1. INSPIRED BY
   1. - “Chocolate” may come from Aztec word “xocoatl” meaning bitter drink brewed from cacao beans. - A Dutch chemist discovered a way to make solid chocolate. - Sweet chocolate appeared after Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez met with Aztec king Montezuma. - Chocolatiers and chocolate makers. - Chocolate becomes a color name during 18th century. - Cocoa is a misspelling of cacao.
2. WHO
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3. WHEN
   1. when did it begin? Cacao, "kakaw" in Mayan and "cacahuatl" in Nahuatl, is the cocoa plant from which we get the raw materials in making chocolates and other cocoa products. It is native to the deep tropical regions of America. The cacao tree originated in the Amazon and was distributed by travelers and traders throughout Central America and Mesoamerica according to studies made into the origin of the Theobroma cacao. Cacao and its cocoa beans were highly prized during this time because the beans were used as money and were processed to create drinks for medicinal and ritual purposes. The stimulating effect of cocoa was an important factor to promote health and to cure sickness. The Mayans were the first known cultivators of cacao plantations in the lowlands of south Yucatan as far back as 600 AD. Cacao trees were already being grown by the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru even before the Europeans discovered Central America. According to Mayan belief, cacao was discovered by the gods in a mountain and Maya mythology tells of the Plumed Serpent which gave the cacao to the Mayans when humans were created by Xmucane, their divine grandmother goddess. The Spanish explorer Hernando Fernandez was the first to discover the importance of cacao for trading in the New World. He found out how the Aztec Indians made drinks out of cocoa beans during his conquest of Mexico. After a hundred years of keeping cacao secret from the rest of the world, the Spaniards finally let it out to the rest of Europe through the Spanish monks. Chocolate drinking became very famous throughout Europe but was reserved to aristocrats and the wealthy. Subsequently, it found its way to America.
   2. when did different aspects emerge and when it become popular? • 1500 BCE to 400 BCE • The Olmec Civilization In their book, The True History of Chocolate, Sophie and Michael Coe argue that the cacao tree was domesticated centuries earlier than previously thought. While in the past, scholars have credited the Maya (250-900 CE), or even the Aztec (14th cent. CE), with discovering the ambrosial qualities of chocolate, now many prefer the Olmec. They developed food-production processes that gave them the time to enjoy a relatively comfortable lifestyle, with plenty of time away from hunting and gathering for mere survival. They were able to build a vast empire and create numerous works of art -- and see what they could make of the humble-looking cacao bean. Moreover, there were great Olmec settlements in the prime cacao-growing areas in Chiapas, Guatemala, and the Yucatan, and linguistic examinations of the words cacao and chocolate yield traces of languages spoken by the Olmec. • 250 to 900 CE • Classic Maya Civilization Cacao beans were used throughout Mesoamerica as currency, but the artefacts that survive from the golden age of the Maya suggest that the consumption of chocolate was, as for most of its subsequent history, restricted to the society's elite. This literate civilization appears to have once had entire libraries of books, although only four survived the Spanish occupation (the Spanish arrived and decided it was a good idea to burn all the books). In two of those, mention cacao often, as does the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiché Maya of Guatemala, which was transcribed into the Spanish alphabet shortly after the Europeans arrived (but does not survive in the original). The tombs of Maya nobility have been found to contain pottery vessels bearing the hieroglyph for cacao and depictions of the process of its preparation. Analysis of the traces of their contents indicates that they probably contained the drink. This evidence doesn't provide a real way to know all the forms in which the Maya consumed chocolate, but it seems to have been most common as a drink. The drink was made by mixing the roasted, ground cacao beans with water, flavouring it with herbs or spices (chilli was common) and then agitating the mixture until foamy by pouring it from one vessel to another. One of the variations might have involved adding honey to chocolate, but the Maya did not commonly sweeten the drink, as we do now almost without exception. • 14th Century • The Aztec The Aztec are believed to have migrated at the beginning of the 14th century from western Mexico to the cities in the Valley of Mexico. At the time, these cities were inhabited by the Toltec, who had enjoyed a brief golden age after the decline of the Maya. By 1375, after military conquests of the by-then declining Toltecs, they controlled much of the area and had named their first leader. Once