A Chocolate World: Assisi Panforte al Cioccolate

I returned from my Franciscan pilgrimage in Italy a few weeks ago. Though it was an excellent experience, I was disappointed by one thing = I did not find the types of chocolate desserts I was craving. In others words, no chocolate cake, or at least, not the type of chocolate cake which I am accustomed. (Remember, chocolate cake is my vegan exception!)

Instead of the "traditional" American chocolate cake, I found an Italian "chocolate cake," which is different from what I expected (see right). I originally didn't care for the taste, but upon further trials, I have since grown to appreciate and enjoy this newly discovered chocolate dessert. Yet, when push comes to shove I still prefer a slice of dark, moist, subtly bittersweet chocolate cake, which is rich, but not overly dense, topped with a dark chocolate frosting. And when vegan, even better.

Walking by numerous bakeries on the streets of Assisi, I saw many pastries filled with chocolate, but only found two places that featured something that looked like the chocolate cake I was looking for. Though the two desserts looked virtually the same, at one place this chocolate delight was called "salame" and at another place it was called "panforte al cioccolato."

Traditionally, an Italian panforte is an Italian version of a fruitcake. A chocolate version simply puts cocoa in the recipe. Since fruitcake is not my dessert of choice, a "panforte al cioccolato" was not something that sounded appetizing so I initially passed on trying it when I saw it in the bakery window.

Traditionally, "salame al cioccolato" is a no bake chocolate dessert in the shape of a salami. But the "salame" I saw in the bakery window at the Gran Caffe in Assisi was not sausage-shaped, but looked like a thicker version of a traditional chocolate panforte. In essence, it looked like a chocolate cake with nuts (see left). Not understanding what this chocolate dessert could be, I needed to give it a try. It looked very promising.

One bite however proved that this did not taste like a traditional chocolate salame, which is essentially chocolate, nuts, and biscotti crumbs. This salame had an orange kick, which I did not expect. It was panforte-like. However, It did not have the additional fruit which one would expect in your traditional chocolate panforte.

I was a bit confused, and unfortunately, no one could explain what this chocolate delicacy was as each person defaulted to describing the traditional salame and panforte.

After a few bites, I discovered that I was enjoying this unique Assisi delight. The orange zest (which was growing on me) complemented the chocolate, which was more semi-sweet than bittersweet. The cake consistency was not your typical baked cake moist, but dense with a subtly sticky cookie-like texture, with small chunks of nuts mixed through out, peppering the dark brown coloring. (Texturally in many ways it looked like a vegan chocolate Larabar and my raw vegan chocolate cake.) The entire round dessert was laid on a layer of edible sugar paper, and topped with a layer of dark chocolate, cut into cake-shaped slices

Aside from the orange kick, this chocolate dessert tasted like what I would expect in a traditional salame al cioccolato. Unfortunately, I was not able to find a traditional salame on this trip in which to compare.

So what is this Assisi dessert? I don't know, but with the orange zest, I see it as an Assisi version of a traditional panforte al cioccoloto. As I now reflect on this chocolate discovery, my taste buds are craving this unique chocolate cake, as I remember 9 magical days last month in the beautiful Umbrian city of Assisi.

Next post:
Hot chocolate from LaVerna, Italy

It's a Chocolate World: A Vegan Celebration

It was my birthday this past week, and the camp where I work made me a vegan chocolate cake in celebration. I was impressed for 2 reasons.

1. This was the first vegan chocolate cake one of our cooks had ever made, and it was good. She served it slightly warmed, topped with shredded coconut because, as she said, "I didn't know how else to 'frost' it." Though the cake didn't have the dark bitter bite that I truly love, the cake was very moist, rich, and had an inviting cocoa flavor which was accented nicely by the sweetened coconut.

For a first cake, from a recipe straight off the internet, I was impressed. I had two pieces and scraped up the crumbs because, well, you can't let good chocolate cake go to waste!

