chocolate

Although they’re small, jelly beans command a lot of respect.

They’re no bigger than a kidney bean, yet they — in some form or another — have been around for thousands of years. They’ve even been directly involved in American politics.

What is a jelly bean? As it exists today, it has a hard, sugary-flavored shell with a jellied, pectin center. They are brightly colored, indicating its flavor, and are as decorative as they are edible.

But here’s an interesting fact — jelly beans derive from a combination of two candies: Turkish Delight and Jordan almonds, according to Lance Jensen, vice president of marketing for Jelly Belly Candy Co., an industry leader in jelly beans.

Turkish Delight was created in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey, in biblical times, Jensen said.

It consisted of small strips of jellied fruit, usually lemon, honey, or rose-water flavored, that was rolled in powdered sugar.

Jensen said that although the sugar coating helped, it was still very messy to eat.

“In France in the 17th century, they invented the process of taking almonds and rocking them in a bowl, coating them with corn syrup and sugar. That formed a hard candy shell for what is now called Jordan almonds,” Jensen said.

In the late 1800s, someone whose name is lost to history put the two concepts together — a jelly center inside a candy shell. Thus the modern jelly bean was born.

“Much of the country was agrarian,” Jensen said. “The candy was bean-shaped to mimic what was being produced in farms.”

Katie Poore, co-owner of Abby Brown’s Chocolates, 1415 E. State Blvd., said the flavor variety originally spanned the spice range; red beans were cinnamon, orange was ginger, blue was peppermint, and so on.

“We sell spice-flavored, and they are a hit, but most kids like the fruit flavors,” Poore said.

Jensen agreed that the modern palate prefers fruit flavors over spice.

“A lot of people don’t associate allspice and ginger with candies,” he said.

Jelly Belly and Reagan: Chewy politics

In 1869, Gustav and Albert Goelitz emigrated from Germany to “make it big” in America. They started a candy company in Belleville, Ill., making buttercream candies such as candy corn.

The Herman Goelitz Candy Co., as it was called then, got a call from a family friend in Los Angeles with an idea: instead of a jelly bean with a flavored shell and plain center, why not use natural flavors in the center?

The candy company took the idea and ran with it. “Gourmet” jelly beans were born.

“We use real flavors whenever possible,” Jensen said. “For example, there is real banana puree in the Top Banana flavor. We’ll formulate it until we can take a jelly bean, eat it, then eat the real counterpart of that flavor, and say, ‘Wow! That’s a match!’”

They originally offered eight flavors, ranging from Tangerine to Cream Soda.

Their success was moderate until the governor of California discovered the product and loved it. He started keeping a variety of Herman Goelitz beans on his desk for visitors and himself to snack on.

The governor, Ronald Reagan, later ran for and became president. His favorite candy company decided to celebrate.

“We started to make a certain variety of beans with a selection of coconut, cherry and blueberry beans,” Jensen said. “Those were red, white and blue.”

Over three tons of the beans were consumed at the inauguration.

In 2001, the Herman Goelitz Candy Co. was renamed Jelly Belly Candy Co. They now have an assortment of 50 regular flavors, such as Margarita, Pink Lemonade, Buttered Popcorn and Cappuccino.

Jensen did admit, though, that in their extensive research, they’ve run across a few flops.

“I remember one time when we were thinking about a Dijon mustard jelly bean. We were experimenting with real mustard.”

He laughed, and added, “We quickly learned that if you produce it with too high of a mustard concentration, it produced mustard gas. That didn’t go over too big.”

Modern face of jelly beans

Jelly beans have become an Easter staple, along with chocolate bunnies and marshmallow eggs. Some think it is because of the bright, Easter colors. Some think it is because of the egg shape. Regardless, Jensen said, Jelly Belly will sell about five billion beans, and the industry as a whole will sell 17 billion.

According to figures by the National Confectioner’s Association, that could fill an Easter egg 89 feet high and 60 feet wide, about the size of a nine-story office building.

Poore said Abby Brown’s bought about 120 pounds of jelly beans, but “chocolate is still what we’re known for. That’s more popular.”


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Cool beans: Jelly bean trivia

♦April 22 is National Jelly Bean Day.

♦The word “Jellybean” was an early 1920s nickname for a young man who dressed well to attract women, but had very few additional redeeming traits, or in its extreme context, a pimp.

Synonyms: dandy, fop

♦Jelly Belly recently introduced Sport Beans, a candy that is designed to replenish athletes’ bodies with carbohydrates and electrolytes.

♦The largest jelly bean jar was introduced Oct. 15, 1999, setting a world’s record. It weighed just over three tons.

♦It takes about 10 days to create a jelly bean, from start to finish.

♦Jelly Bellys were the first beans in space: Reagan sent them in orbit with the space shuttle Challenger in its 1983 launch.

♦A portrait of Reagan made entirely of 10,000 Jelly Bellys is on display in his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif.

SOME children in South Wales could die before their parents if mums and dads keep feeding them junk food.

Every day leading paediatric dietician Jacqui Lowden sees youngsters who are obese, overweight and suffering medical problems because they are being fed a diet of fizzy drinks, crisps and chocolate, while missing out on proper meals.

And she is warning parents that being obese can cut nine years off a child's life, with more years taken away the longer you are obese.

