fun chocolate facts
Sweet Tooth Equals Sweet Personality?
October 25, 2011
According to a new study, those having a sweet tooth tend to be friendlier. Volunteers who preferred chocolate over a non-sweet food item were found to have a joyous character.
It was found that the most dominant trait these chocolate lovers have is the fondness for helping others in need. However, it is still arguable whether it was due to chocolate’s mood-enhancing effect or just a natural inclination of the recipient. So don’t get too frantic about having chocolates just yet.
"Our taste studies controlled for positive mood so the effects we found are not due to the happy or rewarding feeling one may have after eating a sweet food," said Brian Meiers, a psychology professor at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.
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How Milk Chocolate Came About
October 20, 2011
Some of the finest chocolates ever created were made by the Swiss. Around 1876, a candy maker named Daniel Peter of Vevey, Switzerland, invented the first milk chocolate. Initially, he had a problem with removing the water from the milk, which caused mildewing.
He then teamed up with Henry Nestle, a manufacturer of condensed milk. They came up with the idea of adding condensed milk to chocolate liquor which is a nonalcoholic smooth, thick, and liquid form of chocolate. It is the ground or melted state of the nib of the cacao bean, the purest form of chocolate. Milk chocolate became famous and well-loved by consumers by the 1900’s, and still holds true today.
There is an array of milk chocolate forms. Hot cocoa is among the list, it is a cocoa powder mixed with milk and sugar and heated until hot and smooth. This infamous beverage never failed to make people warm and give a sense of comfort. Also included in the list are liquid milk products, powdered milk products, granule and of course, chocolate bars. One can the goodness of milk chocolate hot or cold, hard or soft, practically any way you want.
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Chocolate Easter Bunnies
October 13, 2011
I know it is absolutely nowhere near Easter, but it just feels right to share this info on the spur of the moment. C’mon now, cut me some slack! 🙂
For starters, Easter is known as the most sacred Christian holiday of the year. Jesus Christ’s resurrection after his crucifixion is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday.
Did you know that ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year? No child's Easter basket is ever complete without a chocolate Easter bunny or two. But how did Easter get mixed up with a rabbit? Where did that come in?
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Day of the Dead
October 6, 2011
Did you know that in Mexico, chocolate is used to make offerings during the Day of the Dead festival? This particular fiesta acts as a commemoration to pay tribute and honor all the deceased members of the family. Chocolate and sweets are important components of the festival. People give each other skulls made of chocolate or sugar. The Day of the Dead fete is celebrated throughout the country on the 1st and 2nd of November.
As morose as it may sound, it is in fact a cheerful occasion where departed loved ones are reminisced. Some families even construct altars dedicated to the dead relatives. The altars are filled with flowers, candles, wooden skulls and photos of the dead. The families celebrate and bring to mind the deceased members by eating the favorite foods of those passed. The specific foods that are specially eaten in this celebration are pan de muerto which is a skull-shaped bread and Calabaza en Tacha which is a dessert made with sweet pumpkin, cinnamon, and piloncillo, dark sugar cones.
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A Brief History of Brownies
September 22, 2011
The brownie, one of the most loved baked treat, was believed to be "invented" in America. Some references imply that brownies were originally made in New England at the beginning of the 20th century. Albeit the facts that it is basically cake-like and baked in a cake pan, brownies are considered as bar cookies rather than a cake.
Brownies can either be "cake-style" or "fudge-style”. Cake-style is that with the consistency of a cake, only richer and denser. On the other hand, fudge-style is more like, er, fudge than cake. It is the richer, denser, and creamier version of the brownie. What determines the style of brownie is the ratio of flour to chocolate and/or cocoa.
I hate to state the obvious but it’s apparent brownie derived its name from its dark brown color. But just like almost any food, the origin of the "brownie" is covered in myth. One of the legends told is that a chef added melted chocolate to biscuits by mistake. Another one states that a cook was baking a cake but didn't have enough flour and baked it anyway, thus, making a brownie.
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The Different Types of Cacao Beans
September 15, 2011
Just because there’s only one species of Theobroma cacao doesn’t mean there are no different types of cacao beans. However, even experts themselves can’t seem to agree on how many types of cacao beans there actually are, but let’s stick with 4.
Why in the world would you even care about this mumbo jumbo? Well, for starters, one word, flavor. While most of us are happily content with any chocolate in hand just as long as it’s good, true blue chocolate lovers take pleasure in the subtle differences in aroma, taste, and texture between the different cacao bean varieties.
The first type of cacao beans is the Criollo. It was initially cultivated by the Mesoamericans and is generally considered to be the most excellent worldwide. It has a rich, intricate aroma, and a profound yet smooth flavor. Criollo beans require just a little fermentation and short roasting to draw out the flavors.
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Why Women Crave Chocolates
September 1, 2011
We all have chocolate cravings, but women seem to have stronger desire for it than men do. Why is it so? Research has found that these cravings may be in relation to blood sugar levels, stress and hormonal changes caused by a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Chocolates have sugar and caffeine content and these can alter your blood sugar levels. One reason why we sometimes crave chocolates is because sugar in our blood hits the low levels and chocolates can be a good source of a quick sugar fix.
Eating chocolate never fails to make you feel good and this is due to the serotonin which is a neurotransmitter that can enhance the mood. This is the main reason why chocolate is a renowned comfort food.
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The Beginning of Chocolate
August 25, 2011
Chocolate has been around for millennia now, and the history is extremely long and diverse. The earliest references of chocolate were over fifteen hundred years ago in the Central American Rain Forest, an ideal environment for the cultivation of the Cacao Tree because of the mix of high rain fall, temperature and humidity.
The Mayan culture worshiped the Cacao tree as they believed it was of divine origin and it symbolized life and fertility. Cacao is actually a Mayan word which meant “God Food”, modernly coined as “Food of the Gods”. The Mayans were believed to be brewing and drinking this spicy bittersweet beverage by roasting, grinding and fermenting the seeds of the Cacao Tree. This was intended for the wealthy and elite.
The Aztecs, like Mayans, also have their own version of the fermented drink and they called it Xocolatl, meaning “bitter water”. Their Emperor, Montezuma, allegedly believed that this was an aphrodisiac, and drank almost 50 cups a day. The beans were even used as currency and considered as treasure that when Spaniards came and searched for gold and silver, they found no more than the beans.
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Fighting Cancer with Chocolate?
August 18, 2011
If that would be the case, who wouldn’t want to kick cancer’s butt? Here are some interesting tidbits of information to help you realize how good chocolate can be for your health!
Cacao seeds contain Flavonoids (specifically Flavanols) that are chemicals found in plant-based foods that give major health benefits. Over 4,000 flavonoids have been known and almost all of it are found in fruits, vegetables and beverages such as tea, coffee, beer, wine and fruit drinks. Good thing our beloved chocolate is part of the list!
When we eat foods that have flavonoids, it just means that we also take advantage of the antioxidants in it which are believed to help the body fight cell damage. In addition to that, studies say that flavonoids have other helpful influences on vascular health, such as lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow to the brain and heart, making blood platelets less viscous. Thus, keeping cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels. It also slows down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries.
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