in power, the Aztec established trading relationships with the remaining Maua, which allowed them to adopt, among other things, the use of cacao beans as currency and as a beverage. Chocolate became popular as a drink among the Aztec upper classes, who could afford it. The custom was to serve chocolate after a feast, in a special cup (xicalli) made out of a calabash gourd. The Aztec used the same methods as the Maya to concoct their chocolate drink, and they, too, used many different flavourings. When the Spanish arrived, among the additions they documented were chillis, hueinacaztli (the spicy-tasting flower of a type of custard apple tree -- the name, taken from the shape of the flower, means "great ear"), achiote (which turned the mouth a disconcerting -- to the Spanish ­ shade of red), vanilla, allspice, and honey. The beverage was also considered beneficial to warriors. Cacao wafers, intended to be dissolved as needed, were issued to soldiers, in order to fortify them during marches and in battle. • 1502 • The First-Known European Encounter with Cacao On his fourth voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus captured a Maya trading canoe near the island of Guanaja. In addition to its cargo of cotton, weapons, grain, and metal objects, he noted that there were some "almonds" which appeared to function as money to the natives. There is no indication that he ever looked any further into the matter than this, and by the time of his death four years later, it is likely that the European discoverer of chocolate had never tasted it. • 1545 • Cacao as Currency An Aztec document containing a list of price equivalents designated the value of a tomato as one cacao bean, while an avocado was worth three, and a "good turkey hen" was worth 100 "full" or 120 "shrunken" cacao beans. • 1521 • The End of the Aztec Empire Hernando Cortés, joining his army of Spaniards with native enemies of the Aztecs, among them the Tlaxcallans, defeats the empire and takes control of Mexico. Cortés is often given credit for bringing cacao back to Spain. After all, before seizing control of Tenochtitlan and establishing a puppet rule through Montezuma, he was entertained by that Emperor, who kept a huge warehouse filled with his cacao riches. Corté sent more than one shipload of New World wonders back to King Charles V in Spain, but, still, there is no specific evidence that cacao was among the cargo. • 1544 • First Documented Evidence of Chocolate in Europe In 1544, a delegation of Dominican friars, who had been living in region of Guatemala still occupied by the Maya, accompanied a delegation of Kekchi people to Spain. Among the many gifts they presented to Prince Philip were containers of chocolate, frothed and ready to drink. This began a period of nearly a century during which the Spanish and Portuguese consumed chocolate, but the rest of Europe did not. • 16th Century • European Recipes The Spaniards changed the way chocolate was prepared. They were put off by the drink's black, murky appearance, and found its traditional preparations far too bitter and spicy. So, the Spanish routinely added cane sugar as a sweetener, and favored flavourings such as the New World's vanilla, and Old World spices like cinnamon and milder black pepper as opposed to chillis. Not satisfied with the Mesoamerican method of foaming their chocolate by pouring it from one cup into another, they introduced the molinillo, a wooden whisk-like tool that is twirled between the palms of the hands to mix the chocolate and create a foam. Molinillos are still commonly found in Mexico. • 1570 • Medicinal Uses Chocolate first gained popularity as a medicine, and the immediate concerns of many were to classify it according to the prevailing medical theory of the day, the humoral system first introduced by the Greeks. The royal physician to King Philip II of Spain, Francisco Hernández, classified it as cool and humid, and therefore beneficial as a fever reducer or to relieve discomfort in hot weather. Some physicians agreed, others argued the opposite position, many pointed out that, whatever the classification of cacao, the spices commonly added to it contributed their own qualities to the mix. In spite of the debate, chocolate continued to gain in popularity. • 1579 • The Secret of Chocolate Still Under Wraps The behaviour of English pirates confirmed that the rest of Europe remained unfamiliar with chocolate. The buccaneers who routinely preyed on Spanish vessels continued not to recognize the beans as items of worth. In 1579, one pirate ship burned an entire shipload of cacao beans, under the impression that they were sheep droppings. • 1585 • Chocolate Becomes a Commodity The first official Spanish shipment of cacao beans arrived from Veracruz, Mexico, to the port at Seville. • 17th Century • Spiritual Considerations In addition to the debate among physicians, religious leaders found themselves engaged in arguments about whether chocolate was a beverage or a food. Religious fasts forbade the taking of nourishment, and yet chocolate had become popular among those who were