The Aztecs adored it, you probably do, too. Even scientists are touting chocolate these days. But don't max out on Mars bars _ your average candy bar is crammed with fat and refined sugar. Go to the dark side: pure cocoa.
I don't mean the milky, marshmallow-laden insta-mixes; I mean roasted, ground cocoa beans. Once the cocoa butter is extracted, pure cocoa has only 15 to 20 calories per tablespoon.
Pure cocoa provides deliciously drinkable health benefits by way of its flavanols, antioxidants that help control cholesterol, lower blood pressure and perform other fine cardiovascular functions.
Cocoa is also rich in magnesium, a trace element 80 percent of Americans are lacking. Magnesium deficiency has been linked to every neuro-ailment from migraines to aggression. Why be cranky when there's cocoa?
One tablespoon cocoa powder with 1 cup low-fat milk and 1 teaspoon sugar makes a treat both bitter and sweet. Closer to the way the Aztecs savored cocoa, it's no cup of candy and reveals chocolate's range of complex flavors.
There's a real range among cocoas, too, depending on how they're processed. Hershey's ($2.79, 8 ounces) and Nestle ($2.50, 8 ounces) are the least deep. They're kiddie cocoa. Best among the supermarket brands is red-hued Ghirardelli ($5.29, 10 ounces). It's richer in taste and fuller in the mouth, intense and long-lasting.
Available at natural foods stores, Ah!laska ($5.29, 8 ounces) is organic, kosher and made from fair-trade cocoa beans. If only it had a chocolate taste as big as the state for which it's (sort of) named.
Fragrant, dark and creamy, Rapunzel ($5.99, 7.1 ounces) has a true chocolate flavor. All this and it's fair trade and organic _ the stuff of fairy tales.
One step beyond is Green and Black's ($5.79, 4 ounces). Organic and fair trade, it's the deepest, darkest, priciest and most profound. A very adult cocoa.
___Miami Herald
