Diet Center Wishes
You a Sweet and
Healthy New Year
metro
Chocolate And Tai Chi
Multitalented chef, teacher turns
his focus on disparate practices.
Remember, each day you make
the choice to LOSE, GAIN or
MAINTAIN your weight
TIPS FOR THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS
1.Chew gum while cooking to curb cravings
and avoid Bites, Licks and Tastes.
2. No one will be offended if you don't finish
everything on your plate.
3. Fill your plate with healthy veggies and salad.
4. Stick with poultry and lean cuts of meat.
5. If you want to know what is in a dish, compliment
the cook and ask how she/he prepared it.
6.Avoid appetizers, it will only add up to excess
calories and make you crave other unhealthy foods.
7. When you are done with dinner, get up from
the table. Sitting at the table will result in
consuming unwanted calories!
8.You cannot "save" calories for a big meal.
Eat healthy meals during the day.
9. Enjoy fruit for dessert.
10.Go to dinner with a PLAN to be successful.
Resolving to lose weight in 5775
will reduce your risk of
Heart Disease
Cancer
Stroke
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Infertility
Dementia and more
About Diet Center
• Diet Center offers 4 programs that range
from meal replacements to all grocery
store foods.
• We've helped 15 million people lose
weight over the past 41 years.
• All of our diets focus on giving you all
of your daily nutrition so you feel your best.
• Our consultations are free.
• We offer different payment options.
• Most people find our programs very affordable.
• Our diets focus on buming fat and retaining
lean tissue, lowering your overall body fat
percentage.
For more information on how
Diet Center can help you lose weight
and keep it off for good call
248-932-DIET (3438)
6736 Orchard Lake Road
South of 15 Mile in
West Bloomfield Plaza
DIET
CENTER
The Weight Loss Pro ssionals.®
1949050
22 September 25 • 2014
I
Barbara Lewis
Contributing Writer
W
hat do organic, vegan, raw
chocolate and the ancient
Chinese art of tai chi have
in common?
In Metro Detroit at least, the
answer is Ethan Malzberg, a pastry
chef-turned-chocolatier who prac-
tices and teaches tai chi, including a
weekly class at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield.
Malzberg, 45, of Oak Park complet-
ed a culinary arts program at Oakland
Community College after graduating
from Southfield-Lathrup High School.
He worked for many years as a pas-
try chef, including seven years at Matt
Prentice's Milk & Honey in the JCC,
and briefly had his own bakery busi-
ness in Ferndale.
"The business was growing, but I
couldn't find a commercial kitchen:'
he said. Without a commercial kitch-
en, he couldn't produce enough to
meet demand.
Malzberg's friend, Zack Lang,
with whom he trains in tai chi in
Ann Arbor, is a raw vegan chef. That
means he doesn't use animal products
in his cooking — no milk, eggs or
honey — and he doesn't cook any of
his food, so refined sugar is taboo.
"One day, he asked me about
chocolate Malzberg said. "He said
he couldn't get it to stay firm at room
temperature. I knew right away it
was because he wasn't tempering it
properly:'
Tempering is a process of heating
and cooling the chocolate so that the
cocoa butter hardens in a uniform
crystal structure. It's something all
pastry chefs learn.
After helping Lang fix his problem,
Malzberg realized there was a niche
market for raw, vegan chocolate.
Partnering with Lang, he created
Sweet Gratifications. Malzberg's
father, Melvin Malzberg of Southfield,
is a co-owner.
Another friend, chiropractor Silvio
Cozzetto, who runs the Be Well
Lifestyle Center in Birmingham, pro-
vided space for the nascent company.
Since October, Malzberg has been
using the kitchen in the center's juice
bar after hours to produce his confec-
tions.
The goods are sold at the Be Well
Ethan Malzberg with his raw, vegan chocolate
center, at the Royal Oak Farmers
Market and at Nutri-Foods in Royal
Oak.
In addition to several types of
chocolate bark, including one with cof-
fee and one with a touch of cayenne
pepper, he produces a chocolate pecan
turtle; "magic" bars with a graham-like
crust made from almonds, cinnamon
and coconut oil; energy bars with
shredded coconut, coconut nectar
and chia, quinoa and hemp seeds; and
granola.
Malzberg thinks there's a much
larger market for organic, raw, vegan
chocolate than the 20 pounds per week
he's able to produce now.
He's hoping to rent a commercial
kitchen and is considering a crowd-
sourcing campaign so he can buy the
machinery that will enable him to take
the raw ingredients "from bean to bar:'
Without specialized equipment, he
can't work with cacao beans, but has to
purchase cacao paste and cacao butter;
both come from the cacao beans and
are recombined to form chocolate.
Tai Chi, Too
Meanwhile, Malzberg continues to
study and teach tai chi, a practice
developed in China in the 12th cen-
tury. The term translates as "supreme
ultimate fist:' "boundless fist:'
supreme ultimate boxing" or "great
extremes boxing:' He's certified as a
Level 3 Duan Wei, which he describes
as similar to a brown belt in karate.
"
Though it's regarded as a martial
art, in the United States tai chi is
almost always practiced for its health
benefits rather than for self-defense.
Malzberg said practicing tai chi has
helped him control his diabetes and
makes it easier for him to be on his
feet all day.
Because the movements are slow, tai
chi has become popular among older
adults. Malzberg says most of his stu-
dents at the JCC are older than 65.
Mona Greenbaum of West
Bloomfield, a retired teacher, says
Malzberg's tai chi classes helped her
with balance problems caused by
a serious neurologic illness several
years ago.
"He is very patient and does not
mind repeating movements as much
as needed:' she said. "In fact, that is
part of his methodology and struc-
ture of the class. He asks us what
we need to review and spends the
needed time. I really look forward to
each Tuesday at 12:30!"
Malzberg teaches with Marilyn
Feingold of Livonia, whom he met at
the Ann Arbor tai chi center.
"He's very knowledgeable and
has an easygoing way about him,"
Feingold said. "He has a very relaxed
teaching style:'
After they'd been working together
for a year, Malzberg said, it struck
him how odd it was that two Jews
were teaching this ancient Chinese art
to a class full of Jews. ❑