fasting precisely because it eased their hunger. Most people, including all of the popes consulted during the course of the debate (from Gregory XIII to Benedict XIV) agreed that, since one drank it, it did not break the fast. Nevertheless, there were many who took a more puritanical view, maintaining that it was far too nourishing and sustaining to be permissible. • 1606 • Chocolate in Italy A merchant from Florence, Francesco d'Antonio Carletti, submitted a report to Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1606. It is an account of his findings on a round-the-world exploration of trade markets, and the manuscript includes a section on chocolate in the New World. It was not published, however, until the beginning of the 18th century, so its influence was limited. • 1650s and 1660s • Chocolate in England By the mid-17th century, chocolate was known as a beverage in Britain. Interestingly, the appearance of chocolate coincided with the arrival of coffee from the Middle East and tea from China. Chocolate remained expensive long after the other two beverages were affordable to the middle classes, but it was one of the offerings commonly found in British coffeehouses. Within a decade, Samuel Pepys began to make regular mention of drinking chocolate in his diaries. • 1660s • Chocolate Gains Popularity in Italy The influential scientist Francesco Redi was Cosimo III de' Medici's physician and a famous author. One of his books documented experiments he made which disproved the current theory that maggots were spontaneously generated in rotting meat. He also documented and sometimes devised -- clearly as a change of pace from his more serious scientific investigations -- many luxurious recipes for drinking chocolate. Among these were concoctions perfumed with ambergris and musk, as well as a recipe for jasmine-scented chocolate. • 1666 • Chocolate in France Though it's not 100% clear how it got there, chocolate was popular in the court of Louis XIV, at least before his second marriage to the rather puritanical Madame de Maintenon. (By 1693, she had persuaded him to suppress it at Versailles, but, in spite of that, chocolate continued to gain in popularity in France.) It may have been introduced by the Sun King's mother, Anne of Austria, whose father was the Spanish King Philip III, or by his first wife, the Infanta Maria Teresa, who also grew up in Spain. Still a third theory credits Cardinal Richelieu, whose brother is known to have used chocolate medicinally. • Late 17th Century • Chocolate-Related Accessories At some point during the late 17th century, the chocolatière was invented. This provided a special tall pot for serving the beverage. The lid had a hole in the top into which a molinillo (in French, called a moulinet) was fitted, rather like a plunger. • 1753 • Scientific Classification The Swedish biologist, Carolus Linnaeus, developing a binomial system for classifying living organisms, assigned the botanical name Theobroma cacao to the chocolate tree. Theobroma, in Latin, means "food of the gods," while cacao refers to the native word for the plant. • 1765 • Chocolate in America In America, Dr. James Baker of Massachusetts and an Irishman, John Hannon, joined together for one of the earliest machine-based chocolate manufacturing enterprises. Using an old grist mill, they ground cacao beans into chocolate liquor and pressed the paste into cakes meant to be made into drinking chocolate. Their company was originally known as Hannon's Best Chocolate, until Hannon was lost at sea while on cacao-buying voyage to the West Indies. It was renamed the Baker Company and remained in the Baker family until it was bought out by General Foods in 1927. • 1765 • The Beginning of the Industrial Revolution In England, James Watt invented the steam engine, launching the Industrial Revolution. The technology would rapidly be applied to chocolate manufacture. • 1774 • Chocolate and Poison Although the story is said to be apocryphal, the rumours surrounding the death of Pope Clement XIV in 1774 make use of the fact that chocolate was considered a particularly good medium for administering poison. The Pope was believed to have been killed with a cup of poisoned chocolate by the Jesuits -- known to be chocolate drinkers -- whom he had suppressed the year before. The confectioner who unknowingly served and shared the tainted beverage also died, and it was said that the embalmer's arms swelled after touching the body. • 1819 • The First of Many Swiss Chocolatiers The pioneer in Swiss chocolate-making, François Louis Cailler, opened a chocolate factory near Vevey on Lake Geneva in 1819, using machinery he had developed himself. • 1828 • The Invention of Dutch Cocoa Coenraad Van Houten, a chemist and chocolate manufacturer in Amsterdam, patented an invention that was soon to change chocolate from a beverage to a confection. He had devised a process for making chocolate powder by using hydraulic pressure to remove almost half of the cocoa butter from chocolate liquor. This reduced the fat content from over 50% to about 25%, and made a hard cake that