Chocolate

Chocolate For centuries, chocolate was a bitter drink, but it became a famously favored food when the ingredients were sweetened and solid chocolate was invented.

Nature’s SWEETEST treat

By the way... I, Montezuma, emperor of the Aztecs, may have been one of the first chocoholics. Every day, I drank at least 50 cups of cacao from my golden chalice. Slurp!

Food of the gods

Chocolate has its roots in the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao. This Latin name means “food of the gods,” and the tree has long flourished in the hot climate of Central and South America. Inside each colorful fruit pod are sweet juice and bItter cAcAo beAns— the essential ingredient of chocolate.

Ancient chocolatiers

Cacao beans were an integral part of ancient life in Mexico and Central America, making the Inca, Aztec, and Maya peoples the first true chocolatiers. They mixed cacao beans with spices to create a bitter drink called chocolatl, from which chocolate takes its name. Believing the beans had MAgIcAl propertIes, they used the drink in their sacred birth, marriage, and death rituals.

It paved the way for…

Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter added condensed milk to the recipe in 1875 and invented

milk chocolate bars. Fellow Swiss chocolatier roDolPhe linDt created the process of conching in 1879, which produced smooth chocolate without the gritty texture it had previously.

In the 16th century, European conquistadors arrived in the Americas and discovered the cacao beans. Realizing the commercial opportunity, Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortéz sweetened the chocolatl drink with cane sugar to cater to European tastes. In the 17th century, fashionable chocolate houses were popping up across Europe, allowing high society to savor the new taste. Only the wealthy could afford this sweet treat.

Birth of the bar

In 1828, Dutch chemist Casparus Van Houten invented powdered chocolate or “Dutch cocoa.”

Englishman Joseph Fry then added melted cocoa butter to Dutch cocoa in 1847, producing chocolate paste. solid chocolate was born! In 1868, English chocolate company Cadbury began making and marketing bars of chocolate. The tasty new treat quickly spread around the world.

Chocolate is one of the world’s favorite flavors, and one of the most lucrative: The modern chocolate industry is expected to be worth a mouthwatering $98.3 billion by 2016. Although doctors recommend consuming chocolate in moderation, scientists are investigating the many chemicals in chocolate, How it changed the world searching for health benefits.

Known as “the Great American Chocolate Bar,” the HersHey bar went on sale in 1900. It became one of the world’s best-selling chocolate bars. The founding of the New

york CoCoa exCHaNge in 1925 recognized cocoa as an important Commodity that could be bought and sold on the open market.

Medical marvels

The medical world was under the weather for centuries due to a basic lack of understanding. Now it is the picture of good health, thanks to our attention to cleanliness and safety in treatments. Improvements in equipment were just what the doctor ordered, making them a welcome addition to clinics and hospitals. Forward-thinking inventions have gone for a check-up, been given the all-clear, and are now put to the best use—saving patients’ lives.