Chocolate is a food product made from a mixture of cocoa, sugar, sometimes milk and some specific flavors. Chocolate is usually served as a tablet, stick, praline, ice cream or other confectionery products.
History of chocolate begins two thousand years ago, when cocoa tree culture was practiced in South America.
Christopher Columbus (1502) was the first explorer to come into contact with New World cocoa beans. When brought to Europe, they did not enjoy too much attention because nobody knew what they were using.
In 1519, Conchistador Hernando Cortez discovered that Montezuma, the Aztec ruler, used to drink a cocoa beverage, called "chocolatl." Montezuma used to drink nearly fifty cups a day. He served Hernando Cortez this royal drink, which he found bitter for his taste.
The Spaniards added sugar cane and enriched their flavor with vanilla and cinnamon. In addition, they discovered that the drink is tastier served hot.
Research shows that chocolate without high amounts of milk, sugar and other flavors, with at least 75% cocoa, is a true panacea for health due to the richness of antioxidants and vitamins it contains. According to David Wolfe, nutrition teacher, chocolate is the number one antioxidant in the world and has every reason to say this.
Black chocolate ranks first on the healthiest food list. Due to the nutrients it contains, black chocolate with 70 and 80% cacao, consumed in moderate amounts, prevents cardiovascular disease, diabetes, increased cholesterol and has many other positive effects on general health.
Nutrients found in black chocolate improve blood circulation throughout the body and, implicitly, on the heart. In addition, it prevents blood clotting and reduces the risk of heart attack.
White chocolate does not have the same properties as black chocolate. White chocolate is devoid of the solid cocoa bean mass, rich in antioxidant flavonoid substances.
White chocolate has 17g of sugar per 28g of product, and this would mean that more than 60% of white chocolate is glucose. Milk chocolate has less sugar - about 50%, and the black one 70-85% has 6.7g per 28g product, ie less than 25% of the total weight.
Chocolate, term of Mesoamerican origin 1, is a more or less sweet food produced from the cocoa bean.
The inhabitants of Spain gradually began to appreciate the miraculous preparation, especially served by aristocracy. They have not revealed to Europe the secret of this drink for a century. The Spanish monks were the ones who made public the way of preparing this drink, which was quickly appreciated at the Royal Court in France and then in the UK. The privileged location of chocolate in modern civilizations is due to its inimitable flavor, but also to a magical aura transmitted over time. Indeed, cacohuaquatl in the Inca language means "the paradise gardener's gift to the first men," the Quetzalcoatl god.
Cocoa fruits served as exchange coins, and Amanda (cocoa pulp) was used to make the drink of the gods, "tchocolaltl", chocolate with stimulating effects to remove fatigue and taste very pleasantly. The cocoa tree can reach 8 meters in 12 years, blooming throughout the year, with nearly 100,000 flowers in bouquets, of which only 0.2% give fruit. In the nineteenth century there were two major changes in the history of chocolate. In 1847, an English company created a process of chocolate solidification, and two years later, the Swiss Daniel Peter thought of adding a new ingredient: milk.
Soon, a new invention marked the history of chocolate: the melting temperature lower than that of the human body. So, chocolate melts in the mouth and figuratively, but also on its own. Black chocolate melts at 34-35 degrees Celsius, while milk chocolate requires a lower temperature a few degrees. Nowadays, milk chocolate is the most wanted assortment, with black chocolate being valued by only 5-10% of consumers of this product.
Although chocolate is eaten, the consumption of bitter cocoa / chocolate chocolate has been shown to benefit the circulatory system beneficially. Other studies have been performed to prove anticancer effects, brain stimulant, cough inhibitor and diarrhea inhibitor. Despite the possible benefits, excessive chocolate consumption may favor obesity and the development of diabetes. A BBC study has shown that during chocolate melting in the mouth, the human brain is experiencing an increase in electrical activity, and heart rate increases more than during a passionate kiss, and the sensation lasts four times as much.