could be pulverized. Then, in order to make this powder easier to mix into warm water, he treated it with alkaline salts, which also made the colour darker and removed some of the bitterness. This treatment came to be known as "Dutching." • 1847 • The First Modern Chocolate Bar Joseph Fry & Son, chocolate manufacturers, was founded by a Quaker who had been a doctor before opening the business. The original Joseph Fry did not stick with chocolate, but left the company to his sons so that he could become a typefounder. As the successive generations of the family took over the business, they made steady improvements. In 1789, his son (also named Joseph Fry) bought a Watts steam engine to grind the cacao. In 1847, the firm ­ under the leadership of the original Joseph Fry's great-grandson -- discovered a way to mix some of the melted cacao butter back into defatted, or "Dutched," cocoa powder (along with sugar) to create a paste that could be pressed into a mold. The resulting bar was such a hit that people soon began to think of eating chocolate as much as drinking it. • Mid-19th Century • Affordable Chocolate As part of his policy for promoting economic prosperity in England, Prime Minister William Gladstone reduced the taxes on cacao beans, making them more attractive to British manufacturers who wished to cater to a large portion of the population. • 1860 • Establishing Standards of Purity As a result of investigations by the British journal, the Lancet, it was discovered that there were numerous food adulteration strategies practiced by manufacturers -- among them adding brick dust to chocolate powder. In 1860, the first British Food and Drugs Act was passed. • 1868 • Cadbury's Chocolates Another Quaker, John Cadbury, opened a grocery shop in Birmingham, England in 1824, where, as part of the business, he roasted and ground his own cacao beans. Soon, realizing that it surpassed all his other items in profitability, he decided to concentrate on manufacturing chocolate. By 1854, Cadbury had received a Royal Warrant to be the sole purveyor of cocoa and chocolate to Queen Victoria. In 1866, Cadbury's sons, Richard and George, who had taken over the business, purchased a Van Houten machine for the factory and began to market their own cocoa powder. Cadbury marketed the first box of chocolate candies in 1868, packed in a box decorated in the sentimental Victorian style. The Cadbury family retained their Quaker values even as the business became an empire. In 1879, they took over the Birmingham suburb of Bournville. There, they built their factory, as well as a full town that provided worker housing and recreational facilities. • 1849 • Ghirardelli Arrives in San Francisco Domingo Ghirardelli originally emigrated to Uruguay from his native Italy, in order to establish a chocolate-making business. He did not, however, settle there, but moved to Peru for a few years and then, in 1849, set off for California, hoping to get in on the Gold Rush. Apparently, he did not waste much time hunting for gold. He built up his savings by selling tents to the miners and then started his chocolate business as planned. • 1868 • A Second Gold-Rush Chocolatier Frenchman Etienne Guittard came to San Francisco in search of gold, but decided instead to start a chocolate business, like the one his uncle owned back in his native country. Today, Guittard, under control of its founder's great-grandson, Gary Guittard, is the largest privately owned chocolate company in the United States. • 1879 • The Invention of Milk Chocolate During the 1860s, the Swiss chocolate manufacturer, Daniel Peter, tried repeatedly to create a chocolate bar flavoured with milk, but he couldn't manage to produce a smooth mixture of milk and chocolate. As it happened, in 1867, Henri Nestlé (also Swiss) was working on a concentrated infant food formula, which required that he find a way to treat milk so that it would not spoil while in storage but could be quickly reconstituted for use. The result of his efforts, a sweetened condensed milk, turned out to be perfect for Peter's purposes; the low water content made it possible to mix it with the chocolate into a bar that did not spoil. By 1879, Peter and Nestlé had joined to form a company. Nestlé has become the largest food company in the world. • 1879 • Making Chocolate Smooth In 1879, Rudolphe Lindt invented the conching machine, a shell-shaped granite bed over which rollers moved back and forth to grind the chocolate liquor, sugar and (if used) milk into a paste that was smoother than had ever been achieved before. Lindt called his new chocolate products fondants, after the popular and exceptionally creamy candies that were based on a cooked mixture of sugar with cream of tartar. Soon, conching was adopted as a standard step in the chocolate-making process. Originally, the friction of the rollers heated the paste as they ground it, which meant that the preliminary roasting could be eliminated. Modern conching machine rollers are cooled so that the roasting time can be controlled as much as possible. • 1893 • Hershey Enters the Business When