I was impressed with the cake for a second reason. 2. The camp staff gobbled up their pieces and wanted more, in spite the fact that it didn't have the "usual" stuff they expected like eggs, milk and animal products. Questions abounded as to how the cake was so moist, so rich, so yummy. In essence, they couldn't believe that this chocolate cake was vegan.

I was impressed by the fact that even some hard care staff members who razz me about my diet enjoyed it, proving once again that you can be compassionate towards animals and still enjoy an excellent slice of chocolate cake. In other words, with a vegan diet, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Though impressed by my chocolate vegan birthday cake, what has really impressed my chocolate taste buds is the international chocolate I have discovered in recent weeks - Italian chocolate, Russian chocolate, Mexican chocolate, even though much of it has been non-vegan. (Just remember, chocolate cake is my vegan exception!)

With the summer now in full swing and school a few months off, I am planning on getting back into a weekly blog and featuring international chocolate delights over the coming weeks. It is a chocolate world!

Though "the perfect chocolate cake" has been my chocolate quest, I have also come to appreciate other chocolate forms like chocolate bars and drinks, and how some of it can be greatly complemented by a little glass of red wine. Having returned from 2 weeks in Italy, I'll begin my summer chocolate blog series with some beautiful chocolate experiences there.

As I hopefully have you salivating for more, click here for the recipe link from allrecipes.com for the vegan chocolate cake the camp staff enjoyed this weekend for my birthday. (It sure beat the boxed lemon cake they made me last year!)

Next post:
Chocolate cake from Assisi, Italy

Conclusion

This is part 12, the last installment, of my research on global food movements entitled GLOBALIZATION: It's what's for dinner

CONCLUSION

Globalization impacts the food choices of every person. The Standard American Diet of fast food may have won the first round, but Global Living Awareness Diets are emerging and providing earth citizens new options, especially Americans. One Planet Living, organic farming, and plant-based diets represent global trends built on environmental ethics of compassionate care for creation. Historically, Christians have been at the forefront of such movements. Today, the same trend is beginning in Europe (yet again), and will hopefully continue as God's people see, judge, and act according to their faith. Franciscan theologian Eric Doyle writes:

"The greatest challenge to organized religion in the western world now is whether it can guide individuals along the paths of their own inner depths, and show how the riches in these depths can be recognized, accepted, and put at the service of all creation; and, closely related to this, whether it can teach people to commune with God and nature. That religion has the means to do this cannot be doubted, I think; that it will see it as its chief task in the long run is probably predictable." [62]

Click here for the first entry of this series from January 5, 2009.

[62] Eric Doyle, The Song of Brotherhood and Sisterhood (St. Bonaventure, NY: The Franciscan Institute, 1992), 53. (Reprint of St. Francis and the Song of Brotherhood, New York: Seabury Press, 1980.)

The Choice is Yours

This is part 11 of my research on global food movements entitled
GLOBALIZATION: It's what's for dinner

THE CHOICE IS YOURS: You Are What You Eat


Bringing ethics to consciousness for action is the premise of George Eisman's book, The Most Noble Diet. [59] Eisman identifies six levels of progressively deeper conscious concerns that determine diet selection. The levels, reflected in the food movements presented, are:

1. Hedonism = Eating what you enjoy.
2. Personal health = Eating what you believe is "good" for you.
3. Environment = Eating what the Earth provides without undue disturbance to ecosystems.
4. Politics = Eating (or not eating) as a statement against oppressive actions or policies.
5. Non violence = Eating only what can be obtained without intentional injury or cruelty.
6. Humanity = Eating only what is your "fair share" in this global human community; not demanding extravagances that deprive others of their basic requirements of life.

As one's ethics deepen, one's judgment is deepened so that one's actions move from self-centered to other-centered, from a fast food life of convenience to One Planet Living. Like the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy, “In every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” [60] Upon this the GLAD food movements stand.

