The Book of Random

Chocolate

Hey guys,

I know that EVERYONE MUST love chocolate...

So why not make a chapter on it!

So I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 32: Chocolate

Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa once wrote, “There is no metaphysics on earth like chocolate.”

Hershey’s produces over 80 million chocolate Kisses--every day.

The English chocolate company Cadbury made the first chocolate bar in the world in 1842.

In the film Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock used Bosco chocolate syrup for blood in the famous shower scene.

Although cacao originated in Central and South America more than 4,000 years ago, now approximately 70% of the world’s cacao is grown in Africa. Cote d’lvoire is the single largest producer of cocoa, providing roughly 40% of the world’s supply.

Chocolate has traditionally been associated with magical, medicinal, and mythical properties. In fact, in Latin, cacao trees are called Theobroma Cacao, or “food of the gods.”

Champagne and sparkling wine are too acidic to go well with dark chocolate. Red wine typically compliments it the best.

Reports predict that the global chocolate market will grow to $98.3 billion in 2016 from $83.2 billion in 2010.

Cacao trees can live to be 200 years old, but they produce marketable cocoa beans for only 25 years.

Nearly all cacao tress grow within 20 degrees of the equator, and 75% grow within 8 degrees of either side of it. Cacao trees grow in three main regions: West Africa, South and Central America, and Southeast Asia/Oceania.

Each cacao tree can produce approximately 2,500 beans. It takes a cacao tree four to five years to produce its first beans.

U.S. chocolate manufactures use about 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day to make milk chocolate.

It takes approximately 400 cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate.

German chocolate cake was named after Sam German, an American, and did not originate in Germany.

Approximately 70 % of the nearly $500 million spent on candy during the week leading up to Easter is for chocolate.

Approximately 71 million pounds of chocolate candy is sold during the week leading up to Easter. Only 48 million pounds of chocolate is sold during Valentine’s week. In contrast, over 90 million pounds of chocolate candy is sold in the last week of October leading up to Halloween.

Over 3.8 million tons of cocoa beans are produced each year Chocolate has evolved into such a massive industry that between 40 and 50 million people depend on cacao for their livelihood. Over 3.8 million tons of cacao beans are produced per year.

The first people to harvest chocolate were the Mokaya and other pre-Olmec peoples who lived in southeast Mexico around 1000 B.C. The word “chocolate” is derived from the Mayan word xocolatl, or “bitter water.”

People who feel depressed eat about 55% more chocolate than their non-depressed peers.

Chocolate became one of the earliest American exports when, in the early sixteenth century, both Columbus and Cortez brought cacao beans back to Spain.

The FDA is debating a proposal to allow candy makers to substitute vegetable oil for the traditional cacao butter.

Dark chocolate has been shown to be beneficial to human health, but milk chocolate, white chocolate, and other varieties do not. For dark chocolate to be beneficial, cacao or chocolate liquor should be the first ingredients listed, not sugar.