There comes a time when the need for something sweet is so strong you

cannot resist it. Most of the time that it happens we all know what we end

up eating; Chocolate. In this April issue we are going to look into the world

of chocolate in all its forms and also other recipes. We are also going to start

a new section called: Foods From Around the World. Where we will be

looking at recipes which are not so common to us Maltese but are

nonetheless tasty.

Welcome

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

A Brief History

of Chocolate

2

What is

Chocolate?

3

Making

Chocolate

3

Health Benefits

of Chocolate

4

Exploding

Chocolate

Passion Fruit

Gateau

5

Lamb and Roast

Potatoes

6

Caribbean

Cooking

7-8

Ideal for Lunch 9

Interesting Facts

about Chocolate

10

Weird and

Wonderful

Things to Know

10

Rabbit Fricassee

with Tagliatelle

Pasta

11

Potato and

Cheese Patties

12

Ask Us

Something!

13

What Librarians Eat! A P R 2 0 1 3 I S S U E 4

P A G E 2

“My

therapist

told me the

way to

achieve true

inner peace

is to finish

what I start.

So far today,

I have

finished 2

bags of

M&M's and

a chocolate

cake. I feel

better

already.”

― Dave

Barry

The World of Chocolate

The person who suggested that this month be dedicated to chocolate was none other

than Luke. If anyone is dieting and finds this issue a torture then you know who to

blame.

The Europeans sweetened and lightened it by adding refined sugar and milk, ingredients

the people in Mesoamerica did not use. By contrast, they never infused it into their

general diet, but compartmentalized its use to sweets and desserts. In the 19th century,

Briton John Cadbury developed an emulsification process to make solid chocolate

creating the modern chocolate bar.

For hundreds of years, the chocolate making process remained unchanged. When the

Industrial Revolution arrived, many changes occurred that brought the hard, sweet candy

to life. In the 18th century, mechanical mills were created that squeezed out cocoa butter,

which in turn helped to create hard, durable chocolate. But it was not until the arrival of

the Industrial Revolution that these mills were put to bigger use. Not long after the

revolution cooled down, companies began advertising this new invention to sell many of

the chocolate treats seen today. When new machines were produced, people began

experiencing and consuming chocolate worldwide.

A Brief History of Chocolate

The history of chocolate began in Mesoamerica.

Chocolate, the fermented, roasted, and ground

beans of the Theobroma cacao, can be traced to

the Mokaya and other pre-Olmec people, with

evidence of cacao beverages dating back to 1900

BC.

Chocolate played a special role in both Maya and

Aztec royal and religious events. Priests

presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods

and served chocolate drinks during sacred

ceremonies. All of the areas that were conquered

by the Aztecs that grew cacao beans were

ordered to pay them as a tax, or as the Aztecs

called it, a "tribute".

A Mayan Priest offering Chocolate to the Gods

Chocolate is created from the cocoa bean. A cacao tree

fruit pod in various stages of ripening

Although cocoa is originally from the

Americas, today Western Africa produces

almost two-thirds of the world's cocoa,

with Côte d'Ivoire growing almost half of

it.

P A G E 3

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of

the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. After fermentation, the beans

are dried, cleaned, and then roasted, and the shell is removed to

produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground to cocoa mass, pure

chocolate in rough form. Because this cocoa mass usually is

liquefied then moulded with or without other ingredients, it is

called chocolate liquor. The liquor also may be processed into

two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened

baking chocolate (bitter chocolate) contains primarily cocoa

solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the

chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate,

combining cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and sugar.

Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk

powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa

butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.

What is Chocolate?

Manufacturing methods will differ in detail from plant to plant, but there is a general processing pattern that prevails

everywhere. It is this pattern that makes the chocolate industry distinctive from every other industry. For example, all

manufacturers carefully catalogue each shipment according to its particular type and origin. This is very important,

because it enables them later to maintain exact control over the flavour blending of beans for roasting.

Basically, this is what happens to make chocolate:

1. After sorting and cleaning, the cocoa beans are roasted for up to two hours.

2. The cocoa beans are then shelled. What remains are chocolate nibs, which contain 54% cocoa butter. Cocoa butter

is the natural fat of the bean.

3. As the nibs are ground, cocoa butter is released, transforming the solid nibs into the free-flowing substance known

as chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor (not alcoholic, just liquid) is the essence of all real chocolate products.

