The Express Tribune hi five - July 14

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Your Proofness: Mahim Maher Master Storyteller: Sundar Waqar Creativity Analysts: Amna Iqbal, Essa Malik, Jamal Khurshid, Maha Haider, Samra Aamir, Kiran Shahid, Faizan Dawood, Anam Haleem, Umar Waqas

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Enter the world of chocolate PAGE 2

Make Nutella popsicles PAGE 4

Balloons... the new planes? PAGE 5

Cool facts about chocolate PAGE 6

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 14, 2013

Hi light

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When most of us hear the word chocolate, we picture a bar, a box of bonbons or a bunny. The verb that comes to mind is probably ‘eat,’ not ‘drink,’ and the most apt adjective would seem to be ‘sweet.’ But for about 90 percent of chocolate’s long history, it was strictly a beverage, and sugar didn’t have anything to do with it. Surprised? Let’s take a closer look at the fascinating and widely unknown history of chocolate and learn the process through which chocolate is made.

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The spread of the cacao tree started during the age of Colonialsim, as did the spread of cacao beans, and of chocolate itself. The cacao tree’s scientific name couldn’t be more apt; Theobroma cacao is Greek for “food of the gods” and the first people to make use of it were the Mayans, an ancient people who lived in the Yucatan Peninsula in South America, as far back as 600 AD.

The chocolate that was so integral to Mayan mythology would be unrecognizable to today’s candy lovers. The Th Mayans ground their cacao pods and mixed them with chili peppers, spices, water, and an even corn. This spicy chocolaty concoction of the Mayans would then be turned into h hot and cold frothy drinks or made into a kind kin of porridge.

Chocolate plays a critical role in Mayan mythology. There is much evidence that along with the medic medicinal value the Mayans placed on chocolate th the chocolate drinks they created also played play roles in Mayan religious emperors were often ceremonies. Mayan M buried with ja jars of chocolate by their side.

The Mayans e even had a goddess of chocolate, IxCacao, in their pantheon of deities.

For several centuries in preF modern Latin America, cacao beans (as some may call it cocoa beans) were conssidered valuable enough to

use as currency. One bean could be traded for tamale (Latin American dish), while 100 beans could purchase a good turkey hen, according to a 16th-century Aztec document. Both the Mayans and Aztecs believed the cacao bean had magical or even divine properties, suitable for use in the most sacred rituals of birth, marriage and death. According to some historians, Aztec sacrifice victims who felt too melancholy to join in ritual dancing before their death were often given chocolate to cheer them up.

Sweetened chocolate didn’t appear until Europeans discovered the Americas and sampled the native cuisine. Legend has it that the Aztec king Montezuma welcomed the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes with a banquet that included drinking chocolate, having mistaken him for a reincarnated deity instead of a conquering invader. Chocolate didn’t suit the foreigners’ taste buds at first but once mixed with honey or cane sugar, it quickly became popular throughout Spain.

By the 17th century, chocolate was a fashionable drink throughout Europe, believed to have nutritious and medicinal properties. But it remained largely a privilege of the rich until the invention of the steam engine made mass production possible in the late 1700s.

In 1828, a Dutch chemist found a way to make powdered chocolate by removing about half the

natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquid, pulverizing what remained and treating the mixture with alkaline salts to cut the bitter taste. His product became known as “Dutch cocoa,” and it soon led to the creation of solid chocolate.

The creation of the first modern chocolate bar is credited to Joseph Fry, who in 1847 discovered that he could make a moldable chocolate paste by adding melted cacao butter back into Dutch cocoa.

By 1868, a little company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candies in England. Milk chocolate hit the market a few years later, pioneered by another name that may ring a bell — Nestle.

In America, chocolate was so valued during the Revolutionary War that it was included in soldiers’ rations and used in place of wages. While most of us probably wouldn’t settle for a chocolate paycheck these days, statistics show that the humble cacao bean is still a powerful economic force. Did you know chocolate manufacturing is a more than 4-billion-dollar industry in the United States, and the average American eats at least half a pound of chocolate per month?