Milton Snavely Hershey, a Mennonite from Pennsylvania Dutch country, visited the World Colombian Exposition in Chicago, he was impressed by the chocolate processing machinery there. At the time, he owned a caramel manufacturing company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and he bought the machines so that he could coat his candies with chocolate. Then he made an investigatory tour of chocolate manufacturers in Europe and became convinced that he should devote his entire business to chocolate. He rang in the 20th century by introducing the milk chocolate Hershey bar and, five years later, introduced the Hershey's Kiss. By 1906, his enterprise was so vast that he took over the town of Derry Church, renamed it Hershey, Pennsylvania, and began to transform it into the chocolate kingdom it is today. Until 1959, when Castro seized power, he also presided over "Hershey, Cuba" -- a town he built around his sugar mill. • 1908 • Toblerone The Swiss chocolatier Jean Tobler, introduced the triangular Toblerone bar. • 1913 • The Filled Chocolate Bonbon Jules Sechaud, another Swiss chocolate maker, invented the filled chocolate bonbon. From this point, it would be necessary for children in the chocolate-eating world to punch small holes with their thumbnails in the bottoms of the candies to be quite sure they wanted whatever was inside. • 1922 • The European Chocolate Kiss Italian firm Perugina (est. 1907) introduced their now-famous Baci ("kisses") for Valentines day in 1922. These confections are said to have been created by Luisa Spagnoli, the wife of the cofounder of the company. Luisa was having an affair with her husband's partner's son, Giovani Buitoni, and she sent him notes wrapped around the candies she submitted for his inspection. In a move that could either be considered romantic (the company's assertion) or cold-hearted (how does the betrayal of a man by his wife and his business partner become a selling point?), after her death, Buitoni decided to use this idea to market one of the candies she had created. So, each bonbon has a love note tucked under its foil wrapping. • 1922 • Valrhona Chocolates The French firm, Valrhona was founded. Today, their gourmet chocolates are among the few that use criollo variety cacao beans. • 1926 • Belgian Chocolates The most famous purveyor of Belgian chocolates was founded by Joseph Draps, who gave his business an air of risqué decadence by naming it after the famously nude horsewoman. Godiva Chocolatier may have been the first chocolate company to challenge Hershey's and Nestlé's supremacy in America by introducing high-end, expensive chocolate into the market. Their bonbons are made by pressing the ingredients into a mold, rather than dipping them in chocolate. • 1929 • Chocolate from the Source In 1929, Jose Rafael Zozaya went into business with his father-in-law Carmelo Tuozzo to manufacture chocolate, an unusual enterprise in a country where the cacao was actually grown. They named their product El Rey and made it a point to use the particularly fragrant criollo variety beans native to Venezuela. • 1929 • Chocolate Covered Cherries Cella's Confections (est.1864) began manufacturing chocolate-covered cherries at their candy factory on West Broadway at Canal Street in New York. Although in the 19th century this was New York's confectionery district, today, they are the only remaining candy factory in the area. • 1930 • The Toll House Cookie One day in 1930, Ruth Wakefield ran out of the baking chocolate she used to make cookies. Since they were popular items at the Toll House Inn, which she and her husband Kenneth operated in Whitman, Massachusetts, she decided to improvise. She chopped up a semi-sweet Nestlé's bar and stirred the chunks into the dough, assuming they would blend in as the cookies baked. It didn't work that way, but the resulting cookie became so popular that in 1939 Nestlé began to manufacture little chunks of chocolate, especially for making "Toll House cookies." • 1936 • The Chunky Bar These thick bars, filled with nuts and raisins, were invented by Philip Silverstein at his candy company on Delancey Street in New York. • 1941-45 • Nourishing the Army At Milton Hershey's suggestion -- and in a move reminiscent of the Aztec practice -- the American military decided to include three four-ounce chocolate bars, each with 600 calories, in a soldier's "D-Ration." Although meant to sustain the men, the bars also came in some way to be associated with the return of peace, when, long-malnourished victims of the Germans found themselves approached by Americans holding out chocolate. The chocolate is still a standard issue in the military. • 1986 • Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate Jim Walsh, an advertising executive from Chicago, decided to move with his family to Hawaii to start a chocolate business. He chose the premium criollo variety and established his plantation on Kona and Kea'au. The fermented, dried beans are sent to California where they are made into very high quality chocolate sold by mail order, especially to professional pastry chefs.
