Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary and Guy, a young and happy couple move into an old apartment building that has a terrible history. As they are settling into their new home and begin to start a family Guy becomes very close with the odd elderly couple that live next door. Rosemary experiences a number of strange happenings such as the suicide of a woman staying with her elderly neighbors, a realistic nightmare where she is being raped by a monster and her husband becomes extremely distant. When she becomes pregnant things get worse; in extreme pain, losing weight and is forced daily to drink a home remedy made by her neighbor. Rosemary learns about ancient satanic rituals, witch's covens and about a plot against her and her baby.

In the scene before she is raped by the devil incarnate Rosemary ate a chocolate mousse which was drugged by her neighbors. She is dizzy and eventually passes out and is semi-conscious during the violent act against her. Food and drinks with drugs or poisons slipped in them are not a new phenomenon. In Roman times deaths by poisioned food was common and were usually conducted for political reasons or because of social standing. There are numerous accounts of Roman Emperor Claudius having been poisioned. Some claim he was poisioned in a single dose at his evening meal and others claim that he was given multiple doses. There were many people who were accused of having poisioned him but the two which had most to gain from his death was his son Nero and his last wife Agrippina. During the middle ages posions were easily obtained through the local apothacary but it was during the Renaissance that poisioning had reached its highest popularity.

Not all of the storys regarding poisioning are from so far back in history. In the 1920's and 1930's, Vera Renczi poisioned her first husband's wine and dinner with arsenic after suspecting him of being unfaithful. Her second marriage ended the same as the first and she never remairred but carried out a number of affairs who would mysteriously disappear after their encounter with Vera. When she was finally caught she confessed to and was convicted of 35 murders by poisioning.

One of the most recent and shocking cases involving poisioning was of Dr. Harold Shipman a British general practitioner who was convicted of being a serial killer. He was issued a life sentence for killing 15 people. Further investigation into Shipman's career as a doctor led to evidence of 218 people who most likely were murdered by him poisioning them with an overdose of morphine or other medications.

Make this Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse yourself so you will know it is not poisioned. Enjoy!

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

4 Large egg yolks
1/4 Cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Ounces bittersweet chocolate
3/4 Cup heavy cream

Preparation

Chop the chocolate finely and set aside. In a double boiler, whisk together the yolks, sugar and salt until the sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch. Take it off the heat and quickly whisk in the chopped chocolate until it has melted and cocoa until it is thick and smooth. Cool to room temperature. In a bowl whip the cream until soft peaks form and then whisk 1/2 of the whipped cream unto the room temperature chocolate mixture. Gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. Chill at least 2 hours and up to one day.