Yes, eat your chocolate

It doesn’t happen often, and so it is with some elation that I announce that this week’s healthy food column features cocoa! Yes, just in time for Easter.

Let me clarify that I did not set out purposely to find an excuse for eating cocoa. Rather, I set out to learn whether copper is an important part of a healthy human diet. (The reason: I recently acquired a set of copper cookware).

And in fact, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “copper is an essential trace mineral present in all body tissues.†Sadly, the best way to ingest more copper is to eat more liver. For those of us who are not big fans of that particular food group, a little additional research revealed that copper can also be acquired (although in much smaller amounts) from shellfish, whole grains, beans and nuts, potatoes (at last, a reason to eat potatoes!) and dark leafies (broccoli raab is plentiful right now and is, in fact, often on sale at LaBonne’s market in Salisbury. Steam it until just tender, then quickly sauté it in a teaspoon or two of olive oil, and season with coarse salt, pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice). Sesame seeds and cashews are relatively good suppliers, too, as are crimini mushrooms and soybeans, sunflower seeds and chickpeas.

Dried fruits are a good source of copper (spring is near, but winter is still here; it’s not too late for a dried fruit compote, spiced up with some preserved ginger — which is also the perfect antidote to the stomach malaise that seems to be rumbling through the Northwest Corner).

And then there is cocoa. What better way to soothe your soul on a day that dawns with warm temperatures and sunny skies, and quickly devolves into a gray day with fat, wet snowflakes?

Many people think of copper as something that should be worn (as a bracelet, for example), not eaten. But you do need to eat it; perversely, it’s a mineral that helps your body stay healthy, but your body can’t produce it on its own. You have to eat it if you want to get it.

Copper as a food helps your body build up its red blood cells and ward off anemia and osteoporosis. It helps fight off the unhealthy heart-stopping cholesterol, and builds up the healthy heart-helping cholesterol.

And it’s actually not that hard to add to your daily meals; you’re probably already putting whole grains and dark greens on your table every day, and snacking on nuts and dried fruit (aren’t you?). Beware of antacids: If you eat a lot of them, they can keep your body from absorbing the copper you are eating.

And speaking of absorption, will your foods absorb copper from your cookware, if you are lucky enough to have copper pots, pans and baking dishes? For better or for worse, the answer is no, unless you have very old copper, or you’ve worn away the protective lining on your cookware. Nearly all modern copper cooking gear has a more neutral lining, usually tin, that keeps the mineral from getting into your food.

If you can get your hands on a set of copper for cooking, you will find that there are culinary advantages, even if your pans don’t provide a mineral boost to your meals. Copper is an excellent heat conductor, so heat spreads quickly and evenly to all parts of your cooking surface, eliminating hot spots that can scorch your food or make your pancakes come out uneven. And copper cools down almost the instant you take it away from its heat source. If you’re making sauces or, say, heating up milk for a pot of copper-rich hot cocoa, consider cooking in copper.

                         Pan de higo

There is no flour in this super-dense Spanish specialty (which is loaded with high-copper ingredients), so don’t be surprised when it’s more like Fig Newton filling than like a bread or a cake.  This recipe is adapted from one found at culinarymedianetwork.com.

1/2 pound dried figs, hard tips removed

1â„4 cup almonds

Pinch ground clove

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1â„4 teaspoon anise seeds

Cinnamon, to taste

2 teaspoons honey

Orange juice as needed to bring the mix together and for flavoring

Toast the almonds in a skillet over medium heat until they turn from light brown to golden brown. Let them cool, and then grind them in a food processor (be careful that they don’t turn to paste). Most of the almonds will be the size of cornmeal but you should have some larger, lentil-sized bits. Remove from the food processor and set aside.

Clean the dried figs and mince them in the food processor.

In a large bowl, mix the almonds, figs, clove, sesame seeds, anise seeds and cinnamon. Add just enough honey and orange juice to hold the mixture together. For a more American variation on this dessert, you could substitute maple syrup for the honey.

Press the mixture into a long thin roll of plastic wrap and then form it into a log, as you would with a roll of sushi or with cookie dough. Unwrap it and let it stand in a cool dry place for several days until it dries out.