The History Of Chocolate The Cut Down Version.
The history of chocolate starts with the cocoa tree which is native to the forests of South and Central America and grows to approximately 20 foot high.
This quite delicate tree starts to produce fruit in its 4th to 5th year. Large yellow or red pods encase a white pulp that hides its treasure of between 20 to 50 cocoa beans.
The cocoa bean was cultivated for centuries by the Maya Indians, the Mexican Aztecs and the Incas of Peru where they had ceremonial significance and were associated with the festivities of births and marriages. They were often used as a tribute or currency at these events. In some areas only those of the highest ranking could enjoy the wonderful drink boiling these beans could produce.
When the Spanish conquered Mexico in 1519 they were so taken with this chocolaty drink (although they did add sugar to sweeten the taste) they introduced these trees to Trinidad where they closely guarded their secret s of cultivation and preparation. It wasn’t long however before the trees spread to the West India Islands and The Philippines’. The Dutch are believed to have introduced them into Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Gull fog Guinea, South America however remained the chief exporter and producer until 1891.
In the Seventeenth century the drink was introduced to the noblemen and women of the courts of Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England. Chocolate still remained an expensive, exclusive luxury even though the secret to its preparation was no longer secret. When the first chocolate house was opened in London in 1657, the cost of a pound of chocolate was more than 6 months wages putting it way out of the price bracket of your average 17th century Londoner and making it only available to the very wealthy. This was due to the heavy import duty imposed on cocoa beans.
Both drinking and eating chocolate are relatively new inventions that were developed during the 19th century. The chocolate of today was not produced until a Dutchman discovered how to press the cocoa butter out of the beans.
The pressed beans could then produce a much less fatty drinking chocolate that was much more palatable than the rich buttery drink the Aztecs had made centuries earlier. The cocoa butter could then be used to make eating chocolate. These techniques were perfected in 1847 by J.S. Fry and the delicious bit of heaven that we know today as chocolate went on sale.
Now while the chocolate recipe is all very interesting, does it really matter to those of us who just want to gorge ourselves on the sweet creamy taste, how it got here. Or just that it did. The weird thing about history is that it changes all the time and while most things get better and progress naturally forward, Why is there always someone that wants’ to screw with a good thing. Something weird is happening to chocolate, it’s progressing and getting politically correct, it’s getting better for us while losing its delicious taste.
Chocolate doesn’t have a hard job to do, it doesn’t have to fund the cure for cancer or date Jessica Simpson it just has to tantalize our taste buds and make us smile as we swallow.
Chocolate lovers all over the world it’s time to pick up your chocolate molds get out of your chocolate fountain and put down your chocolate cake (only for a minute you can pick it up again as soon as we’ve made our point,) and tell the chocolate makers NO! We don’t want inferior chocolate any more; we don’t want the no-name, no frills, low calorie, low fat, sugar-free, carob chocolate.
We want our Cadbury’s, Mars, Hershey’s, Lindts and all those other delectable quality chocolates tasting as rich, creamy and delicious as they should. After all History teaches us to learn by our mistakes and you can’t improve on perfection!
May 22, 2009
Finest and Simple Method for Raising Your Grade through Chocolate Candy
Chocolate candy is maybe one of your friends for studying. It does so because they are very tasty to eat when you are studying or doing other kinds of activities. If you have tried a chocolate candy for once, you will sure not want to study blanking of it someday. Do you know why?
Before talking about the chocolate candy, have you heard of Pavlov’s dog? The study where a scientist named Pavlov taught a dog to associate the ringing of a bell with feeding time. He would ring the bell and feed the dog. Pretty soon, simply the ringing of that bell caused the dog to salivate. Anyway, that was a main advance in our brains work; even though the study was done on a dog.
We too can be taught to join together certain things and these can be utilized to remember things, for example when studying for a test. Indeed, you can utilize chocolate candy to help you get better grades on a test or just better grades in general? How? The smell and taste of the chocolate is such a sturdy one that it can be utilized as a mental marker to aid you memorize things you generally wouldn’t simply be able to.
The Smell of Chocolate Candy
For example you are studying for a math test. You need to memorize a particular theorem, for example the Pythagorean Theorem. Nevertheless, you just can not seem to make it stick in your brain. Nevertheless, you take out a piece of chocolate candy, maybe a chocolate candy bar, and you smell it as it reaches your mouth. You bite the chocolate but it’s the smell that causes you to memorize that theorem for later.
Next time, you are taking the test when you don’t remember that the rest of the candy bar was left in your backpack. It’s all melted now but you occur to catch a smell of it. The smell of the choco brings you right back to the day before when you were staring at that theorem. Unexpectedly the smell of chocolate candy has provided you the mental reminder you need to memorize that hard to learn theorem and you effortlessly answer it on the test.
Smell and Taste
You can do this with any other foods, fruit, good smelling incense, or anything else to that effect. Nevertheless, chocolate candy has such a sturdy and typical smell. The smell is very addictive, that it will obviously assist you memorize what you need to if you smell it while you are studying and then smell it again while you are taking a test.
In Moderation
Keep in mind that chocolate candy, if consumed too much, can raise your weight. That is why it’s just not that good for you to eat too much chocolate. Nevertheless, if you can handle to just smell it, or get something such as a scratch and sniff sticker that smells like it, you can utilize that will benefit you.