As consumers, we have choices. But it will be a shift of our ethics, our values and beliefs about what is "right and wrong," "good and bad," "acceptable and not" that will determine the choices we make and the standard of living we maintain.

"If everyone in the world lived like an average North American, we'd need 5 planets to live on."

In all the books cited in this paper, each author ends with an exhortation to action. Whether it's minimizing your eco-footprint, exercising "buycott" power as you vote with your dollar, choosing organic and local foods, eating meat less, or abstaining from all animal products all together, the bottom line is: the choice is yours.

"Each individual can make a difference in creating a greener world. Every meal choice can move us one step closer to a more sustainable agriculture, and ultimately, healthier lives." [61]

The question is: What are YOU having for dinner?

Final post: CONCLUSION

[59] George Eisman, The Most Noble Diet: Food Selection and Ethics (Burdett, NY: Diet Ethics, 1994), 4.
[60] Fox, 12.
[61] Ibid., 127.

The Ethics In Eating

This is part 10 of my research on global food movements entitled
GLOBALIZATION: It's what's for dinner

WHICH WAY TO GO?: The Ethics In Eating

If a food revolution is to save the planet and improve humanity's chance for survival, bioethics must be introduced and deployed.

According to Fox, bioethics are "the extension of ethical issues and concerns from the immediate human community into the broader biological dimension of our relations with, and duties toward, the biotic community - animals, plants, and the whole of nature. Bioethical principles in food production and consumption are keys to a more sensible and compassionate future." [53]

In his book, Eating With Conscience, Fox provides
four bioethical principles: [54]

1. Ahimsa = Minimizing and avoiding harm or injury to agricultural and natural ecosystems, including wildlife, soil microorganisms, beneficial insects, and birds. (For more information, check out my 6 part series on AHIMSA from 2008.)

2. Biodiversity = Protecting and even enhancing biodiversity of both domestic and non-domestic animals and plants.

3. Transgenerational equity (sustainability) = Securing and improving the environmental quality and productivity of the land for future generations.

4. Symbiotic enhancement = Heightening the life and beauty of the land rather than "destroying what was, a generation or two ago, called the countryside."

"Ethical behavior is one way I can show gratitude for the many blessings in my life and express my spirit of a reverential respect for all of life," Fox writes.

For Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, ethics must extend to food choices. [55] Under his leadership the Church of England issued a report entitled Sharing God's Planet that recommends sustainable consumption and says every Christian has a duty to care for every part of God's creation, with clergy first being the examples by making eco-friendly consumption choices personally and in the parish. [56]

One's beliefs ground one's ethics, which help determine the lifestyle choices which are made. Unfortunately, as Singer and Mason point out, ethical consumption has gone much further in Europe than in the United States. [57]

In Europe, for example, NGOs have campaigned to persuade supermarkets to stock organic, freely traded products, free of GMOs since the 1980s. The authors also note that progress in the area of ethics will be tougher in America than in Britain and Europe because "America's food industry seeks to keep Americans in the dark about the ethical components of their choices." [58] If you can't see, you can't judge so to be able to act ethically.

Next post: (Sorry for any delays.)
Ethics and conscious action

[53] Fox, 12.
[54] Ibid., 145.
[55] Singer and Mason, 6.
[56] Cited in Ibid., 6-7.
[57] Ibid., 5.
[58] Ibid., 7.

Empowering Consumer Choices

This is part 9 of my research on global food movements entitled
GLOBALIZATION: It's what's for dinner

HAVE IT YOUR WAY:
Empowering Consumer Choices

A revolution has begun.

Though the fast food industry has swept the globe changing local economies, industry, and dietary preferences, other food movements from around the world are pushing back. It is a literal fight for the planet and the future of humanity as food production practices of a meat-based Western diet are destroying health and depleting limited resources.

