By FPL_Sunita
“Chocolate is happiness that you can eat.” Ursula Kohaupt
Let’s celebrate all things chocolate. One of our favorite days of the year, October 28, marks National Chocolate Day! Chocolate has been a favorite sweet treat amongst children and adults everywhere around the world for centuries.
People around the world (but mostly in Europe and the United States) consume more than 3 million tons of cocoa beans a year. According to the World Cocoa Foundation, some research shows that smell of chocolate is a natural calming agent.
Chocolate dates back thousands of years and can be traced back to the Aztecs. They preferred to enjoy their chocolate in a drink form, known as “xocoatl”, that was pure chocolate and ZERO sugar.
Chocolate comes from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao, which has been cultivated for at least three millennia, is grown in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America.
The earliest known documentation of using cacao seeds is from around 1100 BC. The cacao tree seeds have a very intense, bitter taste that must be fermented to develop the flavor. Once the seeds have been fermented, the beans are dried, cleaned and roasted. After roasting, the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The cacao nibs are then ground into cocoa mass, which is pure chocolate in rough form. The cocoa mass is usually liquefied then molded with or without other ingredients to make cocoa powder and ultimately chocolate. Cacao beans were so valuable that it is presumed at one point they were used as currency.
In Honor of National Chocolate Day! Grab a delicious bar of chocolate and share with us your favorite chocolate. Take a Poll!
Here is a list of books to enjoy this day!
Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes and Home Made Candy Recipes
To celebrate National Chocolate Day, try a new recipe using chocolate, or treat yourself to some chocolate with each meal today!
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