In the 20th century, the word “chocolate” expanded to include a range of affordable treats with more sugar and additives than actual cacao in them.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 14, 2013

3 Cacao beans are removed from the pods and placed in large heaps or piles for the shells to harden, the beans to darken, and the rich cocoa flavor to develop.

After drying, the beans are transported to the chocolate factory.

After arriving at the factory, the beans are stored by country of origin and roasted in large, revolving roasters at very high temperatures. A special hulling machine then takes the dry, roasted cocoa beans and separates the shell from the inside of the bean — called the “nib.” This is the part of the bean actually used to make chocolate. The nibs are then milled and turned into liquid. Now it is ready for the rest of the ingredients!

The main ingredients in chocolate: chocolate liquid, cocoa butter, sugar and milk are blended together. This new mixture is dried into a brown powder called chocolate crumb which is used to make milk chocolate. The crumb travels through special steel rollers which grind and refine the mixture making a thick liquid called chocolate paste. The paste is poured into huge vats called conches. Now the chocolate paste has the smooth, familiar look of milk chocolate and it’s ready to be moulded.

Most chocolate bars are made by pouring the liquid chocolate paste into moulds.

Did you know the moulding machines can fill more than 1,000 moulds per minute with chocolate? The filled moulds then take a bumpy ride to remove air bubbles and allow the chocolate to settle evenly. Finally, they wind their way through a long cooling tunnel where the liquid chocolate is gently chilled into a solid candy bar. Now it’s ready to wrap!!

What would you like to see in Hi Five? Send an email to hifive@tribune.com.pk and let us know!

Hi light

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 14, 2013

4 Recipes Chocolate Milkshake A fun and easy recipe to beat the heat with!

Ingredients: 3 scoops chocolate ice cream Chocolate syrup 1/2 cup of milk

Method

In blender combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into glass and serve.

Remember kids, always get permission from your parents before you start. Its always a good idea to have a helper nearby.

Nutella Popsicles These Nutella popsicles are made with just two ingredients. They taste a bit like a chocolate Paddle Pop but you can make them at home!

Method • Gather all ingredients and popsicle moulds.

• Place the milk and Nutella in a blender and blend until thoroughly combined.

• Pour into a popsicle moulds.

• Freeze and serve.

SOURCE: WWW.KIDSPOT.COM.AU

Ingredients: 1 cup full cream milk 1/3 cup Nutella

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 14, 2013

Get your weekly dose of the unusual and funny from across the globe!

Balloons… the new planes?

It’s not quite a wooden house, but it would still be pretty impressive if madcap balloonist Jonathan Trappe manages to complete his next adventure. In an attempt reminiscent of the hit Pixar movie Up, Trappe hopes to fly — or float — from Maine, in the US, across the Atlantic to Paris. That’s 4,000km (2,500 miles) by the power of helium-filled balloons. The only factor now is waiting for optimal flying conditions.

“I’ll be relying on a massive weather system of winds and pressure and need something strong enough to carry me all the way to Europe,” he said. He has finally managed to get hold of the helium to fill the 370 cluster balloons — enough to inflate about 400,000 party balloons. The trip is expected to take between three to seven days — much longer than the 14-hour cluster balloon flight record he currently holds.

While the attempt is the first of its type, five people have died trying to cross the Atlantic in hot-air balloons or single gas balloons. “I’m just as afraid of dying as anyone,” said Trappe. He became the only person to have crossed the English Channel by cluster balloon in May 2010, and the Alps in September 2011. METRO.CO.UK

World wide weird

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Real-life Superman

A Superman fan leapt into action and foiled a real-life crime after tackling a shoplifter — while dressed as The Man of Steel. Luke Junior was wearing his blue and red caped outfit as he helped out at a charity event when he spotted a thief running out of a food shop being chased by staff. Mr Junior — nicknamed Superman after once pulling two teenagers from their mangled car following a crash — grabbed the shoplifter and restrained him until police arrived. As the thief was taken away in cuffs, a nearby shop DJ completed the hard-to-believe scene by playing the Superman theme music and shoppers broke into a round of applause. Mr Junior, said: “When I was younger I always said I wanted to be some sort of Superman and the things I’m doing at the moment it’s like I already am.”

