There is a famous quote that says, “Nine out of ten people love chocolate and the 10th person is always lying.” Chocolate is a known stress buster, an aphrodisiac and the first thing we reach for when those pesky sugar cravings hit. But there is so much more to this gooey delight that meets the eye.
And what better way to celebrate everyone’s favourite treat than to get to know it better? Here are 5 things about chocolate we bet you didn’t know. Why don’t you open that second chocolate bar while you read on?
It takes 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate
When it comes to cocoa beans, less is not more. It takes roughly around 400 cocoa beans to make one pound (i.e. 453 g) of chocolate. And considering one pod of cocoa contains around 30-40 beans, it’s a whole lot of harvesting to make the amount of chocolate required to keep the human population going. If you’re wondering just how much chocolate we consume then- According to the World Cocoa Foundation, people consume 3 million tons of cocoa beans every year. That’s just a ridiculous amount!
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One of the best chocolate treats was a complete mistake
In 1938, an American chef Ruth Wakefield thought adding chocolate chunks to her cookie batter would make them chocolate cookies. However, that’s not what happened. Ruth accidentally created the first recipe for what is now everyone’s favourite cookie- chocolate chip. She then sold the recipe to Nestle Toll House in return for a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate. We’re all forever indebted to Ruth.
White chocolate isn’t really chocolate
Okay, white chocolate lovers don’t hate us. We’re just messengers of the truth. White chocolate is made from refined cocoa butter, vanilla, milk solids and sugar. And since it doesn’t contain any cacao solids or cacao liquor (which gives chocolate its rich brown colour) it can’t really be categorized as chocolate. We don’t discriminate though, do we?
Chocolate was used as money
Can you imagine paying people in cocoa beans instead of money? During Mayan and Aztec times that was the way of the world. Cacao beans were more valuable and precious than gold. There is evidence from 1541 that shows Aztecs would give a certain number of cacao beans in exchange for basic groceries. Ah, what a time to be alive!
It’s possible to overdose on chocolate
It’s rarer than rare but still possible to overdose on chocolate. Theobromine poisoning or chocolate poisoning is a reaction our body has when the toxin theobromine is released in large doses. This is the same toxin that makes chocolates harmful to dogs and it’s found in small doses in chocolate, tea and even a few cola beverages. However, for this toxin to be considered lethal, you would have to consume A LOT of chocolate. This proves that death by chocolate is more than an intriguing pastry name.
