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Friday, April 10, 2009

Hey, the First Snort is Always Free-

This guy is from Harvard? That must be a typo. He's got to be from MIT...


For those who live and breathe chocolate, a puff

Boston Globe, Friday, April 10, 2009

Chocoholics rejoice: A Harvard professor has invented a calorie-free way of experiencing the sweet obsession - by inhaling it.

Biomedical engineer David Edwards has created a mini-inhaler - dubbed Le Whif - that shoots a chocolate mist into one's mouth, mimicking, he says, the experience of savoring the real thing. The price tag is about $2 for four puffs.

Edwards is known in science circles for designing a more efficient way to deliver inhaled medicines by tinkering with the particle sizes, and he has tapped that science in his lipstick-size chocolate delivery gadget. The chocolate particles are small enough to shoot out of the brightly-colored inhaler, but too large to make it to the lungs.

Not only does this delivery system remove the guilt that comes with chocolate's calories, he says, but it also moves us toward our culinary future. Evolution, he says, is trending toward smaller meals eaten more frequently - until chewing is pretty much replaced by breathing. "Breathing is eating," he says.

Adds the professor: "The whole process is very art-science. You have a culinary art and aerosol science meeting."

Of course, before dessert comes the main meal; Edwards has plans for inventing inhalable steak, carrots, and more. But for now, he is busy marketing Le Whif; a world tour is on tap.

"You can carry it in your pocket, you get the taste of chocolate, and your hands are clean and you put it back," Edwards says.

How does it taste? Think inhaled cocoa powder. Based on a personal test, the candy bar doesn't appear to be in danger.

Frank Terranova, a Johnson & Wales University culinary instructor who hasn't caught a "whiff" yet, is skeptical.

"I don't think you can call it a cuisine," he said. "I think you can call it a gimmick."


A "gimmick"? Surely not...

- -

Mrs. Chili pointed this Jon Stewart clip out on her blog. I'd say it hits the nail pretty squarely on the head...

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8 comments:

Phoebe Fay said...

Um, yeah, okay, fine. You guys go with the whiffy thing. More real chocolate left for ME!

Christina said...

I think that video says it all!

Mrs. Chili said...

I'm ALREADY a chocolate junkie; snorting the stuff is just silly.

HEY! How come the video embedded properly for you, but not for me?!

Don't you LOVE Jon Stewart? Really, for me, it's his facial expressions. When the eyebrows go up and he stares at the camera (kind of like he's doing when you open your page), I already start laughing. Really? People like him who point out the patently absurd are my heroes.

here today, gone tomorrow said...

I'll just sniff the chocolate I'm going to eat, thanks very much.

Forrest Proper said...

Phoebe: not so fast! FB is still imbibing, as am I!

Christina: welcome to MMB! And yes, it does, doesn't it? I have to admit I've re-watched it a few times today...

Mrs.C.- Yeah, you really have to watch him, not just listen. Half the humor is in his face.

HTGT- see my note to Phoebe. This is one fad I'm going to pass on.

Malach the Merciless said...

Now that is a coke addiction and a half!

The Preacherman said...

Now white chocolate I could understand.... ;-)

Commander Zaius said...

All the freaks are coming out the woodwork.
Stewart puts it all in a commonsense manner that any idiot should understand....wait a minute, we are talking about rabid crazed repubulicans. Never mind.

May have to steal this Colonel.