Now, like a true superhero, he has his eyes set on being a firefighter. “I want to save people,” he said.

METRO.CO.UK

I pronounce you bridge and wife Sniffin’ allergies A dog named Nano has become the first in Europe to be trained to sniff out nuts and snuff out allergies. The four-year-old poodle can pick up nut odours in both food and the environment, following his training by a medical dog charity in Buckinghamshire. The pup has been paired with severe nut allergy sufferer Yasmine Tornblad, 30, and his nose for nuts has dramatically transformed her life. Ms Tornblad, from Worcestershire, can have an allergic reaction from just the smell of nuts and has been rushed to hospital 15 times within the last eight years. The IT worker now takes Nano everywhere she goes including the office, business trips and even flights saying: “It has given me a bit of independence back. I can’t imagine life without him.” METRO.CO.UK

True love can take many forms.

In this case, it has taken the form of an Australian artist marrying a 600-year-old French bridge. Jodi Rose took her love for the structures to another level as she wedded the Le Pont du Diable Bridge in Céret, southern France. The new Mrs Le Pont du Diable has spent the last decade travelling across the globe recording the vibrations in bridge cables to incorporate in her Singing Bridges music project. Rose knew it was love at first sight when she set eyes on the ‘sensual’ 14th century bridge, as she apparently felt the earth move as she drew closer. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before they became bridge and wife. The happy couple might not have had the most conventional marriage but they enjoyed elements of a traditional wedding. The ceremony was an intimate affair with 14 guests including close personal friends and members of the local community. Even the mayor of neighbouring town Saint-Jean-de-Fos gave his blessing. Their union is not legally recognised in France, but Rose claims their marriage is as strong as any other. METRO.CO.UK

Leap of faith A panic-stricken impala being chased by cheetahs was seconds from death in a South African safari park — until it leaped into a car full of tourists. It jumped through an open window on the passenger side of a Toyota Prado in a daring escape filmed by onlooker Samantha Pittendrigh. The 20-year-old said: ‘We saw the impala jump out of the bushes and then someone started screaming, “It is in the car, it is in the car”. People in other cars screamed, “Open the door, open the door”.’ One passenger managed to open the door and the impala trotted across the road to freedom, with the cheetahs metres away. The incident took place in Kruger National Park where visitors are not allowed to leave their vehicles. METRO.CO.UK

Fox visits the loo Anthony Schofield was attacked at his Catford home last week as he was sitting on the toilet. The unemployed carpenter claims he was ‘quietly going about his business when a fox burst into the bathroom. He was led on a frantic chase round the living room by the creature, which went on to maul his partner and pet cat. Mr Schofield told the News Shopper: ‘I didn’t even have time to wipe myself.’ The 49-year-old was enjoying a quiet day at home when the fox paid a surprise visit and attacked him and his cat, Jessie. It locked itself onto my arm but still had the cat as well.

The unemployed carpenter was treated at hospital for cuts and bruises.

But his 14-year-old rescue cat did not fare so well, having sustained facial injuries. She now refuses to go into the living room. Mr Schofield added: ‘It was so frightening. It was like a wild animal.’ METRO.CO.UK

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 14, 2013

Did you know?

