12 Curiosities about chocolate
The chocolate is one of the most exquisite food that has won the hearts and palates of millions of people around the world. If you are an inveterate chocolate lover, you can not stop reading the following list about the most interesting curiosities of the "food of the gods" .
Curiosities:
It is believed that the first consumption of cocoa could occur between 1900 - 900 years before Christ . It is also thought that the inhabitants of that time had to discard the seeds, which by accident were fermented and thus discovered the way to make chocolate.
The cacao tree is native to the valleys of South America ; however, it was taken by the Maya in the seventh century to Mexico.
In the hieroglyphs made by the Mayan culture , chocolate is identified as a drink, even it is represented as the drink of the gods. The Dresden codex shows a hieroglyph in which the cacao (kakaw) in the form of a drink is offered to the god Kon (god of rain), next to the mural the text also appears: kakaw u hanal, whose meaning is: cocoa It is your food .
Mayan peoples prepared cocoa in different ways, although all of them were served as a hot drink .
Columbus was the first European who had contact with cocoa, in 1502 he was given in Guanaja, Honduras, a seed of cocoa that the Indians used as currency, although as food and drink was discovered years later by other Spaniards.
It is thought that cocoa was introduced to Europe thanks to the Spaniards at the time of the conquest. Since the invasion of Yucatan in 1517, the Spaniards had contact with the cocoa seed.
Maria Teresa of Austria , wife of Louis XIV was one of the first to introduce the thick liquid in the French court. In several meetings he used to use " La Chocolatera" , a machine that allowed to beat the chocolate while it melted, in later years, the wealthiest families acquired this practical machine with which they achieved the perfect point of chocolate creaminess.
After the introduction of chocolate in Europe, heated discussions are held over whether this delicious drink breaks the ecclesiastical fast .
There are three types of cocoa: the Creole which is one of the most scarce nowadays, the foreigner who is the most cultivated and trinitario that is a cross between the two previous ones.
Cocoa production in the world is dominated by Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana , accounting for almost 70% of world production.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the first chocolate factories appeared in both Europe and the United States.
Chocolate became a crucial food in the Second World War when the government of the United States decides to incorporate chocolate bars as a combat ration, in fact, entrusts Milton S. Hershey with the task of creating some chocolate bars special calls: " Chocolate from the Armed Forces of the United States" .
From the pre-Classic period to the present day, chocolate continues to position itself as one of the world's favorite foods , from hot and cold drinks, to pastries and even to salty foods, chocolate has conquered the heart and palate of millions of people. People around the world and you, are you a chocolate lover?