4. The chocolate liquor is passed through huge presses to remove a desired amount of the cocoa butter to be used

later. Cocoa butter is an amazing vegetable fat that resists rancidity and oxidation and can be kept for years without

spoiling. A small amount of cocoa butter is sold to the cosmetics industry.

5. After the cocoa butter is removed, a pressed cake is left. This is the cocoa powder. The cocoa powder can still

contain up to 10% of cocoa butter and will be sold in bulk or as an ingredient for bakers, along with chocolatiers.

6. Solid chocolate is made by adding back together the different parts -cocoa butter, cocoa power – and other

ingredients - sugar, perhaps milk and vanilla - to achieve the individual manufacturer‟s desired finished taste.

7. The mixture then travels through a series of heavy rollers until there is a refined smooth paste ready for conching.

8. Conching is a flavour development process which “kneads” the chocolate.

9. The final step is tempering, a process that gradually raises, lowers and then raises the temperature again to set

degrees. FINALLY, this finished product is poured into many shapes from candy bar sizes to ten pound slabs.

Making Chocolate

P A G E 4

Health Benefits of Chocolate

Cocoa solids contain alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological

effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Some research found that

chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure. The presence of theobromine renders

chocolate toxic to some animals, especially dogs and cats.

Why eat dark chocolate?

Dark chocolate has the potential to have the largest quantity of cocoa solids – at least to 70%. This

means that 70% of the chocolate is from the cocoa bean and less from added sugars, oils and perhaps

other fillers. Thus the antioxidants in the dark chocolate surpasses pecans (14% less) and red wine (25%

less).

Why eat chocolate dipped nuts?

Besides the wonderful benefits from our all

natural chocolate, nuts are a great food. In

general, nuts are loaded with protein. Peanuts

have the most, followed by almonds, cashews

and walnuts. Protein is essential for healthy

brain and muscle function, and for vegetarians,

are a great substitute for animal protein. Nuts

also contain omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants

and fibre. Thus with all the added benefits of

chocolate, chocolate dipped nuts are a great snack.

Why is chocolate good for you?

Chocolate contains a range of nutrients

which include minerals such as potassium,

calcium and iron. It also contains the B-

vitamin riboflavin. It is true that most of

chocolates‟ calories do come from fat but

the ingredient, known as cocoa butter, is the

kind of fat that consists mostly of

monounsaturated fatty acid also found in

olive oil; the „healthy‟ fat needed in all

diets. Although studies are constantly being

done with chocolate (and why not?), studies

in the past (e.g. Netherlands, 2006, Harvard,

2003) have shown two significant additional

positives.

In these test studies, the people who consumed cocoa regularly had a lower blood pressure than those

that did not, were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and had better peripheral blood flow.

P A G E 5

Exploding Choc o lat e and Pas s ion

Fruit Gat e au

Ingredients:

30g Butter

1 pkt Butter biscuits

3 tsp Sugar

Popping Candy (Space Dust, Magic

Powder, Fizz Wiz, etc...)

6 Passion Fruits

200g Good quality chocolate

(preferably 70% chocolate)

200ml Whipping Cream

50g of pre-made bought Custard

Open the Packet of biscuits in a food processor. Add the sugar and the butter and blitz until you have a fine powder.

Gently add the popping candy and mix very delicately. Be careful when mixing not to press too much the candy so

not to crackle and loose all its pop.

Place the biscuit crumble into a cake mould and leave it to set. You can place it in a freezer to accelerate the setting

process.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water. Make sure the bowl is not touching the water and slowly melt.

Open the passion fruit and scoop out the fruit in a bowl.

Add the Passion fruit to the whipping cream in a pan and bring to a boil. Leave that to infuse for at least 5 minutes.

When ready, strain out the seeds of the Passion fruit from the cream.

Add the custard to the whipping cream. This will make it set a little firmer.

Add the whipping cream to the chocolate, 1/3 at a time and mix.

Once all the cream has been incorporated with the chocolate, slowly pour it into the cake mould over the biscuit base.

Pop it in a freezer and let it set. (approx 1-2 hrs)

P A G E 6

Ingredients for the Lamb:

Lamb Chops (2-3 per

person depending on

their size)

2 glasses of good quality

Red wine

A handful of Grapes

1 Red Onion

4-5 Garlic cloves

Lam b c ooke d in wine with grape s .

