Appreciating Chocolate

July 9, 2007 by Fadzuli

Well for some of you already know that Chocolates, especially the nice ones are really darn expensive. Do you wonder why?

A look back in history will kind of allow us to understand why. Based on the few articles about the history of chocolates on the web, here’s a quick summary.

The first people whom cultivated and drank (not eaten) chocolates were the Mayans and the Aztecs which was dated about 3000 years ago. Then chocolates were still in the bitter type and they did not have the fermentation process and all, so what they did was they added Chili or Corn to make it better.

CHILI - WAHHH, THEY HAD THE FIRST HOT CHOCOLATE!!

It was known that Chocolates were known to be “THE FOOD FOR THE GODS”. The Aztec emperor, Montezuma drank thick chocolate dyed red. The drink was so prestigious that it was served in golden goblets that were thrown away after only one use. He liked it so much that he was purported to drink 50 goblets every day!

THE ENERGY BOOSTER

Well he was known to have many concubines, that was why he needed so much energy. Heh..more sex huh… It was known that he served chocolate to his army before they go into battles as it kept their energy level high.

In 1502, when Christopher Columbus came down to South America he discovered that the Aztecs were using cocoa beans as their currency. Apparently he did not found the potential of cocoa beans. 17 years later another adventurer, Hernando Cortez, saw the potential of the cocoa beans and brought it back to Spain.

NOW YOU TELL ME, MONEY CAN GROW ON TREES..sheesh

The Spaniards then began added ingredients to the chocolate to make it less bitter. Then chocolates were still only available to the rich as it was hard to transport the beans over and thus the price. By 1625, Cocoa Beans are Currency in Spain too: 200 small cocoa beans were valued at 1 Spanish real, or 4 cents.

By the 1800s, chocolate became ever so popular and soon new techniques of producing chocolates were found out. One of which is patented by a famous brand of chocolate, Van Houlten. These techniques lead chocolates to be mass manufactured and soon other brands like Cadburry caught up with the industries.

LOVE tool??

Chocolate are also known as a euphoric product as it creates a feeling of great happiness or well-being in people. Casanova was reputed for using chocolate with champagne to seduce the ladies.So its actually a love making tool huh..No wonder its sold out during Valentines day..heh.

A HEALTH PRODUCT

Dark chocolate high in flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans that is thought to have a blood-thinning effect similar to aspirin and may even lower blood pressure thus people whom have heart problems may consider this as their medication.

2 main type of chocolates..

Ok if you kind of fall asleep reading the top section of this article, you must at least know this… the first type is the Candy Chocolate which contains less than 10% cocoa such as Mars bars, Tobblerone. They are mostly found in supermarkets. The other is called Couverture chocolates which are those expensive ones cos they contain 70% cocoa..

Can you get Fat eating chocolates?

We all know that eating chocolates, may cause us to grow fat and all but in true fact that is normally caused by the chocolate candys cos it only contains 10% cocoa, the rest if it is either vegetable oil ( transfat) or preservatives which can causes harm to the body. Since there’s so much vegetable oil, its a true fact that eating such chocolates will make you grow fat.

Couverture chocolates are the kind that melts fast..Why? Couverture chocolates do not have preservatives on them nor vegetable oil. It’s always served fresh from the fridge!! Therefore the potential of getting any illness or growing fat is actually minimum.

So what are the ingredients in Couverture chocolates.

At least in industrial standards, 50% must be cocoa, the rest can be flavorings, nuts, soya milk and so on.

Since now you know more about the chocolates do read up so more yah.

You can read the articles here..

http://www.chocolatemonthclub.com/chocolatehistory.htm
http://www.peterbrooke.com/historyofchocolates.htm
http://www.chocolatelovers.com/history.htm

My Life Mission: I enable others to discover purpose in their lives and empower them to pursue their dreams and live life to the fullest with God’s blessing.