Chocolate is one such beverage which we all love to eat, be it as a chocolate bar or as a choco truffle cake, But do you know that how it all started? Chocolate was never a candy or a bar, in fact, it was used as a drink for many years.
Today on world chocolate day we will tell you how it all started. World chocolate day was started in 2009 to mark the importance of chocolate in our lives.
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There is no known place where it actually started but first chocolate production is known to be started from Europe. Europeans were quite used to drink hot chocolate because of harsh Arctic winters.
The very first chocolate was made from coco powder, popularly known as cocoa powder which is made from a cocoa plant. The very first cocoa saplings were discovered by Europeans in central America.
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The terminology can be a little confusing, but most experts these days use the term “cacao” to refer to the plant or its beans before processing, while the term “chocolate” refers to anything made from the beans, she explained. “Cocoa” generally refers to chocolate in a powdered form, although it can also be a British form of “cacao.”
Etymologists trace the origin of the word “chocolate” to the Aztec word “xocoatl,” which referred to a bitter drink brewed from cacao beans. The Latin name for the cacao tree,
Theobroma cacao, means “food of the gods.”
In 1828, a Dutch chemist found a way to make powdered chocolate by removing about half the natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquor, 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.
In 1868 a small company
'Cadbury' started producing chocolate boxes with small candies in England. A few years later Swiss company Nestle introduced the milk chocolate which took the markets by storm. Chocolates have a lot of beneficial facts as it soothes cough and it is also good for heart health. Chocolate is also good for your brain and it helps in curbing food cravings.
What are your favourite chocolate type, do let us know in the comments section below and for more freshly brewed content keep visiting gabruu.com