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s n i g i r O d r o W Chocolate You now know how chocolate transformed from a spicy beverage to the solid sweet bars we now have. But have you been wondering how chocolate got its name? Or did you think the Aztecs also called their version of chocolate, chocolate? Well, the English word ‘chocolate’ comes ultimately from the Aztec word chocolatl meaning an edible substance made from, amongst other ingredients, the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree. When the first Spanish explorers encountered chocolatl in Central America, they apparently mixed it up with the word cacahuatl, the name of the Aztec drink made from cacao. Because Spanish explorers used the term ‘chocolate’ to incorrectly denote the drink made from cacao, the earliest definition of the word, refers to ‘a beverage made from the seeds of the cacao tree’. It is first cited by Edward Grimstone in Acosta’s Historie of the West Indies, 1604, in which he states “The chiefe vise of this cacao is in a drinke which they call Chocolate.” From then on ‘chocolate’ has become the popular name of the products created using the cacao beans.

How to Say ‘Chocolate’ in many different languages Afrikaans Albanian Asturian Basque Bosnian Croatian Danish Deutch Fijian Finnish French Greek Indonesian Italian Japanese Latin Maltese Norwegian Polish Russian

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Tjoklit Cokollate Chicolate Txokolatea Coswer Cokolada Chokolade Schokolade Jokiliti Suklaa Chocolat Sokolata Coklat Cioccolato Shokora Scelerisque Cikkolata Sjokolade Czekolada Sokolad

Cool facts Percy Spence, a scientist working on WWII radar and weapons project, was working near a magnetron when he noticed the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted.

He quickly put two and two together and realized magnetrons might be able to heat up food at incredibly fast rates, and viola, the microwave oven was born.

There are a lot of naturally occurring chemicals present in chocolate that trigger the release of endorphins from the brain. These chemicals release stress, make us feel less frustrated and happy.

Even the smell of chocolate makes you feel relaxed, as it increases waves in the brain.

Dark chocolates help prevent tooth cavities and also lead to whiter teeth.

Americans consume about half of all of the world’s chocolate while Europeans are responsible for about 40% of the planet’s chocolate consumption.

Chocolate producers worldwide annually use around 20% of the world’s peanut crops and about 40% of all of the almonds grown.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 14, 2013

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Fun & games

Crossword

How carefully did you read this week’s issue of HiFive? If you think you are upto the task, try to solve our special crossword. The answers are all over HiFive! Put on your thinking caps, it is time to put the old noggin to work!

Across 2. Chemicals in chocolate release stress, make us feel less frustrated and ----------4. Brown powder called chocolate --------- — is used to make chocolate 7.

Chocolate is called ciocolatto in -----------8. But for about 90 percent of chocolate’s long history, it was strictly a ------------9. The Mayans ground their cacao pods and mixed them with chili peppers, spices, water, and even ------12. Dark chocolates helps ---------- — tooth cavities and also lead to whiter teeth 14. Most chocolate bars are made by pouring the liquid chocolate paste into ----------17. There are a lot of naturally occurring ----------- — present in chocolate that trigger the release of endorphins from the brain 18. By the 17th century, chocolate was a fashionable ------— throughout Europe, believed to have nutritious and medicinal properties 19. In 1828, a Dutch chemist found a way to make ---------— chocolate

Down 1. For several centuries in pre-modern Latin America, cacao beans were considered valuable enough to use as ----------3. Chocolate producers worldwide annually use around 20% of the world’s -------- — crops 4. The English word ------------ — comes ultimately from the Aztec word chocolatl 5. The filled moulds then take a bumpy ride to remove air -------- — and allow the chocolate to settle evenly 6. Perry Spence was working on WWII radar and weapons projects when chocolate melted in his pocket and he came up with the ---------------10. The crumb travels through special steel rollers which grind and refine the mixture making a thick liquid called chocolate --------11. Even the ---------- — of chocolate makes you feel relaxed, as it increases waves in brain 13. ------------- — chocolate didn’t appear until Europeans discovered the Americas and sampled the native cuisine 14. Both the Mayans and Aztecs believed the cacao bean had -------- — or even divine properties 15. The inside of the bean used to make chocolate is called the -------16. The ------ — tree’s scientific name is Greek for “food of the gods”

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 14, 2013

Comic!

Find your way through the maze