With food conglomerates around the world concerned more about efficiency, profits, and productivity than the welfare of animals and the planet, agricide continues, "in large part due to the fact that most consumers are unaware, uninformed, and disconnected from the land and the sources of their food," writes Fox. [51] Global Living Awareness Diets connect consumers with food and provide options, which empower them to make healthier choices.

While all the food movements presented have historic roots and founded overseas, Americans are beginning to notice. The "Standard American Diet" may one day not be so "standard" anymore as more eyes are opened and begin to really see the global reality that confronts us in this millennium.

A century ago, a group of lay people in Europe, mostly university students, strove to bring the values of justice and assistance for the poor to the attention of society and political life. Called "Catholic Action," the movement was active in Italy, Bavaria, France, and Belgium during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [52] The group developed a 3-step method to empower change: (1) See, (2) Judge, and (3) Act. It is only when you see the true reality and are clear about what is going on that you can then rightly evaluate and judge the situation as a Christian so to determine how you must act.

Though facts, figures, and anecdotes allow people to "see" the realities of our contemporary world, it is ethics that filter how one sees and then determine how one will act. If new choices are to be made and behavior modified, ethics must first be examined and challenged. If a food revolution is to save the planet and improve humanity's chance for survival, bioethics must be introduced and deployed.

According to Fox, bioethics are "the extension of ethical issues and concerns from the immediate human community into the broader biological dimension of our relations with, and duties toward, the biotic community - animals, plants, and the whole of nature. Bioethical principles in food production and consumption are keys to a more sensible and compassionate future." [53] In his book, Eating With Conscience, he provides four bioethical principles.

Next post:
Bioethical principles and the choices we make

[51] Fox, 13.
[52] Information on Catholic Action comes from John Kiesler, "Looking at Global Reality as a Christian" (lecture, Franciscan School of Theology, Berkeley, CA, October 7, 2008) and "Catholic Action," Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Action (accessed December 18, 2008).
[53] Fox, 12.

Don't Get Mad, Get GLAD: Plant-based Diets 2

This is part 8 of my research on global food movements entitled
GLOBALIZATION: It's what for dinner

Global food movements making a difference:
PLANT-BASED DIETS - CURRENT HISTORY

In the east and in the west, history clearly reveals that plant-based diets have nourished and sustained cultures all over the world for thousands of years. However, Manchester, England in 1815 is often regarded as the birthplace of the current vegetarian movement. [44]

Because of the industrial revolution taking place in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there was growing awareness of health problems and the cruel treatment of animals. Large numbers of factories were being developed with appalling living conditions and an extremely poor diet for workers. Rev. William Cowherd was among those who responded to this problem. Taking a closer look at health, the environment, and animals, this Bible Christian preacher advanced the principle of abstinence from flesh-eating.

The Bible Christian denomination embraced a vegetarian diet and became the first institution to promote vegetarianism in the contemporary western world. Many of its members formed the Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom in 1847. In 1817, 40 Bible Christian members brought the message to the United States. They founded a church in Philadelphia, and launched the vegetarian movement in America, which has a history of stutters and starts.

Though details are sketchy as to the beginning of vegetarian movements in other nations, by 1908, the International Vegetarian Union was founded with vegetarian societies having been established in 22 nations, primarily in Europe, but also in New Zealand, Chile, and India. Though Mohandas K. Gandhi was active in the London Vegetarian Society in the 1890s before his return to India, his involvement with the Indian or Punjab Vegetarian Society is unclear. [45]

As meat consumption began to dramatically rise in Western nations in the 20th century due to modern conveniences, refrigeration, and transportation, the vegetarian movement in the US declined with the rise of convenience foods and fast food restaurants. Internationally, however, the overall movement continued at a steady rate. For the United States, vegetarian societies appeared to come and go, reflecting the ambiguity of the population for plant-based diets.

