10 Facts About Chocolate
It’s probably safe to say that chocolate—especially good chocolate—is one of the few luxuries in life we don’t take for granted. Our visceral, emotional connection to chocolate is revealed every time we take a bite. We crave it, we appreciate it, we remember it. However, while we may not take it for granted, we probably don’t think too much about how it came to be that we can enjoy one of life’s succulent pleasures. The fact is, chocolate has a long, and pardon the pun, rich history. Read on for Ten Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Chocolate.
1. The Original Bitter Pill – Chocolate’s “discovery” dates back almost 4,000 years ago, and it wasn’t anything like the chocolate we know today. In ancient Mesoamerica, cacao beans were picked, sun-dried, roasted and ground into a paste. That paste was then mixed into a beverage. Sugar, an unknown commodity to the Mesoamericans, was never an ingredient, and the resulting drink was bitter.
2. Death and Chocolate – When the Aztecs conquered new territories, they often required the inhabitants to pay a yearly tax—in the form of cacao beans. So revered were the beans that they were often used as part of sacred religious ceremonies, and the consumption of xocolatl (which translates to “bitter water”) was normally limited to royalty or the elite.
3. Royal Chocolate – Christopher Columbus brought cacao beans to the Spanish court on one of his return visits to Europe. After the Spanish conquered the Aztecs, the flow of cacao beans to Europe steadily picked up pace. Not enamored with the bitter flavor, a new drink was invented. Refined sugar, milk and vanilla were added to make the drink more appealing to the European palate. Much like it’s use in Mesoamerica, the drink was pretty much reserved to European royalty until the first chocolate house opened in the mid-17th century.
4. The Chocolate Revolution – The Industrial Revolution is known for its many far-reaching effects, from the advent of steam power to the ability to produce consumer goods on a significantly larger scale. It also had a profound affect on chocolate. The invention of large machinery hastened the ability to manipulate chocolate into the bar form we know today. This enabled mass production of chocolate, which meant that chocolate wasn’t just for royalty anymore.
5. Chocolate Who’s Who – It’s astonishing. The names that we often associate with chocolate today were largely the ones responsible for it’s rapid growth hundreds of years ago. John Cadbury was one of the first to manufacture a “chocolate drink” for the general public. Henri Nestle´ helped refine the process whereby water was removed from added milk, which prevented mildew on finished bars of chocolate. Rodolphe Lindt invented the process that grinds chocolate solids very finely in order to ensure a more consistent end product. Finally, Milton Hershey used Lindt’s process to ramp up large scale production of chocolate bars, making them more affordable for the general public.
6. Olde World Chocolate Processing – The process used to create cacao nibs—the main ingredient in all chocolate—has remained largely unchanged over the past two decades. Cacao beans are picked and then allowed to ferment, which helps develop the flavor of the bean and removes some of the bitterness. The beans are then dried and roasted, and the outer shell is removed, leaving cacao nibs. This process usually takes place on the plantations where the cacao is grown—much like it was when chocolate bars were first made.
7. Chocolate Renaissance – As little as 20 years ago, most cacao nibs were sold as a commodity. Brokers bought the nibs from various plantations and sold them in large quantities to chocolate manufacturers. This did not suit smaller chocolate manufacturers who wanted to make sure that their cacao nibs were being produced properly and that they were being made by plantations that practiced safe and fair working conditions. Several fine chocolate makers decided to abandon this model, and began contracting directly with the growers of cacao beans. This eliminated the middle man and allowed the growers to earn more for their product and the chocolate makers to pay less. It also allowed the chocolate makers to oversee the production of cacao nibs, ensuring a better product—and better chocolate.
8. Big Chocolate – Chocolate is a big business. Annual U.S. chocolate sales exceed $16 billion yearly. What’s more impressive is that the growth of chocolate is coming primarily from the sale of fine chocolate. As the health benefits of chocolate become more known, consumers are increasingly looking towards chocolate that is fair trade and organic compliant. In fact, it is forecast that this year, premium chocolates will account for 25% of all chocolate sales.
9. Recession Proof Chocolate – During the recent recession, chocolate sales have actually increased. Economists site two main factors for this surprising trend. First, during recessions, people are more likely to look after their health in order to prevent large expenses associated with illness. With the recent headlines about the health benefits of chocolate, people are turning to pure chocolate as their “sweet of choice.” Perhaps more important, people still want a few small luxuries in life, and chocolate represents one of the least expensive luxuries you can find.
10. Healthy Chocolate – The revelations about the health of chocolate have been eye-opening. The right kind of chocolate, consumed in moderation, does have health benefits. Chocolate is rich in antioxidants—the darker the chocolate the more antioxidants it contains. Antioxidants can have broad benefits to the body as they help to reduce oxidative stress, which supports the health of numerous biological functions.
