Jan 31st is also “Eat Your Brussel Sprouts Day” so ya’ll know we gotta start there. That’s right, consume your veggie content first before you get to the sweet chocolatey stuff…
As a tracker of food trends, i find it interesting how brussel sprouts went from being veggies non grata to the culinary stars they now are. I found a few alleged reason(s) why explained in this 46 second Tik Tok vid …
Fire-roasted brussel sprouts (w/ toasted almonds, currants, and a lemon-herb vinaigrette). In the “shareables” section of GRANVILLE’s menu in West Hollywood, CA …during a family outing after visiting LACMA to see the Obama Portraits. . It’s a wonder we were able to order them for the whole table— as our Boomer parents seem to have some kind of sustained ‘brussel sprout PTSD having grown up in 1950’s America. Whereas their Gen X & Millenial daughters & beau have an entirely different relationship with these lil veggie darlings we LOVE …
While I’m sure there’s some truth to the whole “genetic modifications made them less bitter / taste better” answer mentioned in the vid (see above)… I believe the real reason’s planted in the part where she says: “bred with higher producing varieties”. Higher producing = lower price and thus cheaper cost for food markets and restaurants, That can then prepare them properly (by chefs with skill sets) to justify marking them up to white table-cloth level prices.
Not to mention that the output and distribution method of brussel sprouts has changed entirely since 1950. Back in the day, the only way to buy brussel sprouts was in a frozen block or a can that turned up on your plate (if they even got that far) as khaki green colored, barely seasoned bitter little mushy balls. Now that they’re being grown and harvested properly and made available to us on fresh stalks at farmers markets (and supermarkets) everywhere, it’s a whole new day for this crunchy, crispy (IF prepped properly) cruciferous celeb.
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Ok, ok now on to the Chocolatey ‘treat’!…
Re: National Hot Chocolate Day “ Chocolate is such an important global topic/crop/product that’s very significant to Black (African) and Brown (Mesoamerican) cultivating cultures past and present. For now just know that it originated in what is present day Mexico and serving chocolate as a hot drink was started by the Maya as long as 3,000 yrs ago. It later became an essential part of Aztec culinary culture too (circa 1400 AD). Today anywhere from 75% to 95% of the world’s chocolate is grown and harvested in four West African countries. With the lion’s share of the profit generated from the massive industry controlled by and benefiting European countries / nations (think “Swiss”, “Belgian” etc.) vs. genuinely profiting the African regions it’s extracted from. Cosmically the very same region where the majority of African Americans today descended from centuries ago. …
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ABOVE PIC: holiday gift I still gotta give to my friend Valerie, cocoa zealot and creator of the self-published, children's picture book series, Cocoa Kids Collection® …