Know that you Enjoy Chocolate...

Origin Chocolate
Chocolate or often known as the cocoa produced from cocoa plant known by the Latin name Theobroma cacao. The word Theobroma means food of the gods. Chocolate or cocoa beans taken from the cacao tree.

Largest cocoa producing country in the world today is the Ivory Coast. While Indonesia also ranks third major cocoa producing countries. That's why a lot of chocolate that can be produced and enjoyed in Indonesia. However, exactly where chocolate comes from? What about the history of chocolate?



History of Chocolate
Most likely, in the valleys of the Amazon and Orinoco in South America there are a lot of wild cocoa trees. This tree has been grown there since thousands of years ago, probably since 400 years BC. Then the people of the Mayans began cultivating cocoa trees. When these people migrated to the Yucatan in Central America, they also brought cocoa to it.

The habit of enjoying chocolate started by nobles Aztec Indians in Central America, a region that is now the territory of Mexico. Meso-American population mixing cocoa powder with a bitter taste fermented corn or also with wine. This mixture was blended into the drink served in a golden cup. Even one of the Aztec emperor Montezuma named to drink more than 50 cups of chocolate every day.

In fact, because the chocolate is so valuable at that time considered the food of the gods who became the origin of the Latin name chocolate tree. So the cocoa beans used in religious ceremonies and as gifts. In addition, because the precious chocolate at that time, made the cocoa beans used also as a means of payment that currency.

During a conquest by the Spanish in Mexico and Central America, the Spaniards also began to establish plantations of cocoa. Apparently benefits are enormous, so the Spaniards controlled the trade chocolate until the 18th century. They also brought cocoa beans to Haiti, Trinidad and West Africa. And until now, the largest chocolate producer is one of the countries in West Africa are Côte d'Ivoire.

Chocolate drinking became a habit of the nobles in Spain. Later this custom spread to England and the rest of Europe, especially the upper class and nobility.

Because it's unique, rivaling even chocolate beer that was popular in Europe. And the demand for chocolate with the delicious flavors continues to grow, especially since found a machine for making chocolate during the industrial revolution.

Since the discovery of various ways of making chocolates at the time of the industrial revolution in Europe, steam engines began to be used to grind the chocolate. Then significant changes in improving the quality of chocolate occurred in 1828 in the Netherlands where Coenraad van Houten found a way to separate oil and cocoa powder from cocoa dough rollers. This opens the following findings were able to mix the liquid chocolate is thick and dense, mixed with oil of cocoa and sugar. And this is the origin of solid chocolate that will become the embryo of a chocolate bar that we know today.

Around the 19th century, then the chocolate that tastes creamy on the tongue began to be created. Starting in Switzerland, cocoa dough rollers put porcelain discs and polished a few hours to produce the chocolate is soft and can be melted on the tongue. This process is called conching.

Then a lot of the food industry entrepreneurs began making this type of chocolate was sold. Some well-known names its brand known today, began to plunge in the industry. Entrepreneurs and inventors such as Lindt, Nestle, Hershey, Tobler and Kohler, whose names are known as chocolate brand to this day, has found a variety of chocolate processing machinery to increase the quality and taste of chocolate.



Benefits of Chocolate
Chocolate has been considered as one of the food or drink that can help health. Please read the following article on chocolate for health: Chocolate Making Life Better.

In addition, chocolate also proven to make skin smoother. For example, chocolate can prevent premature aging. Please read the following article: Chocolate for Beauty.

Some studies, although not yet proven, have demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of various diseases chocolates such as heart disease, constipation, and skin problems. Chocolate can also increase one's good mood was even able to increase sexual arousal.

Yes, chocolate has been a favorite snack and beverage for many people. Of course we are lucky to enjoy chocolate in this modern era, where the flavor, texture and variety available chocolate is very much the quality is much better than when I first enjoyed chocolate. source:
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