One Passion

http://www.choco.com/

Review by Debbie Mazo

If you believe that chocolate is one of the four basic food groups, you're not alone. On average, U.S. consumers eat around 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate annually, representing nearly half of the world's supply. Despite the fact that chocolate runs so high among its fans, there are only a few good Internet sites devoted to this wondrous cocoa bean.

One site where you can definitely indulge your craving for chocolate is One Passion. With splashes of melted chocolate, the site's design and fun tone definitely make it worth a visit. If you've always wondered about the powers of chocolate, check out Hot chocolate for a brief description of chocolate's seductive qualities.

Here you'll discover that chocolate contains three substances: caffeine, theobromine, and phenyethylamine that might be related to this phenomenon. Caffeine acts as a stimulant. Theobromine stimulates the heart muscle and the nervous system. And phenyethylamine is reputed to be a mood elevator and an anti-depressant. Now that you're in the mood, you can do some last minute Valentine's Day shopping by ordering some gourmet chocolates from the sampling of the site's favorite chocolatier offerings on the Web.

ChocoRecipes includes a nice collection of chocolate inspired recipes. Each month, One Passion collects dozens of recipes from various mailing lists and newsgroups. These recipes are then compiled and archived on One Passion's FTP site. From the current selection of over 50 recipes, you can sample Bailey's Chocolate Peanut Crunch Bar Cake, Kahlua Fudge, or Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake.

If this isn't enough to send you to Chocolate Heaven, check out chocoLinks for the latest chocolate resources on the Internet. The current offering links you to a site containing nothing but chocolate chip cookies because "no one can resist a warm, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookie".

Absent for awhile, One Passion does include links that could use some updating. However, the hosts do promise that even with a slow rebirth, they're thinking bigger and better! If you have specific suggestions for a more comprehensive chocolate site, you can add these to One Passion's Wish List. All in all, you can find plenty of interesting information on this timeless delicacy and, of course, there are no calories.

Debbie Mazo is a writer and editor based in Vancouver, Canada. She currently specializes in technical and marketing materials, but is also pursuing opportunities in food journalism.

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