Se rve d wit h roas t pot atoe s wit h

c he rry tom at oe s and on ions

Preheat oven at 160°C.

Season the lamb chops with salt and pepper and place them in a baking dish.

Pour the wine in the dish.

Cut the grapes in half and remove the seeds. Place them over the lamb in the

dish.

Chop the onion into circles and layer over the lamb.

Leave the garlic cloves with their skin and just smash them so that you crack

them. Place them in the dish as well.

Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over everything and cook the lamb in the oven at a

low temperature for about 50 minutes.

The meat is ready when you can pull it apart without any effort.

Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and mix with all the juices left in the dish.

By adding 1 tbsp of flour and some stock you can make a delicious gravy

to serve with your lamb. Ingredients for the Potatoes:

6 large Potatoes or 8 medium

sized ones

2 handfuls of Cherry Tomatoes

2 Red Onions

2 tbsp Fennel Seeds

Rosemary

Good Quality olive oil

Chop the potatoes into small chunks leaving their skin on.

Par-boil the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10-15 minutes.

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

In a baking dish pour some olive oil.

Roughly chop the red onions and the cherry tomatoes and place in the

dish.

Place the potatoes in the dish as well and add the fennel seeds.

Add the rosemary sprigs on top and season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle some olive oil on top and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes

until crispy.

Finely chop the mushrooms.

In a hot pan add the mushrooms and fry until you remove the excess water from the mushrooms.

Season with salt and pepper and add a splash of Cherry vinegar.

Chop up the tarragon and add to the mushrooms.

When the mushrooms start to caramelise, add the cream and let it thicken.

The sauce can be served on the side or on the potatoes

One can also serve this with a

homemade mushroom sauce.

200g Mushrooms

(of any kind)

100ml Cream

Salt and Pepper

Tarragon

Cherry vinegar

P A G E 7 FOOD FROM AROUND THE WORLD

As you might guess Caribbean food consist mainly of fruits and other produce available on the island. The Caribbean

Islands are know for their Jerk meats. This is a very special blend of a mixture of spices which is rubbed to the meat

before cooking. When it cooks the meat becomes so rich in flavour that the meat gets a dark rich colour. Other

specialities include vegetarian dishes, which are plentiful in this type of cuisine, and definitely fish. With its thousand

miles of shoreline, it’s not surprising that fish plays an important part in Caribbean cookery.

Caribbe an Cooking

Ingredients:

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp dried thyme

1tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp Demerara sugar

2 garlic cloves

4 spring onions

1 tbsp of vinegar

2 tbsp of olive oil

The juice of 1 lime

1 Scotch Bonnet chilli pepper

1 tbsp of Honey

Salt and pepper

Chicken breast or thigh or whole chicken.

BBQ J e rk Ch ic ke n

Pour the allspice, cinnamon, thyme, nutmeg, sugar,

garlic cloves, spring onions, vinegar, oil, lime juice,

honey and a pinch of salt and pepper into a liquidiser or

blender.

Remove the seeds from the Scotch Bonnet and add to the

liquidiser or blender.

Blend until you are left with a dark paste.

Very carefully, spread the paste over your chicken and

rub the paste into the chicken. Be very careful with the

paste as it contains Scotch bonnets which are very hot. It

is best to wear plastic gloves when rubbing the paste to

avoid contact of the chilli with the eyes or skin.

Leave the meat to rest for about 1hour.

It is ideal to cook this recipe over a BBQ with a high

flame but it can also be cooked in an oven at 220°C for

about 15 minutes. It is best to cook the chicken over a

griddle pan before placing it in the oven just to give it

some colour.

Originally a Jamaican speciality with pork instead of

chicken. Chicken was later used as a good alternative to

pork. This dish is usually served with rice and corn on

the cob.

P A G E 8

FOOD FROM AROUND THE WORLD: Caribbean cooking

Otherwise knows as roti, these thin fried breads can also be

made with white flour. They are delicious served with meat,

fish or vegetable dishes.

Ingredients (makes about 15):

450g Self-raising flour

115g Wholemeal flour

350ml Cold water

2 tbsp olive oil

350g yellow split peas

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

Dhal Puri

Sift together the dry ingredients into a bowl, then add the water a little at a time, gradually kneading the mixture to

make a soft dough. Knead for a short while until supple.