"People are killing their kids by feeding them nothing but junk food," said Jacqui, who works at the University Hospital of Wales, Heath, Cardiff.

"They need to act before it's too late. Some of the diets I've seen are appalling. Some children drink 12 glasses of pop a day, have crisps, chocolate, no vitamin C or calcium or iron which is essential for growth.

She added: "Instead of breakfast which helps youngsters concentrate, they're eating bags of crisps and pasties on the way to school."


And she had a stark warning for mums and dads: "Parents don't realise the risks it has. It could kill them.


"Long-term, being obese can cut nine years off a child's life and increases the risk of heart disease and strokes."


And there are easy tips to get children to eat well. Jacqui said: "The best way to get children to eat healthily is for parents to set a good example.


"Eat at a table together so eating becomes a nice family time when you can ask children about their day and they can talk to you.


"Children won't starve themselves: if they're hungry they'll eat it, if they're not offered anything else.


"Leave food in front of a child for 20 minutes, half an hour. If they won't eat it in that time, don't shout, don't be negative, just take it away.


"Don't offer them anything else until the next meal or normal snack time.


"When they do eat it, give them lots of praise and encouragement. Introduce fruit and vegetables as the first weening foods so children are used to them."


And Jacqui suggested offering variety to keep it interesting and picking easy-to-eat foods.


"A single apple can be difficult to eat so give children small apple slices, with segments of orange and grapes. Try berry fruits like raspberry and cut up bananas.


"Get children to eat fish by putting tinned tuna and salmon in pasta dishes, or make a soft fish pie and put tuna and sweetcorn in sandwiches."

YOU'VE GOT TO ROLL WITH IT - USE OUR 10-POINT PLAN TO BEAT YOUR CHOCOLATE CRAVINGS THIS EASTER
WE'RE a nation of chocoholics all year round but with Easter just days away resisting temptation can feel like torture.

In fact, it's impossible to leave the house without being confronted by row upon row of gorgeous spring treats.

We eat more than 80million chocolate eggs every Easter - which works out at a staggering 9kg per person.

It may be deliciously satisfying, but chocolate is packed full of calories and fat. So if you're aiming to drop a dress size for summer, that melt-in-the-mouth moment can wreak havoc with your hard work.

Chocolate is so moreish once you start it can be tricky to stop.

So what can you do to fight back? Here's Vital's survival guide on things to do to beat those sweet cravings so you emerge from Easter still looking fabulous.

You might not think to pair chocolate with beer, but Jordan LeBel does it all the time. And hey, he's the expert.

"People might raise an eyebrow, but it's all about getting out of your comfort zone," says the man who introduces himself as a professor of pleasure.

In fact, he is an associate professor in food and beverage management at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, N.Y. There, the Montreal native teaches an advanced course in analysing and creating pleasurable dining experiences.

LeBel is also one of North America's foremost experts on dark chocolate. He even used chocolate for his experiments when he did his doctoral thesis on the relationship between pleasure and consumption.

"That was in the '90s, when the experts were saying that pleasure leads to overconsumption," he says. "But more pleasure can lead to even less consumption."

He became intrigued by how chocolate worked, so he developed a series of tasting and pairing tips for chocolate. And when the venerable French chocolate company Poulain launched its products in Canada this year, it asked LeBel to teach Canadians how to savour fine dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate isn't just delicious, it's good for you. It contains flavonoids, which can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. The higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the level of flavonoids. Dark chocolate also improves mood and reduces stress. In addition, it contains niacin, magnesium, potassium and other minerals -- and it's good for your skin, too.

This may all be news to us, but until the late-1800s, chocolate was primarily a medicinal food, used to treat some 200 ailments. Chocolate was typically drunk, not eaten, and it was almost inedibly bitter "with pungent spices thrown in there to make it palatable."

That changed in 1848 when chocolatier Victor Auguste Poulain founded his company in the Loire Valley. Poulain promoted chocolate's flavour and pleasure.

Now, more than 150 years later, Canadians can finally enjoy some of the best chocolate in the world. The timing for Poulain couldn't be better --sales of dark chocolate are growing in Canada by 40 per cent a year. Clearly, we enjoy our dark chocolate. But are we enjoying it properly? Probably not, which is why LeBel is out to teach us how to really enjoy it.

Tasting chocolate, he says, is a four-step process: See. Smell. Snap. Savour. First, look at your chocolate. Is it dark and rich? Does it have a nice, smooth sheen? Then inhale deeply.

"If you smell it, you'll notice it doesn't hide its personality," he says, sniffing a piece of Poulain Noir, which contains 76 per cent cocoa and is considered by many the "perfect" chocolate. "But take the 86 and smell them side by side -- you'll see it's much more pungent."

Next, break a piece in two.

"That sound it makes -- craquant -- a fine, dark chocolate like Poulain has a nice, clean break. You wouldn't get that with milk chocolate," LeBel says.

"Then you want to put it in your mouth and chew it at least five or six times. Professionals will chew it at least 12 times. By chewing it carefully, you're really exposing your whole mouth cavity to the chocolate.

"And when you swallow, you want to breathe in your mouth and out through your nose."

His other suggestion is to stop treating chocolate like a snack food and savour the flavour.

"It is a ritual to tend to the flavours. You can't rush."