A Matter of Taste

Informal truffle-making parties at Senior House turned official last fall with the formation of one of MIT's latest student groups, the Lab for Chocolate Science. Members of the group experiment with making chocolate confections and, like many other labs, surround their experiments with movies, lectures, and competitions.

Founding president Ariel Segall '04 has had a passion for chocolate since childhood. After eating an unusual wasabi and ginger truffle at a friend's house, she decided to duplicate the concoction herself. She bought 20 kilograms of chocolate and five liters of cream and invited a group of friends to join her in making their own candy. Subsequent gatherings attracted so many students that a chocolate appreciation club seemed the logical next step.

It also gave Segall a way to continue exploring her infatuation with chocolate. "When you have 50 pounds of chocolate, you can experiment on things you wouldn't do on your own."

Among its early offerings, the club sponsored a lecture about the science of chocolate. In addition to truffle-making parties, the club also held sessions on chocolate sculpting, a chocolate brunch buffet, and a chocolate tasting that included 65 different dark-chocolate candy bars. The outcome of the contest proved difficult to predict. "Good chocolate is a matter of taste," says Segall.

Following an article about the club in the New York Times, food television networks expressed interest in having members of the group on shows. In the meantime, current president Janet Leung '06 is looking for a professor who can help test the mechanical strength of chocolate.