No matter who you ask, almost everyone loves chocolate. It is one of the most popular sweets on Earth. You’ve probably eaten chocolate since you were a child and never gave it much thought. It is so easily accessible in many parts of the world that having a piece of chocolate is a simple thing that we don’t give much thought to. But how much do you really know about chocolate? In reality, there is a lot of mystery surrounding chocolate that many people don’t realize. Read on for 9 Fascinating Facts About Chocolate You’ve Probably Never Known Before.
Chocolate is actually a fruit!
Well, it’s not a fruit itself, but it’s close. Chocolate is a part of the Theobroma tree that produces the cocoa pods from which chocolate is made. Cocoa pods are harvested and the beans are extracted, roasted and ground into the form we know and enjoy as chocolate.
400 beans are used to make a pound of chocolate.
Many cocoa beans must be harvested to make just one pound of chocolate. Each cocoa pod contains about 40 beans, which means that farmers must harvest many beans from the Theobroma tree to make as much chocolate as the world continually enjoys.
The Theobroma tree produces many beans per season.
For every year they live, a Theobroma tree can produce about 2,500 beans each harvest season. This means that each tree can produce about 6.25 pounds of chocolate. This roughly translates to about 33 large chocolate bars. That means it takes a lot of trees to keep the chocolate coming.
Farmers spend a lot of time nurturing these trees before yields are possible.
It takes four to five years for each tree to be ready to produce cacao pods. This means that farmers must continually nurture the tree until it is mature before it will be profitable.
The first candy that contained chocolate was the hot chocolate drink. It was only available to royalty as it was a very rare and highly exalted delicacy. Once machines were created to produce chocolate on a larger scale, confectionery made from chocolate became more widely available to the masses.
West Africa produces the largest amount of chocolate in the world.
West Africa, or the Ivory Coast, is responsible for 70% of the world’s supply of chocolate. There is a specific flavor to chocolate that is produced in the Ivory Coast. It has a dull flavor, ideal for commercial use in coating candy bars.
The chocolate bar was first invented in 1847.
Our modern concept of a chocolate bar was invented in 1847 by Joseph Fry in Great Britain, along with his son. This original chocolate bar has become an endless variety of chocolate candies and treats, with some kind of chocolate morsel for every type of palate.
White chocolate is not really made of chocolate.
Well, it’s not made like the chocolate we identify as chocolate. Contains cocoa butter, milk, vanilla and sugar. You can stay white by omitting the key ingredient that gives traditional chocolate its rich brown color: cocoa liquor. This is why white chocolate tastes creamier and lighter than regular chocolate.
Chocolate actually makes you happier.
The act of eating chocolate and the taste of this delicious delicacy are probably a source of happiness in themselves. But chocolate contains compounds that make your brain happy. The amino acids in chocolate release endorphins and serotonin in the brain, which creates a feeling of happiness.