Add the oil to the dough and wrap in clear film and keep in a cool place for at least 30 minutes.

Cook the peas until the outside is tender and the inside is still firm. When cooked, spread them on a tray to cool.

Grind the peas with the cumin and garlic to a paste.

Divide the dough into about 15 balls, slightly flatten the balls and add a tbsp of the mixture into the centre and fold

over the edges to enclose the mixture.

Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll out the dhal puri until they are about 18cm in diameter. Do not overstretch.

Heat a little oil in a heavy-based frying pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side until light brown.

Serve warm.

P A G E 9

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 red peppers

½ a cup of basmati rice

sprinkle of Cajun spice

pinch of turmeric

small red onion

bunch of fresh parsley

handful of black, pitted olives

few sun-blushed tomatoes

½ ball of mozzarella

plenty of crisp mixed salad leaves

Preheat the oven to 180°C and bring a pan of salted water to the boil.

Slice the peppers in half from stalk to base and scoop out the seeds carefully without breaking through the bottom of

the pepper.

Place the peppers onto a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, then bake for 10 minutes.

Dump the rice into the boiling water with the Cajun spice and turmeric then simmer gently for 10 minutes whilst the

peppers cook.

Peel and dice the red onion and roughly chop the fresh parsley.

Hack up the olives, sun-blushed tomatoes and half of the mozzarella into small pieces and mix in a bowl with the

onion and parsley.

Drain the rice, when cooked, and plump and stir into the bowl of prepared ingredients.

Spoon the rice mixture into the soften pepper halves and top with a slice of the remaining mozzarella ball.

Return to the oven for another 5 minutes, then serve hot with plenty of crisp salad on the side or cold the next day as

a packed lunch item.

Ve ge t arian St uffe d Pe ppe rs

Ideal for Lunch

Another interesting new section that I would you to notice is the Ideal for Lunch. In this section, we shall be

presenting ideas for packed lunches to take to work, university, picnics, etc...

We will also try to make this section the most health conscious from the whole foodletter, so keep an eye out for

some tasty health food.

This week we have a very easy and healthy

dish. These can be made the night before and

can be eaten both warm or cold. One can also

add any ingredient he/she may wish to eat.

Here is a basic recipe.

P A G E 1 0

Interesting Facts about

Chocolate A recent study indicates that when men crave food, they tend to crave fat and salt.

When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate.

Aztec Emperor Montezuma drank 50 golden goblets of hot chocolate, dyed red and

flavoured with chili peppers, everyday.

Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the famous 45 second shower scene in Alfred

Hitchcock‟s movie, Psycho, which actually took 7 days to shoot.

The average American consumes more than 10 pounds of chocolate every year.

76% of Americans say the ears of the chocolate bunnies should be eaten first.

5% think chocolate feet of the bunnies should be eaten first.

4% think the chocolate tails should go first.

One ounce of milk chocolate has only a little more caffeine than the amount of

caffeine in a cup of decaffeinated coffee. White chocolate has no caffeine.

Weird and Wonderful Things to

Know

“There is

nothing

better than

a friend,

unless it is

a friend

with

chocolate.”

― Linda

Grayson

P A G E 1 1

Rabbit Fric as s e e with

Tagliat e lle Pas t a Ingredients:

Rabbit Meat (the legs, loins, kidneys

and liver)

200g Taliatelle Pasta

2 Shallots or 1 medium sized onion

2 rations of Streaky Bacon

100g Button Mushrooms

Sprigs of Thyme

1 glass of white wine

1 glass of stock (Vegetable or

chicken)

200ml Cream

1 heaped tbsp of Whole grain

mustard

2-3 Bay leafs

A Bunch of Parsley

Poach the legs of the rabbit in boiling water and the bay leafs for 45 mins.

Chop the shallots or onion.

Chop the Bacon into big chunks.

Chop the mushrooms into quarters.

Add some olive oil in a pan and add the onion, bacon and mushrooms and cook until soft.

Add the thyme and deglaze the pan with white wine.

Let the wine reduce and add the stock.

Let the stock reduce and add the cream.

Cook until it thickens and add the mustard.

Add some chopped parsley.

