But I am glad to know that if I am ever in High Street Kensington I can get a quality chocolate fix. The chocolate covered cocoa beans are very good. I'm afraid what might happen if I eat these too often though! Useful if I ever need to stay up all night.

I hope you all had a fabulous new year's celebration and that 2007 brings you everything you could want, and lots of chocolate!