Of Truffles and Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake

Last night I hosted my book group. This month's book was "A Natural History of the Senses" by Diane Ackerman. If you ever had any random thoughts about the five senses, like, "where do truffles come from and why are they so expensive?" or "why do people kiss on the lips?" or "how did Beethoven write the Ninth Symphony when he was deaf?" then this book is for you. For our book club we always bring a dish to share that corresponds to the theme of the book, so naturally, last night's theme was all things decadent. After the author explained more than I wanted to know about truffles--in answer to the above question, truffles contain double the amount of male pig hormone than would normally appear in a boar, so they let sows loose in a field and wait for them to "dig with manic passion"--I made a truffle risotto. Tim truly believes mushrooms in any form are deadly (you'll have to ask him to explain that one) so I figured it would be my chance to cook with them without worrying about becoming a widow. This was my first exposure to the delicacy, and while I consider myself to have a somewhat sophisticated palate, I literally gagged as I added the truffle oil and therefore didn't even taste the stuff. It was a hit among the other ladies however. The other dish that thad the biggest fans was a Godiva chocolate cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. This is a true indulgence of the sort that consuming an entire slice in one sitting will cause those of weak gustation to claim "too rich for my blood." (John Jacobson, I think you could handle 2 slices.) Well, this afternoon London found herself a half-eaten slice in the trash and helped herself while I was looking the other way! Before I noticed her she had polished the thing off and was looking for more! Does anyone remember that scene in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure when Napoleon has just about polished off the 20-something scoop Ziggy Pig sundae and someone goes in for one last lick and Napoleon adeptly parries the attack with all the force of his spoon? That's what it reminded me of. For a second I was angry because, let's be honest, if this stuff is potent on your tongue it is downright deleterious on the carpet. But I quickly grabbed my camera and started snapping away instead. In case there was any doubt, London has officially declared herself a chocoholic in training. Like the sow in the field, I would put money on her unearthing any morsels her Grandpa John Jacobson as hidden under his bed!

On a side note, for all you Guffman fans out there--and if you're not you should be--please visit the link to "In Rare Form" for a most splendid review of the film.