Cut the loin in big chunks and fry in a pan with a shot of oil. Add the poached leg meat without the

bone and fry with the loin until cooked.

Add the meat with the sauce and mix well.

Boil the pasta. (see pack for instructions)

Fry the liver and kidneys. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Add the pasta to the sauce and rabbit meat.

Serve the liver and kidneys on top with a sprinkle of parsley leaves.

For those of you who prefer to make this recipe with

other meat instead of rabbit you can always use

game such as pheasants, geese or ducks. You can

also use chicken but make sure not to over cook the

chicken when you poach it. Leave it tender and juicy

as it will have a nice texture when mixed with the

sauce.

Potato and Che e s e Pat t ie s

This recipe is for those of you who like potatoes and cheese but don’t now how you can combine

them together. Agata suggested we feature a potato recipe and so we decided to show you all how to

make these golden nuggets of crispy potatoes with a soft cheese centre.

Peal and boil the potatoes for about 20 mins in

boiling water.

Chop up the spring onion and chilli.

Mash all the potatoes. They don‟t need to be too

fine of a mash just the consistency to be able to

make patties from.

Add the Chopped chilli and spring onion with the

grated Parmesan cheese to the potatoes. Mix well.

Ingredients:

6 Large Potatoes

3 Spring Onions

1 Chilli

50g Parmesan Cheese (grated)

100g Melting Cheese like

Mozzarella, Gruyere, etc...

With your hand, make patties from the potato mixture.

Cut the melting cheese into small cubes and place one cube in the centre of the patties with your finger.

Add a shot of olive oil in a pan and fry the potato patties for a minute or two on both sides. This will

create a crispy exterior.

Bake the patties in an oven at 140°C for about 10 minutes. This will melt the cheese in the centre and

make the patties fluffy on the inside.

“Ask Us Something!” Keep sending us your feedback and requests people. As you might have noticed we added a few sections

which we hope will remain constant in the foodletter. This was done in order to answer some of your

requests which dealt with similar topics.

Katja’s Secret Garlic Dip

Ingredients:

A lot of Garlic Cloves

(Maltese Garlic offers

a better stronger taste)

100g Light

Philadelphia Cheese

Salt and Pepper

Paprika

Since we are all chocolate lovers we had extra fun preparing this month’s Foodletter. It was

also a suggestion from one of our colleagues. As always, keep those suggestions coming and

talk to us about your culinary queries.

Some one asked us this recently:

Since we are now starting spring, the ideal season for picnics, I need a few easy to prepare dips with

amazing flavours. Can you help?

In order to answer that request we talked with Katja Zahra knowing she likes dips and also likes to

create some her self. In fact she shared with us 2 of her most famous dips which are so simple to make

but have amazing flavor and one of her friend’s signature Hummus dip with a twist.

Katja’s Pure Green Basil Dip

Ingredients:

A bunch of Basil leaves.

100g Light Philadelphia

Cheese

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil

Black pepper

Peel the Garlic cloves

Crush the Garlic cloves using

a garlic crusher or a pestle

and mortar.

Add the Philadelphia Cheese

Season with Salt and pepper

and mix together. The more

yo u incorpora te each

ingredient thoroughly, the

more creamy and smooth the

dip will become.

Finish off by dusting off

some paprika on top.

(It is important to use light Philadelphia Cheese because it is

creamer and lighter than the normal one. If you use the normal

version it will become a bit heavy as a dip)

Chop up all the basil leaves.

Add a few drops of olive oil to

give it a paste like consistency.

Add the Philadelphia Cheese

and Season with a small pinch of

Salt.

Mix together until you have a

smooth dip.

Finish off with a dusting of

black pepper.

Also if you put it in the fridge

for a couple of hours it will be

nice and cold which will make it

taste even cooler.

Hummus with a twist

Ingredients:

1 tin of Chickpeas

3 Garlic cloves

1 large tbsp Green Olives

1 large tbsp Capers

1 large tbsp Sun-Dried

Tomatoes

Lemon Juice from 1 lemon

A bunch of Parsley

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Peel the garlic cloves and put into

a liquidiser.

Add the Olives, Capers, Sun-dried

tomatoes, Chickpeas, Parsley and

the lemon juice.

Season with a nice pinch of Salt

and Pepper and add a shot of olive

oil.

Blend everything together until

you have a smooth paste.