   3. when is it consumed? Chocolate lovers enjoy both the flavor and the feeling of chocolate melting in their mouth. This combination of taste and texture make chocolate a favorite form of "comfort food." Perhaps chocolate is not physically addicting, but it can be emotionally addicting when you enjoy this comfort food too often.
   4. when can it be harmful? Unfortunately for dogs chocolate tastes really, really good, but chocolate is not really poisonous, not like cyanide.  That doesn’t change the fact that it can kill your dog.   It is theobromine that is harmful to dogs, if you can find chocolate without it you’ll have the happiest dog in town.  Theobromine is a stimulant found in the coca plant.  People often get theobromine confused with caffeine, while they have similar effects, eating a piece of chocolate will not give a human the rush a cup of coffee does.  Chocolate will still give a sugar rush, but don’t eat it if you’re up late studying for an exam. Dogs and horses are greatly affected by theobromine.  Chocolate is a banned substance in horse racing because of the boost it will give to the horse.  Of course a horse can still eat too much of it, like a dog, but they’re significantly bigger animals and it would take much more chocolate.
   5. when is it beneficial? The consumption of high-cacao-content of chocolate has been correlated with positive health benefits from flavonol antioxidants derived from the ground and fermented seeds of Theobroma cacao. There are some interesting chemicals naturally found in chocolate. Xanthine, which is like caffeine, can make a person feel jittery. Theobromine will stimulate the central nervous system, relax the bronchi in the lungs and your blood vessels. Phenylethylamine (PEA) is similar to amphetamine. PEA reproduces the feeling someone has when he or she falls in love. So maybe chocolate may help soothe a broken heart. Dark chocolate may transiently improve DNA resistance to oxidative stress, probably for flavonoid kinetics.
4. WHAT
   1. what types of cacao are there? There are three different classifications of cacao: Criollo - considered to be the prince of cacao, has soft thin-skinned pods with light color and a unique and pleasant aroma Forastero - has thick-walled pods and pungent smell Trinitario - a cross between Criollo and Forastero has good, aromatic flavor and which is commonly cultivated in many parts of the globe. Before the cacao beans become chocolates for eating and cooking, the cacao tree's fruit pods are harvested and the cocoa beans or seeds are removed from these pods. Fermentation follows next, and this usually lasts from three to nine days. This process kills the germ of the beans and activates enzymes to prepare the beans for drying and roasting. However, before roasting, beans go through a cleaning machine that removes dried cacao pulp and other materials that have to be removed. After the roasting process, the beans are cooled and the shells are removed. Once the cacao meat or nibs are separated form the shells, these are then grinded until chocolate liquor is produced. The chocolate liquor will then be allowed to solidify and result to unsweetened or bitter chocolate. After which, the next steps would be to make the different kinds of chocolates and chocolate products. As you can see, cacao is the foundation for many gourmet chocolate and cocoa products, including your favorite candy bars, drinks, and even desserts. From the first Mesoamerican people to use it to today's highly-praised chocolatiers, cacao is a treasured ingredient.
