Chocolate - from history to curious facts, everything you need to know
I have always considered myself a chocolate freak, a person whose favourite dessert is chocolate filled with chocolate on top of chocolate with a chocolate dressing, sprinkled with chocolate. Since I consider Sunday a day for a fun article, today I will write about all those truths and myths behind chocolate, some history and the reasons why most of us love it so much. I know that you know that I love curious facts about things, I won't forget them here, dont worry. If you aren't drooling already, you will be by the time this post is over. Don't say I didn't warn you :)
What is chocolate anyway?
Chocolate's main ingredient is cocoa. Cacao plants grow in the tropical areas near the Equator. Those plants have a fruit in a shape of a pod that has seeds about the size of almonds. Those seeds are covered with a white pulp. Cococa farmers need to open those pods, take out the seeds and then ferment and dry them. The beans are then shipped to factories all over the world where they are roasted and grinned. From that process, we get 47% cocoa solids and 53% cocoa butter that is the main source of fat in chocolate. Cocoa solids are milled into chocolate liquor or grounded into cocoa powder. The liquor is mixed with sugar and various other ingredients and we finally get the delicious dessert we know and love.
History of delight - "food of Gods"
We can trace the origins of chocolate all the way back to ancient Aztecs and Mayans. There is a term Theobroma cacao which means 'food of the gods' that Central American Mayan Indians used to describe a spicy drink chocolatl that they made from roasted cocoa beans. They drank it with chilli, water, vanilla, cornmeal and honey. It was very valuable to them and they did not drink it every day, only during their rituals and traditional celebrations. They even used cocoa beans as a form of currency. Cocoa was first brought to Europe in the 16th century by Spanians, but it was so expensive that only few could afford it. It wasn't until the Victorian era that the technique to make solid chocolate was invented. In 1828, the cocoa press was invented that separated chocolate into cocoa butter and solids, and it wasn't until the late 19th century that companies like Nestle and Hershey became popular with their mass production of chocolate bars. From those bars, all wonderful recipes came to life. From muffins, brownies, cakes, puddings, candy, chocolate filled and chocolate covered things to chocolate fountains, I love them all.
Types of chocolate
There is a great variety of chocolate on the market. Nowadays you can find chocolate with almost any flavour, from mint to chilli, but there are main categories that are commonly used. Unsweeten chocolate is pure chocolate, without any sugar, and is used mostly in baking. When you see or hear a term baking chocolate, that is it. Bittersweet chocolate has at least 35 percent pure chocolate with a small amount of sugar added, it is used for baking and eating. Semisweet chocolate is the most versatile and it comes in many forms. It also has at least 35 percent pure chocolate, just like the bittersweet kind, but it has cocoa butter added as well as sugar. Milk chocolate has at least 10 percent pure chocolate, cocoa butter and sugar. Milk chocolate is considered junk food because it’s not nutritious or healthy. When talking about the high-quality chocolate, all our senses have to be involved so experts use some main characteristics in deciding and defining the quality. Those characteristics are glossy shine, aroma, snap, texture and taste.
What is FAIR TRADE?
When buying chocolate, I always make sure that it has a fair trade label. Cacao production is extremely labour-intensive. Farmers are hand harvesting using machetes because the pods can reach a size almost as butternut squash. Average world market price for cocoa is about 49 cents/pound (info from 2001), and the actual fair trade price is 80 cents/pound. Fair price enables farmers to support their families and it also controls child and forced labour as well as sustainable crop management and environmental safeguarding plans. When buying your chocolate, please buy it from a Fair Trade Chocolate brands.
Is it good for us or just tasty?
Chocolate has some great benefits for us. Most of us eat it because it tastes good but there are things about it that you should know. According to some studies, chocolate improves cognitive performance and it contains flavonoids, the natural antioxidant plant compounds. Cocoa can reduce blood pressure, increase bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, and reduce platelet stickiness. Through an endorphin rush, chocolate also brings feelings of love because it triggers a positive emotional connection.
Women usually crave chocolate more than men, especially during their PMS. This is because lower levels of chemical serotonin occur at this stage of the cycle and eating high carb foods can trigger serotonin production. Eating chocolate when you are feeling a little down is perfectly normal, just don't over do it :)
Fun facts about chocolate
You can find all sorts of curious facts about chocolate online, here is a list of my favourites:
- The blood in Psycho's famous shower scene was actually chocolate syrup
- At one point the Nazis plotted to assassinate Winston Churchill with an exploding bar of chocolate
- It's believed that people who are allergic to chocolate are actually allergic to cockroaches, as around eight insect parts are typically found in a bar of chocolate
- Chocolate gives you a more intense mental high and gets your heart pounding more than kissing does
- Chocolate milk was invented in Jamaica
- Darker chocolates can have as much caffeine as a can of Coca-Cola
- White chocolate technically isn't chocolate because it doesn’t contain any cocoa solids
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Unsourced images are under CC0 License and are free for personal and commercial use. You can find them at pixabay.com. To check out the people who made these particular photos, check their profiles here: Marta Guillen, DrawsAndCooks, greekfood-tamystika.
For more information about chocolate, please check my sources:
Story of chocolate
Chocolate: Types, Selection and Storage
What is Chocolate
All About Chocolate by Ryan Andrews
41 Delicious Facts About Chocolate
Craving some chocolate now.
If you were interested in doing a post on chocolate related science, it would probably get some attention/ upvotes from the @steemstem community, so long as you used the steemstem tag.
Thank you, I did not think about that :) I added their tag just a moment ago. You are such a sweetheart 💚
Mmm I use the raw thus bitter powder in my oatmeal.
I do that too :) That is the only thing my oatmeal ever needs, everything else I add is just a bonus.
Like you mentioned Fair trade. Check this video out to see what is business behind cocoa and chocolate
My wife really must not see this fun fact:
=)
You haven't heard of that already? I laughed so hard when I read it a couple of years back. Yeah, we eat a lot of cockroaches. :)
Sve sto je cokoladno ja volim da jedem. Veoma mi se svidja tekst. :D
Da, ja isto, čokolada na sve :)
Great article. Love chocolate!!!
People who do not like chocolate are strange and scare me.
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For bitter raw cocoa to sweet chocolate, the transformation is very tempting. Everyone like to have a bite.....nice post @zen-art
Thank you @steemflow 💚
Yes! That's why coffee and chocolate is such a potent mix, cognitive improvements + productivity = awesomeness.
I do love dark chocolate . The cocoa fruit tastes deceptively different from real chocolate. Its actually rather sour.
I love dark chocolate too. I never had a sweet tooth, I just always needed that cocoa fix :)
I like two things those fun facts and dark chocolate ( 84% cocoa ) .
Thank you for your comment