Eating the chocolate candy moderately is okay. It can help you to gain good grades. Nevertheless, you don’t wish to let go your pleasant figure just to reach good grades by continually stuffing your face with chocolate.
Want to know further about chocolate candy? Let’s explore more on the links here and you will get much more about it as well as any thing related.
May 21, 2009
Enjoying Eating Chocolate Safely without Putting You in Trouble
Chocolate? Nearly all everybody knows this type of delicious food. However, although chocolate is believed to relieve your pain as well as sadness, lots of people will try their best to keep away from this kind of delicacy in order to lose their weight.
If you are like most Americans, mostly you need to lose your weight. In reality, weight has been a problem now in the most of the world. Obesity has reached epidemic levels and it’s frequently due to increased portion sizes, the fat and carbohydrate content of the foodstuffs we are consuming as well as the sugar and sugary drinks we like to eat, for example chocolate.
When you are attempting to lose your weight, you swear to keep away from junk food. However, this brings on major desires, especially when you see all that chocolate candy on the racks at the check out lane at the grocery store. Relax! You can still eat a little chocolate sometimes. Chocolate can in reality be good for you, even when you are on a diet. However, just like everything, it must be consumed moderately.
Psychological Effects
Studies have shown that chocolate releases chemicals in your brain, endorphins that give you a sort of euphoria after consuming chocolate. Thus, if you ever feel down, a bite of chocolate may in fact aid you to feel better. It is not to say that you need to consume the whole box of choco cookies or anything. A candy bar or a little piece of candy is all you need to propose you that extra lift.
Furthermore, when you are on a diet, you will start to long for junk food. If you are not cautious these cravings could cause you to overeat on food and completely blow your diet. To keep away from this to take place, you should treat yourself sometimes. For instance, if you have eaten properly all week long and worked out like you should have a little piece of chocolate at the end of the week is a great treat. It will stave off those cravings and it will make you less inclined to binge. In addition, rewarding yourself is something you need to do for all of your accomplishments.
Health Advantages
Chocolate contains antioxidants. Thus, if you eat it moderately it can really make you healthier. Furthermore, don’t overindulge on an entire box of candy bars or anything. Keep it simple and eat only a little bit at a time. However, studies have exposed that chocolate does have health advantages. Thus, although you may be on a diet, or if you are just trying to keep away from sugar and sweets, a little bit of chocolate now and then will not kill you. In truth, it may help you live longer.
Whether it is as a treat or it is something you conduct to honor yourself, chocolate can assist you feel better and it can aid you get healthier. Providing you keep your eating to a minimum level, you shouldn’t have to swear off chocolate forever, although you are on a diet.
Do you want to uplift your knowledge about chocolate? There is no better way for getting it unless finding it more here!
Homemade Chocolate
You can make chocolate at home using traditional methods, although it’s sometimes a lengthy and involved process. If you wish to try making homemade chocolate as a hobby and it’s important to you to make all of your chocolate from scratch you can do it. You will need to buy some specialized equipment but not a lot. Traditional chocolate makingfrom scratch is a great hobby, so you should give traditional chocolate making a try to see if it’s the right choice for you.
Steps for making homemade chocolate:
1.Selecting the beans. Chocolate comes from cacao beans so when you begin making chocolate the traditional way you should start with some good quality cacao beans. The better the beans, the better the chocolate! There are several websites that sell different varieties of cacao beans in many different price ranges. So, it is easy to find whole cacao beans on the web.
2. Roasting the beans. Similiar to coffee beans, cacao beans need to be roasted. You can roast them on a cookie sheet in your oven if you are careful not to let them burn. You can also buy a specialized cacao bean roaster for at home use if you decide to try traditional candy making as a hobby. The beans will need to be roasted for as little as five minutes or as many as 35 minutes depending on the type of bean and the flavor that you are looking for.
3. Removing the chocolate out. After the beans are roasted, crack open the outer shell of the bean to remove the chocolate. There are several ways to do this at home. One way is to place the beans in a single sheet on a counter or on another hard surface and use a hammer to crack the shells open. Then use a blow dryer on a low setting to blow the hulls away from the chocolate. You can also use a juicer to extract the chocolate. Removing the chocolate can be very messy, so make sure that you have a mop and bucket and lots of cleaning supplies on hand.
4. Grinding and refining the chocolate. Next, you should grind the chocolate as fine as possible. Many expert chocolate makers recommend using a high quality juicer to grind the chocolate at home. When the chocolate has been ground as finely as possible, you will add milk, sugar, preservatives, and the other ingredients that you want to add to the chocolate to improve the taste. Once everything is mixed together, the chocolate will need to be agitated slowly but constantly. This process could take up to 12 hours to get the chocolate to exactly the right consistency. Some experts suggest using a stand mixer on a low setting to refine the chocolate.
5. Tempering the chocolate. Once the chocolate has been fully refined it needs to be tempered before you can use it. Tempering chocolate at home can be time consuming, but if you want to speed up the procedure you can use a microwave to temper your homemade chocolate. Once the chocolate is tempered and is smooth, hard, and shiny. Now, it’s ready to be eaten or used in your favorite chocolate recipes!
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