It wasn't until 1960 when the current American Vegetarian Society was launched. Renewed interest in a vegetarian diet within the 1960s counterculture colored people's opinion of the movement. However, Francis Moore Lappé's Diet for a Small Planet in 1971 served as a catalyst to steer the movement towards a mainstream audience by raising awareness of health choices in light of emerging environmental problems. John Robbins' book in 1987, along with books by Dr. Dean Ornish, have increased credibility and have helped bring attention to the issues of health, diet, and the environment.

Now partnered with the animal rights movement, vegetarianism in the US today and around the planet appears to be on the rise, though statistics are difficult to assess. [46] In 1989, Collins and Collins note that "The popularity of plant-based diets has been increasing and both the variety and availability of convenient vegetarian foods have been skyrocketing. Restaurants around the country now regularly offer meat-free and dairy-free options. Scientists are publishing more articles about vegetarianism and writing more about the health potential of a plant-based diet." [47] Recent market sales continue to confirm that vegetarian foods have been on the rise in the last decade, especially in the UK. [48]

Morton Spurlock's 2004 award winning documentary "Supersize Me" on the effects of fast food, Oprah Winfrey's decision on national TV to go vegan for 21 days this year, and a growing number of celebrities publicly declaring their commitment to more compassionate dietary choices all reflect the acceptance and growing popular interest in plant-based diets in contemporary culture. [49]

In their 2006 book, The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter (where the acronym SAD originates), Singer and Mason examine three families' grocery-buying habits and the motivations behind those choices. They highlight with admiration a Kansas family that has turned vegan so as not to participate in the destructive cycle of animal and human exploitation. As individuals and families make new informed choices, the plant-based movement grows.

When asked about the future of vegetarianism, Howard Lyman, cattle rancher turned vegan, best-selling author of the book Mad Cowboy, and enemy #1 of Texas cattlemen because of his 1998 comments on Oprah, said, "I believe the vegetarian movement . . . will continue to grow. I see my role as that of a motivator to the young activists in the first world. I believe for the human species to survive on the Planet Earth, we must adopt a plant-based diet in this generation. Our future and the future of our children and grandchildren rests in the hands of the vegetarian activists today. No one can do it all, but we all can do something. We must get involved before it is too late." [50]

Next week:
Empowering consumer choices

[44] "Shaker-makers! Manchester Originals," International Actuarial Association - Manchester, http://www.actuaries.org/ASTIN/Colloquia/Manchester/Manchester_Originals.pdf (accessed December 17, 2008). Other details on the beginning of the vegetarian movement come from: Derek Antrobus, "Transatlantic vegetarians" (September 2000), International Vegetarian Union - History of vegetarianism http://www.ivu.org/history/england19a/transatlantic.html (accessed December 14, 2008); Maxwell G. Lee, "150 Years of Vegetarianism," International Vegetarian Union, http://www.ivu.org/congress/euro97/150-years.html (accessed December 14, 2008); and Maxwell Lee, "Formation of The Vegetarian Society," The Vegetarian Society UK - History Information Sheet, http://www.vegsoc.org/info/developm.html (accessed December 14, 2008).
[45] "Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)," International Vegetarian Union, http://www.ivu.org/history/gandhi/1891-11.html (accessed December 18, 2008).
[46] cf. "Q: Society, Diet and Statistics," Google Answers, http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=706957 (accessed December 17, 2008).
[47] Collins and Collins, 350.
[48] "Sales Figures 1991-2004," Vegetarian Society, http://www.vegsoc.org/info/statveg-sales.html (accessed December 17, 2008).
[49] cf. " HappyCow's Famous Vegetarians," HappyCow, http://www.happycow.net/famous_vegetarians.html (accessed December 18, 2008).
[50] "24 Carrot Award," Vegetarians in Paradise, http://www.vegparadise.com/24carrot31.html (accessed December 17, 2008). For more information on the lawsuit filed against Lyman and Winfrey: http://www.madcowboy.com/01_BookOP.000.html.)