Valentine’s Day Gift

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I thought I’d do a little research on the history of the date.  Did you know that associations between February 14th and romance-related concepts date all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome?

Historically, in ancient Rome February 14th was the festival of Lupercalia, a day devoted to both fertility and driving off evil spirits.  Lupercalia was named for the wolf Lupa who, according to legend, raised the orphaned twins Romulus and Remus, who later founded Rome.  While many scholars believe the festival predated Rome itself, its past origins are unclear.

In ancient Greece, mid-February marked the end of Gamelion, the month dedicated to the marriage of Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of the Greek gods.

As for St Valentine himself, well, there were three St. Valentines-one of Rome, one of Terni, and one of Africa.  As far as scholars can tell, none were originally associated with anything romantic.  But by 1382, the day of St. Valentine (both he of Rome and he of Terni, whose stories merged over time) had become sufficiently entwined with mating and marriage for Chaucer to write in a poem honoring the engagement of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia:

For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

(“For this was Saint Valentine’s Day/When every bird comes there to choose his mate.”)

And from there, the rest was history.  To help you celebrate Valentine’s today, here’s a delicious dessert recipe for two!

Cappuccino Soufflé: (for two)

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon water
2 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Sauce:

1/4 cup half-and-half or light cream
1 ounce semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

• Prepare Cappuccino Soufflé:
• Grease two 6- to 8-ounce ramekins with butter; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.
• In cup, stir coffee, vanilla, and cinnamon until dissolved.
• In large bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
• Beating at high speed, sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. Add coffee mixture and beat on low speed just until blended.
• Spoon mixture into ramekins.
• Bake 10 minutes or until soufflés are puffed and edges are browned.
• Meanwhile, prepare Chocolate Sauce:
• In microwave-safe 1-cup liquid measure, combine sauce ingredients.
• Cook in microwave oven on High 30 seconds; stir, scraping chocolate from bottom of cup.
• Cook 15 seconds; stir until smooth.
• Serve soufflés immediately. With spoon, break centres of soufflés and pour in sauce.

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