fun chocolate facts
Chocolates, Drugs Of The Past
July 19, 2012
Do not let the "drug" word fool you because there is actually more to that than meets the eye. In our current society, we often use drug to refer to illegal chemicals that will cause you a lot of jail time. However, the kind of drug we are about to discuss entails not only benefits to the body but also sweetness to the taste buds from then until now.
Dating back to the days when Mayans, Aztecs, and Early Europeans roamed the earth, chocolates were already within their midst. As opposed to the many variety of chocolates we have nowadays, the most popular for these earlier civilizations was chocolate in the form of a drink.
For the Aztecs, the cacao beans were brewed and drank in the belief that it was an elixir of life. It strengthened their warriors, cured the sick and awakened those who were weak and asleep.
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Chocolaty Bread
June 28, 2012
The Netherlands is probably one of the biggest fans of bread in Europe. A lot of tourists who get to swing by are enamoured with the assortment of their breads. Generally, their breakfast and lunch mainly consist of bread. That being said, you won't be surprised by the variety of bread and sandwich toppings you can find there. "Luxury" isn't the right term for it, you might want to lean toward "necessity".
Typically, breakfast consists of 2-4 slices of bread, and it depends on whether you'd like an open or closed-face sandwich. Margarine or butter is spread onto the bread in order for the toppings to stick. One sandwich will have a cover that is on the more savory side, and the other one will be on the sweeter side. Dutch children typically eat the savory sandwich first, followed by the sweet one which they usually crave.
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Fano Carnival – Wild Chocolate Dreams
June 14, 2012
As a famous ancient Roman saying goes, 'Semel in anno licet insanire', which means 'madness is permissible once a year', has been really applicable for the Fano Carnival. This is arguably considered the most famous of all carnivals in Italy.
This is the time of the year when people go berserk and are taken by the frenzy of festival, which makes them abandon their daily routine and join the festivities. The Fano Carnival seems to rob people of their inhibitions, and people indulge in it with reckless abandon.
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The Legend of Hernando Cortes
May 31, 2012
You're probably here due to your craving of chocolate and not a craving of famous explorers. But sometimes you have to go down a new path to get where you're going.
Have you ever considered what a certain Hernando Cortes contributed? As an explorer, he is considered to be one of the most influential people of his time.
Hernando Cortes was born to Martin Cortes de Monroy and Catalina Pizarro Altamirano in Spain in the year of 1485. His father was a dominant figure in the military. In fact, he was an infantry captain. Moreover, he is closely related to Francisco Pizarro, the Great Peruvian conqueror.
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Dutch-Process vs Natural Cocoa Powder
May 24, 2012
There are a lot of variations of cocoa powder. Two of the most prominent types around the world are the Dutch-processed cocoa powder and natural cocoa powder.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder is made from cocoa beans that have been treated with a potassium solution. That neutralizes the acidity of the cocoa beans.
On the other hand, natural cocoa powder is derived from the cocoa beans that have been simply roasted and then reduced and pulverized into a fine powder.
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Bittersweet and Semisweet Chocolate
May 17, 2012
Bittersweet chocolates are simply a sweetened form of plain chocolate that contains no milk. It is basically a mixture of chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, and quite often, vanilla. Plus you might see a substance called lecithin on a label. That is added to serve as an emulsifier.
Cocoa that is produced via the grinding of its beans into a liquid form is usually referred to as chocolate liquor, which ironically contains no alcohol whatsoever. Unsweetened baking chocolate is chocolate liquor that has been solidified.
In the North America, a standard is set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that bittersweet chocolates are required to contain at least thirty-five percent chocolate liquor. While in the United Kingdom, the figure is usually as high as forty-three percent.
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Cacao Nibs
May 10, 2012
Cacao nibs have enjoyed an increased amount of attention lately. They are turning up almost everywhere nowadays, but since they are often just added to other products, many people don't really know what they are.
Nibs are actually cocoa beans with the shell removed. By the time you get them as an ingredient they have usually undergone roasting and prepping to a point that making them into bars is the only major step that remains.
The chocolate making process consists of grinding up the cocoa nibs into a very consistent and thick paste and then adding sugar. For milk chocolate, milk powder would be added. For some chocolate, extra cocoa butter might be added. But the basis of all chocolates are the ground up nibs.
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Ghirardelli Chocolate
May 3, 2012
Dating back into the golden old days of California’s gold rush, the Ghirardelli chocolate has been present ever since. A 31-year-old native of Rapallo, Italy, who goes by the name of Domenico "Domingo" Ghirardelli, had been a very successful owner of the confectionery business situated in Lima, Peru. However, he was enticed to travel to California because the news of fabulous gold and riches lured him so in the year 1849.
He was able to buy himself a way to sail up and down, back and forth, in the San Joaquin River. He acquired supplies as far as San Francisco and then carried his merchandise into Stockton. By 1851, he found himself a new start.
On the 3rd of May 1851, the Great Fire of San Francisco destroyed a total of 1500 buildings. Coincidentally, a fire broke out and destroyed half the city of Stockton. In a span of one week, Domingo lost everything he had. He even tried to open up a coffee shop but it didn’t go so well. Therefore he decided to go back to his roots as a confectioner.
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