Thanks for explaining that stat further, Clay. It's too bad that report isn't available for free; I'd really like to have a poke around in the data. I'm still a bit perplexed, to be honest, as I don't think I've had any of the foods you listed in weeks. But perhaps I'm a very atypical American.
Yeah, that statistic confuses me. Could they be counting something we don't generally think of as "chocolate"?
As a person with a modest appetite, I always end up taking half the burrito home with me and eating it the next day. Even the most calorie-laden burrito isn't so bad when you divide the number by two. I also skip the sour cream, but then again I don't really care for sour cream. I make up for it with cheese and guacamole, though!
My mother, who all the while protested that she was a terrible cook, didn't know how to cook, etc., etc. She taught me how to follow a recipe, though, and to be unafraid in the kitchen and love food. That's plenty, even if her technique wasn't quite up to snuff.
Oh yeah, I'm one of those 90%! Proudly so!
Thanks for the informative article Clay. :)
benknight -
While the chocolate might not be "bad" it certainly will not be at its best after more than a month in storage at room temperature. My recommendation to you, especially if you happen to be studying in Barcelona or will be visiting there shortly before you leave, is to pick up some Spanish chocolates. Some names to look for include Enric Rovira, Oriol Balaguer, Cacao Sampaka, and Blanxart.
:: Clay
Clay
Nice to have a fellow chocophile on board. For the novice, this is a must read article. Superbly done. See you back at "the ranch".
Mark
I'm storing chocolate I bought in Belgium about a month ago to bring home with me when I'm done studying abroad in Spain in June. Right now I'm keeping it in a plastic bag in an odorless closet. I open the window to the room often, and luckily I think the Spanish spring is not too bad with humidity and temp usually stays between 60-80 F. I hope this will keep the chocolate quality high enough to have been worth it to bring all the way home to the US from Belgium!!
This article made me feel so much better about the fact I shop for what I want every day, rather than have a zillion boxes from CostCo. I always feel like a 'bad woman' or a 'non foodie' becauseI can't feed the multitudes, but my rationale is that I can shop beforehand, and feed them fresh stuff!
I do, however, keep a chocolate stash (guilty lurking look). And for once I'm in the 90%
The Swiss eat even MORE chocolate than we do, I've heard.
Clay - my husband has a wine keeper (300 bottles) and I used to have a shelf on that ... but he's gone and filled it up so I needed my own. I keep my less expensive stuff in plain old insulated ice chests in a dark closet.
Even after the explanation, I am still blown away by that statistic. 90% really eat that much choc? I knew I was low versus other people that may consume chocolate, but being in the 10% is not what I thought.
Was really happy to see I was not the only one thinking that way.
Thanks for explaining that stat further, Clay. It's too bad that report isn't available for free; I'd really like to have a poke around in the data. I'm still a bit perplexed, to be honest, as I don't think I've had any of the foods you listed in weeks. But perhaps I'm a very atypical American.
The 90% statistic comes from a research report published by the market research firm Packaged Facts. The key to the statistic is in some form.
To get to the 90 per cent figure it is necessary to include chocolate milk, chocolate soy milk, chocolate breakfast cereal, chocolate yogurt, chocolate ice cream, chocolate ice milk, chocolate frozen yogurt, hot fudge, regular fudge, chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate wafer cookies, chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip anything, chocolate snack cakes, brownies, chocolate pudding, fudge, hot chocolate, most everything with the word mocha in it, and that's before we even get around to thinking about the chocolate in candy bars, chocolate bars, and confections. A surprisingly large number of savory dishes, and not just Mexican ones, use chocolate to add depth, complexity, and richness.
When you think about chocolate that inclusively, you'll see that it's nat all that difficult to get chocolate (the sixth food group) into your diet every day - it might even be impossible to avoid if you have kids.
Hi, Cybele. Great photo of your wine fridge. I outgrew mine a long time ago and upgraded to a wine cellar down in my basement (very common here in the Northeast [basements, not wine cellars] but not so common in LA). Airtight containers are a good idea, hadn't really thought of using Pyrex but it's a very good choice for many reasons and it would be great for combating the humidity problem I face in late summer.
I'm using a wine fridge converted for chocolate storage.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/typetive/2376391674/
(Humidity isn't an issue in Los Angeles.) Also, I keep most of my bars & bonbons sequestered in pyrex containers (with airtight plastic lids) to prevent condensation & odor transfer.
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