Itās a sweetener, but itās also a throat salve, pre-workout, seasonal allergy fighter (if local) and sleep-aid.
Itās worth spending more on because it is a Swiss-army-knife of foods. Get raw, local, glyphosate free if you can.
This is specifically for NYC people. In Ridgewood Queens there is a hole in the wall high quality chocolate shop.
Itās run by an eccentric and amazing man named Constantine and his wife. He will talk your ear off for a half an hour about āthe benefitsā of chocolate and how itās a panacea for pretty much everything. How big chocolate gives away most of the cocoa butter to the cosmetic industry. Heāll also talk to you about how he asks ChatGPT about chocolate and itās wrong a lot of the time.
Youāll then buy a bar even though itās small and $10. But you will go home and have a little piece after dinner and never taste chocolate the same way againā¦
Ceramic pans are unfortunately not very long lasting, once the coating is damaged you canāt really fix it. Most of these pans also lose their nonstick qualities after a while.
I suggest investing in a carbon steel or cast iron pan, which can be re-seasoned if damaged. Or stainless steel which is pretty indestructible as far as I can tell. These are lifelong pans!