I did my grade six science project on chocolate. While I’m not sure how this qualified as a second-place winning scientific endeavor, I do know that exact moment began my love affair with chocolate.

Since then, I’ve been called a chocolate snob, fiend, connoisseur and a self-described chocoholic. It’s a surprise that my addiction hasn’t made me obese, but I do sleep better at night knowing that my addiction isn’t uncommon, especially around this time of year.

Valentine’s Day is the busiest single day of the year for chocolate sales in North America. Deborah Johnston, Manager of Kingston’s Laura Secord said sales typically go up by 300 per cent on Valentine’s Day and around 500 to 600 customers will come into the store every year on this one day.

“Traditionally, flowers and chocolate have always been associated with expressing love,” Johnston said.

Until the late 18th century, chocolate remained a good only the elite could afford, equating chocolate with luxury for the upper class. Although most types of chocolate are easily affordable in North America now, chocolate is still said to be an aphrodisiac, which may explain why it has become so synonymous with romance and Valentine’s Day.

Johnston said that males dominate the sales around Valentine’s Day and they’re particularly fond of the store’s truffles and heart boxes, she said, which they believe truly are a way to a woman’s heart.

Rachel Allison, Sci ’11, is the President of Queen’s International Food Appreciation Team (IFAT), a cooking club on campus. While she told me that she rarely eats chocolate just for the sake of it, she does like to bake with it.

“It’s very versatile for confectionary. It’s easier to manipulate in baking than something like sugar, for example,” she said.

In the past, she has received chocolate for Valentine’s Day, she said, but she’s usually disappointed because the gift-givers aren’t aware of the quality of the chocolate before purchasing.

“I only consider dark chocolate to be actual chocolate … you can tell the difference between the less expensive ones, which use sugar to hide flaws, and the more expensive varieties,” she said.

Allison, a frequent reader of one of my favourite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen, shared her favorite pudding recipe with me, which she describes as simply “to die for.” I would call it a simple end to a romantic meal, or gluttony for one in my case.