Chocolate Day 2023: Valentine’s week has entered its third day, which is celebrated as Chocolate Day. Chocolate Day is celebrated on February 9. On this day, we give chocolates to our near and dear ones as well as give chocolates to colleagues, friends, etc. Nowadays chocolate comes in many flavors.
The history of chocolate dates back to the ancient Mayans and even earlier to the ancient Olmecs of southern Mexico. Did you know that chocolate used to be a bitter beverage, not an edible sweet treat?
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History of chocolate
Chocolate has a 4000 year history starting in ancient Mesoamerica, present-day Mexico. The first cocoa trees were found here to make chocolate. Let us tell you that in Latin America there was a civilization called Olmec that turned cocoa trees into chocolate. During rituals, they drank chocolate and used it as medicine.
After many centuries, the Mayans praised chocolate as the drink of the gods. Mayan chocolate is not sweet but is made from roasted and ground cocoa beans mixed with chili peppers, water and cornstarch. They poured this mixture from one pot to another and created a thick bubbling mixture called “xocolatl” which means “bitter water”.
By the 15th century, the Aztecs began using cocoa beans as currency. According to them, chocolate was a gift from a god named Quetzalcoatl, and used it as a refreshing drink, an aphrodisiac and even in preparation for war.
There is no evidence as to how chocolate reached Spain but it is believed that the Legend of Hernan Cortes 1528 brought chocolate to his homeland. It is believed that Cortes discovered chocolate during an expedition to America. He was looking for gold and instead of having it, he found a cup of cocoa given to him by the Aztec emperor.
When Cortes returned to his country, he introduced cocoa beans to the Spanish people. Here, the Spanish mix chocolate drinks with sugar and honey to sweeten the naturally bitter taste. Soon it became popular among the rich and wealthy. Even Catholic monks loved chocolate drinks to support religious activities.
How did chocolate get to Europe?
The French king named Louis XIII married Anne of Austria, daughter of the Spanish King Phillip III. During the celebration, she brought chocolate samples to the French royal court. Soon, chocolate arrived in England in special “chocolate houses”. The chocolate trend spread in Europe and several countries. Then they started growing cocoa and the area planted with cocoa increased along the equator.
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The chocolate revolution
It remained popular among the European aristocracy. For health benefits, royalty and the upper class consumed chocolate. At that time chocolate was made by hand, which was a slow and laborious process. But with the Industrial Revolution, situations and methods changed.
The invention of the chocolate press revolutionized chocolate production in 1828. This device pressed cocoa butter from roasted cocoa beans and created fine cocoa powder. This powder is then mixed with liquid and poured into a mold, where it solidifies into an edible chocolate bar. Like this, The modern era of chocolate was born.
Chocolate is made from the fruit of the cacao tree, which is native to Central and South America. These pods are called pods and each pod contains about 40 cocoa beans. The beans are dried and roasted to form cocoa beans.
Some interesting facts about Chocolate
As we know, there are different flavors in chocolate created by varying the quantities of different ingredients.
– Daniel Peter, a Swiss confectioner, in 1875 developed the first condensed milk chocolate using condensed milk invented by Henri Nestle.
– In the UK, Cadbury is the leading milk chocolate brand.
– Dark chocolate, also known as “plain chocolate”, is produced using a high percentage of cocoa along with fat-containing cocoa butter instead of milk. There are also dark milk chocolates and some hybrid chocolates.
– Dark chocolate known as medium sweet and bitter includes some added sugar and is commonly used in the United States.
– High quality dark chocolate is called Couverture chocolate. It has a high ratio of cocoa solids and cocoa butter and is precisely brewed. This type of chocolate is used by professionals for dipping, coating, molding and decorating. In French ‘Couverture’ means ‘cover’. Popular Couverture chocolate brands are Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, Callebaut and Guittard.
– White chocolate is made from sugar, milk and cocoa butter, without using cocoa powder.
– Barry Callebaut created a type of chocolate called Ruby chocolate. It was said to be in development since 2004 and was released to the public in 2017. It is made from Ruby cocoa beans and has a distinct red color and different flavors. It has a ‘sweet and sour’ taste.
Raw chocolate is unprocessed chocolate that has not been heated or mixed with other ingredients.
– Synthetic chocolate is formed by combining cocoa with other vegetable fats, usually tropical fats or hydrogenated fats, as a substitute for cocoa butter.
– Chocolate modeling is a combination of melted chocolate, corn syrup, glucose syrup or golden syrup. It is used by bakers to decorate cakes and pastries.
– After extracting most of the cocoa butter, it will form cocoa powder used to add flavor in baking and making chocolate drinks.
Now, you probably know about the origin of chocolate, how it is produced, and some information related to the types of chocolate.
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Source: pagasa.edu.vn