17 Things You Didn’t Know About Chocolate

Chocolate is regarded as one of the most delectable foods that one can consume. But how much do you really know about the rich and creamy source of goodness? From solid chocolate to white chocolate, here are some interesting tidbits you didn't know about this sweet treat. Number 17, hard work. Not many people realize the hard work and dedication that goes into making and supplying the public with chocolate. The cacao tree bears pods that contain the cacao beans inside them and must be picked at the precise moment that they are ripe. The beans must then go through a fermentation process and extensive drying period to get rid of excess moisture and produce the rich flavor profile. The beans are then packaged and shipped off to manufacturers to be mass produced. In order to make just a single pound of chocolate, roughly 400 cacao beans are needed. And here in the US, Americans eat 2.8 billion pounds each year. Number 16, film chocolate. Apparently chocolate isn't just for eating as it's also had its run in a couple of different films. Working behind the scenes, or at least under our noses this entire time. In the 1960s slasher thriller film, Psycho, chocolate syrup from the brand Bosco was used in order to mimic the appearance of blood during the now iconic shower scene. This was because of how its consistency looked on camera. In the 1971 film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka's famous chocolate river was indeed made out of real chocolate. The river contained a cream which made the whole thing rapidly spoil and the cast stated that the smell was quote, ungodly. Number 15, obligation chocolate. Here in the Western society, it is customary on Valentine's day for people to buy their significant other a bouquet of roses and a box of assorted chocolates shaped like a heart. More specifically, male identifying persons give them to their female identifying partners. Very heteronormative. Way across the globe over in Japan however, it is traditional for individuals that identify as female to give their male coworkers giri choco, which means obligatory chocolate. Those who have boyfriends, husbands and potential dates will go out and buy what are called hanmei choco and that translates to true feeling chocolate in English. Number 14, the limit exists. There's the old adage that states too much of a good thing is not good and that definitely rings true for everything. Yes, even the sweet goodness of chocolate. Though chocolate, except white, has antioxidant in it, it turns out that eating too much chocolate in one sitting can have some undesired effects on your body. First of all, it can make you twitchy as reported in Wired Magazine. Secondly, the chemical theobromine in large doses is known to cause heart failure, kidney damage, seizures and can even be fatal. This is the same chemical that makes chocolate so deadly for dogs. Number 13, the cacao tree lifespan. What's undoubtedly impressive is that the cacao tree is capable of living to be approximately 200 years old. Like with most things that sound too good to be true, there is a catch. That is that the cacao tree is only able to produce cacao beans for only 25 years of its long lifespan. Unfortunately, the tree also has diseases and pests that it has to fight off, such as phytopathogens, which are parasitic organisms that have managed to cause widespread damage to cacao trees all over the world. Not all foreign invaders are bad, as a strain of bacteria, Streptomyces cameronians, benefits the tree by preventing rotting and speeding up the seed germination process. Number 12, the three types. Universally, there are three types of cacao beans that are known as Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. The one that is most commonly used is the Forastero variety that produces around 80 to 90% of the world's production of cacao. Criollo, the second kind, is less commonly used due to the fact that it is a much rarer kind and is thought of as being a delicacy. The Criollo variety doesn't yield as many crops as the Forastero because that cacao bean is more susceptible to being destroyed by diseases. The last type of cacao bean is the Trinitario, which happens to be a hybrid of both the Forastero and Criollo. Number 11, special attribute. Do you ever wonder why chocolate begins to melt immediately as it sits on your tongue or when you've held it for not even the slightest moment? That's due to the fact that chocolate has a very unique and interesting property to it. The reason that it does so is because chocolate has a relatively low melting point, between 86 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes chocolate the only edible substance that has such a low melting point. Speaking of temperatures, chocolate should not go over 110 degrees Fahrenheit or 43 degrees Celsius at the risk of getting lumpy or grainy chocolate. Number 10, solid chocolate. Chocolate can be traced back to almost 4,000 years ago. If you were to look back at the history of chocolate, you'd see that for a good majority, it was consumed as a liquid. That's estimated to be 90% of its history. The sweet confection didn't achieve its solid state until the mid-19th century. This was made possible thanks to a man named Joseph Fry in 1847, who figured out that chocolate can be made moldable by, quote, adding back melted cacao butter. The Industrial Revolution also brought about new technologies to be used in the manufacturing of machine-pressed chocolate, and got the world one step closer to the chocolate we enjoy today. Number nine, cacao currency. Way back when there was no such thing as paper money, in