CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY WITH A BOX OF CHOCOLATES - Las Vegas Weekly Article
Nothing says Valentine’s Day like a box of chocolates.
Maybe we’re all just suckers for a good marketing scheme, but it’s hard to deny the romanticism of the gesture. While the science behind chocolate as an aphrodisiac is inconclusive, we do know that the link between the cocoa bean and sexual desire goes back to at least the 1500s, when the Aztec emperor Montezuma was said to consume plentiful amounts before his romantic trysts.
Scientists do know that chocolate contains tryptophan, a building block of serotonin (a neurochemical involved in sexual arousal), and phenylethylamine, a stimulant released in the brain when you fall in love. And a box of chocolates, with its sheer variety of fillings and textures, just begs to be shared. It starts an intimate conversation that can hint at your loved one’s likes or dislikes, and it becomes a kind of language in itself that tells your story as a couple.
But we all know that the love affair with chocolate begins long before the romance, back when we were sticky-faced children licking its sweetness from our hands. Local chocolatier Jean-Marie Auboine sees chocolate as, simply, a moment of pleasure. His love for chocolate began during his childhood in a tiny village in France, and it has grown into an operation that supplies some of the most beautiful bonbons for corporate clients, including most Strip resorts, and a retail space for those popping in for a box. Step into his showroom filled with cases of artisanal, handcrafted chocolates and you’ll feel a bit like Charlie in the chocolate factory; the back is where all the magic happens, the humble bean turning into the glammed-up truffle sphere.
As for chocolate’s enduring appeal on Valentine’s Day? Auboine says it’s no mystery: “Chocolate is sexy. It’s because of the texture. It’s something warm when it’s melting. It’s something very, very feminine. … It’s also something very addictive, just like love sometimes. You eat a little bit and you want a little bit more and a little bit more, and that certainly plays a role in the Valentine’s Day magic.”
– Genevie Durano • Las Vegas Weekly
Photo: Miranda Alam