W hat comes to your mind when you hear the words "chocolate cake?" * What's the first thing you think of when you see the words "heavy cream?" * What do the words "fried eggs" mean to you?

A few years ago, professor Paul Rozin of the University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues conducted a battery of cross-cultural surveys of food attitudes and discovered that we Americans answer these questions quite differently from those in other countries. In fact, Rozin concluded that of the population groups he studied, Americans associated food with pleasure the least.

For example, when confronted with the words "chocolate cake," the typical Frenchman says "celebration." The typical American says "guilt." Similarly, for the French the words "heavy cream" elicit "whipped" in response, while for Americans "unhealthy" is the first reaction. To the French, fried eggs mean "breakfast," but to most Americans they mean "cholesterol."

These results are telling for someone like me for whom eating has always been a consuming passion. And they are particularly provocative right now since I have resolved this New Year to go on a diet. (There's a four-letter word I find particularly offensive.)

Of course, I am not alone. America has become a "supersized" nation. As journalist Michael Pollan points out, save for a handful of South Sea Islanders, we are the fattest people on earth. According to obesity expert Greg Critser, we eat on average 200 calories more per day than we did just a couple of decades ago.

No wonder we seem to be obsessed with dieting. That obsession, by the way, is not new. Weight-loss fads go back to the 1890s, perhaps not coincidentally, as author Jeanne Schinto notes, about the same time that the ice cream sundae was invented. Over the ensuing years, lots of different and often conflicting approaches to losing weight have been championed. No sooner had what Pollan calls "lipophobia" spawned an entire industry of fat-free foods than Dr. Atkins came along promoting a high-fat diet. That, of course, gave way to today's rage, what Pollan refers to as "carbophobia."

So what are those of us who are "corporeally challenged," to use Jeffrey Steingarten's term, to do? The sad truth is that the only way to lose weight is to take in fewer calories than you burn. That leaves only two options: exercise more or eat less. (In my case, probably both are a good idea.)

But Rozin's study suggests that in the process we might also be wise to take a lesson from the French, who, unlike us, do not suffer from what food marketing consultant Chris Wolf calls "dietary schizophrenia," a tendency to constantly alternate between indulgence and sacrifice. And, it turns out, the French are generally healthier and thinner than we are despite their food choices. Pollan points out that they eat all sorts of "bad" foods, but only in small portions, with no seconds and no snacking. They seldom eat alone, but instead at communal meals that are long and leisurely. (In contrast, in this country sit-down dinners have fallen to just three per week on average.) Their secret, says Rozin, is eating less and enjoying it more. That's an approach that in the long run may work better than any fad diet.

Listen to A Harte Appetite at 8:49 a.m. Fridays on KRCU, 90.9 FM. Write A Harte Appetite, c/o the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semissourian.com.

Devil's Food Cake

A recipe for chocolate cake in a column about dieting? Why not? If you adopt the French way and eat it only occasionally and in prudent portions, you can savor every bite and still maintain your weight. This classic recipe is adapted from Pamela Asquith's "Ultimate Chocolate Cake Cookbook."

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cocoa

2 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

1 cup milk

Directions:

Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg whites with 3/4 cup of the sugar to soft peaks. Beat yolks with remaining 3/4 cup sugar to ribbon stage. Alternately, a third at a time, fold in milk and flour mixture into beaten yolks. Fold in egg whites. Mix until smooth, taking care not to overmix. Divide batter between two 8-inch pans which have been lined with wax paper and buttered and floured. Bake at 325 degrees about 30 minutes, until cakes are dry on top and start to shrink away from sides of the pan. Cool two minutes and remove from pans. When completely cool frost as desired.