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5. HOW
   1. how can it be used in baking? Cocoa powder is made when chocolate liquor is pressed to remove three quarters of its cocoa butter.  The remaining cocoa solids are processed to make fine unsweetened cocoa powder.   There are two types of unsweetened cocoa powder: natural and Dutch-processed.Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder tastes very bitter and gives a deep chocolate flavor to baked goods.  Its intense flavor makes it well suited for use in brownies, cookies and some chocolate cakes.  When natural cocoa (an acid) is used in recipes calling for baking soda (an alkali), it creates a leavening action that causes the batter to rise when placed in the oven. When used alone in cakes, cocoa powder imparts a full rich chocolate flavor and dark color.  Cocoa powder can also be used in recipes with other chocolates (unsweetened or dark) and this combination produces a cake with a more intense chocolate flavor than if the cocoa wasn't present.   Most recipes call for sifting the cocoa powder with the flour but to bring out its full flavor it can be combined with a small amount of boiling water.  (If you want to try this in a recipe, substitute some of the liquid in the recipe for boiling water.)  Often times, you may notice that more butter and leavening agent are used in recipes containing cocoa powder.  This is to offset cocoa powder's drying and strengthening affect in cakes.  There are two types of unsweetened cocoa powder: natural and Dutch-processed and it is best to use the type specified in the recipe as the leavening agent used is dependent on the type of cocoa powder.   Some prefer using Dutch-processed cocoa as a slight bitterness may be tasted in cakes using natural cocoa and baking soda. Dutch-Processed or Alkalized Unsweetened Cocoa Powder is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids. Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder, unless there are other acidic ingredients in sufficient quantities used.  It has a reddish-brown color, mild flavor, and is easy to dissolve in liquids.   Its delicate flavor makes it ideal in baked goods like European cakes and pastries where its subtle flavor complements other ingredients. 
   2. how is it made? The creation of this confection is tedious and time-consuming, and has both a sweet and a bittersweet ending. Initially, skilled workers cut ripe cacao bean pods from the cacao tree, split them open, and scrape out the pulp contained inside. After the mass of pulp ferments for a few days, workmen spread it in the hot sun to dry, separate the dried seeds from the remainder of the pulp, and bag them for shipment to the market. Once the bagged seeds arrive at their destination, the manufacturer's processing mill, they are cleaned to remove foreign material. Next, they are roasted, to loosen their husks, which are then literally blown away in yet another process. Finally, the inner kernel of the seed is broken into bits called "nibs." At this juncture, the road in the chocolate making process forks, as what is done next with the nibs determines the final product. When the nibs are ground under heavy stone mills, the oil within the nibs is released, and transforms the mass into "chocolate liquor," a thick substance which, upon hardening, produces the bitter chocolate used in recipes for baking and for candy-making. The method of producing sweet chocolate follows that of producing bitter chocolate, with the addition of other substances, such as cocoa butter, a fat. Workmen obtain cocoa butter, a byproduct of the cocoa making process, by grinding the nibs, and by separating part of the fat from the resulting mass. Not only is cocoa butter an essential ingredient in producing sweet chocolate, but also in producing cosmetics and medicines. Once the cocoa butter is extracted for its various uses, the remaining mass is finely, and finally, ground to produce cocoa. Cocoa, the drink, is the mother of all chocolate making. The ancient Aztecs prepared the original version of this beverage by crushing cacao beans, which they boiled with water and various spices, seasoned with pepper, and served cold. Spanish explorers, who stumbled upon this potent Aztec drink, stole the recipe, deleted the pepper from it, and substituted an equal measure of sugar to the crushed cacao beans and water before boiling it. The Spaniards successfully squirreled away their new and improved drink recipe for almost 100 years until, in the mid 17th century, a Frenchman found sweet success by discovering the art of making solid chocolate from finely ground cacao beans. The secret was out, and the rest is history!
6. WHERE
   1. where did it come from? It all starts with a small tropical tree, the Theobroma cacao, usually called simply, "cacao." (Pronounced ka-KOW. Theobroma is Greek for "food of the gods.") Cacao is native to Central and South America, but it is grown commercially throughout the tropics. About 70% of the world's cacao is grown in Africa. A cacao tree can produce close to two thousand pods per year. The ridged, football shaped pod, or fruit, of the cacao grows from the branches and, oddly, straight out of the trunk. The pods, which mature throughout the year, encase a sticky white pulp and about 30 or 40 seeds. The pulp is both sweet and tart; it is eaten and used in making drinks. The seeds, were you to bite into one straight out of the pod, are incredibly bitter. Not at all like the chocolate that comes from them.
   2. where is it grown? Cocoa is grown principally in West Africa, Central and South America and Asia. In order of annual production size, the eight largest cocoa-producing countries at present are Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador and Malaysia. These countries represent 90% of world production.