the early ages of Mesoamerica, both the Mayan and Aztec cultures used cacao beans as a form of currency. This was because the cacao bean was seen as a rare commodity due to the fact that the cacao tree has a particularly low yield. This led to the beans being used as a bartering form of currency, rather than it having, quote, a standard of value. For example, just one rabbit was worth its weight in cacao. It was said to be the equivalence of 10 beans. It was the Mayans who first began this practice until they were taken over by the Aztecs, and then they themselves were seized by the Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernan Cortes. Number eight, hot chocolate. The sweet warmth of hot chocolate dates back thousands of years to when the Mayans would use the seeds of the cacao tree in order to concoct ceremonial drinks. Similarly, the Aztecs would consume a brew known as chocotal, or bitter water. It was flavored with chili pepper and vanilla. When the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes brought cacao beans back to Spain, it proved popular amongst the royals, and friars helped spread chocolate throughout the land. They visited monasteries, and eventually, hot chocolate made its way to France, where it was also enjoyed. Today, hot chocolate is now enjoyed all over the world. Number seven, chocolate celebrations. Chocolate is deliciously sweet, and deserves to be honored as such, which is no surprise that there are actual holidays out there that commemorate it. There are at least 30 different holidays on the Gregorian calendar that observe the significance of chocolate. There is at least one recognized day for chocolate each month. Some of these holidays include International Chocolate Day on September 13th, and even National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day, which is on November 7th. Number six, dark chocolate. Also referred to as plain chocolate and black chocolate, dark chocolate is regarded as being the more healthier alternative out of all the other varieties of chocolate. It's even been regarded as being, quote, a potential superfood, due to the fact that it does contain antioxidants, and has a pretty low sugar content than milk and white chocolate. Instead of being made with a milk-based butter, dark chocolate is instead made with cacao butter, and must have a certain percentage of cacao solids in order to truly be considered dark chocolate. Number five, milk chocolate. This type of chocolate has been around since 1839, when it was first created by the German company Jordan and Timaeus, though it was only available as a drink. The first account of actual solid milk chocolate was recorded in 1875, when a Swiss confectioner by the name of Daniel Peter invented it with his neighbor, Henry Nessel, the Henry Nessel of Nessel. The chocolate is made by mixing solid chocolate with, drumroll please, milk. Well, milk that comes in the form of milk powder, liquid milk or condensed milk. It needs to be made with at least 10% cacao liqueur, as stated by the US government. Number four, white chocolate. White chocolate was first introduced to the public sometime back in the 1930s, and is often regarded as not being true chocolate at all, due to it not having cacao solids or chocolate liqueur. Specifically in Europe, white chocolate comes from ripe cacao beans that are fermented, dried, and then roasted. The insides are then removed from their shells, and those are what we refer to as cacao nibs. The nibs are ground into a paste, which is called chocolate liqueur, which is then separated into both cacao butter and cacao solids by using a press. The cacao butter is then used to create the white chocolate by adding other ingredients such as vanilla, sugar, and milk fat to make it taste better. Number three, sweet vegetable? All chocolate starts off in the form of a bean, the cacao bean to be precise. Now, the cacao bean grows from the branches of the cacao tree. The cacao seeds are located inside of the fruit pods, which are then harvested at the appropriate time. And so it begs the question, is chocolate really a vegetable? The thing is that the cacao tree is also classified in the same family as the vegetable okra and even cotton, that family being Malvaceae. Number two, the fourth chocolate. For the past 80 years, give or take, there have only been three official varieties of chocolate that are recognized. Those three varieties being dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. However, as of last year, a Swiss chocolatier named Barry Kalbaut has introduced what is being hailed as the fourth type of chocolate, ruby. Derived from the ruby cacao bean, ruby chocolate gets its pink reddish hue naturally and has a flavor like no other. It's been described as having quote, a berry fruitness and luscious smoothness. Number one, chocolate origins. The cacao bean itself can be traced all the way back to at least 1250 BC when it was being cultivated by the natives of Mexico, Central and South America. The incredibleness of chocolate is recorded to have been introduced to the region of Europe all the way back in 1550, all thanks to colonization. It's been said that chocolate may have found its way to Europe even earlier in 1504, during Christopher Columbus's return from his final trip of exploiting the America's natives and their land. Though chocolate originates from the Americas, today, 70% of the world's cacao supply is now grown in Africa. So, what's something you learned that you didn't already know? Let us know down below in the comments section and while you're there, don't forget to subscribe to see more awesome videos like this.