   3. where can you buy it? 1) Try special ordering at your local supermarket. Some grocers will happily oblige you if you indicate you'd like to try a new product that they don't carry. You could always show up brandishing a page from our website which tells how great that product is. For those of you in small towns, this could be a good bet. 2) Visit a health food store. Even if you aren't a health food store kind of person, you should start seeking them out, if only for the chocolate! Health food stores typically carry brands with organic and Fair Trade ingredients, and they're usually yummy! We're not talking carob, we're talking high-quality chocolate. The bigger stores, like Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Trader Joe's, and Vitamin Cottage, carry a wide selection. 3) Find a local chocolatier. You may have chocolate stores in your area and not even know it! Some chocolate makers carry a selection of tasty chocolate bars as well. Check the phone book under chocolate, candy, or gifts. One of my favorite small chocolatiers is Wiseman House Chocolates. 4) Look for an importer or gourmet food store. Cost Plus World Market is a place to start, if you have one close by. Many communities have small imported or gourmet food stores, and many of them carry unusual chocolate. 5) Buy online. Amazon.com carries a decent selection of good chocolate (beware the plentiful Godiva), and may be a good choice for those new to buying on the web. For a much better selection, try Chocosphere. They know their stuff, love their product, and carry a wide selection. One drawback to buying from online chocolate stores is the shipping cost. A $3 chocolate bar costs $7 to ship, so plan on buying in quantity. Also, if you live in a hot climate, you will need to pay extra for warm weather packaging and expedited shipping.
   4. where is it popular? The Top Chocolate Loving Nations are (lbs/yr): 1. Switzerland 22.36 2. Austria 20.13 3. Ireland 19.47 4. Germany 18.04 5. Norway 17.93 Chocolate Consumption Distribution Worldwide Not all countries are able to enjoy the sweet taste of chocolate equally. There is a profound dichotomy between those nations that extract the raw materials and those who indulge in the finished product. As it is shown in the maps available, all but one of the top twenty countries that consume chocolate are considered 'well-developed' or 'advanced'. Brazil is the only country involved on the list that actually considers chocolate to be a natural resource. The reality exists that the processing and consumption of chocolate products is Western World dominated. 70% of the worldwide profit from chocolate sales is concentrated in these countries. 80% of the world chocolate market is accounted for by just six transnational companies, including Nestle, Mars and Cadbury. Europeans alone consume around 40% of the world's cocoa per year, 85% of which is imported from West Africa. There have recently been efforts to initiate a fair-trade movement, which would encourage the purchase of cocoa from developing country producers at a fair price. However, tariff escalation continues to me a major problem, which acts to drive chocolate comsumers and cocoa exporters further apart.
   5. where is the best chocolate imported from? When buying imported chocolates you need to do a little bit of homework and find out which countries are superior in the chocolate producing market. Arguably the best chocolate comes from Europe, not Asia! The chocolate kings in Europe are Switzerland and Belgium. Each country claims that they produce the finest chocolate in the world. Unless you are a chocolate connoisseur, you probably won't be able to tell the difference. Belgium are more famed for their filled chocolates and Switzerland produces high quality chocolate bars so it really depends on what you are after. Filled chocolates often make better presents because they offer a good variety and come in a pretty box.
   6. where was it discovered? The first European who can rightly claim the "discovery" of cocoa is Christopher Columbus. In 1502, during his last voyage to the Caribbean, he lands on the island of Guanaja, before the coast of present-day Honduras. He was greeted by the Aztec who offered him a bag of cocoa beans in exchange for trade goods. Columbus failed to grasp the importance of these beans, more so, he detests the beverage prepared from these beans, which is known as Xocolatl (or tchocolatl). And he returns to Spain without realising the economic importance of these cocoa beans. Seventeen years later however, Hernán Cortés is received by the divine emperor Moctezuma, a confirmed lover of chocolate, in Tenochtitlàn, the Aztec capital. He did not care for the beverage either, but he was aware of the enormous value of the cocoa bean as a means of payment. Hernán Cortés immediately realised that Moctezuma literally has money "growing on trees". With the aid of some of the natives, he captured the emperor and built cocoa plantations all over the Caribbean, in an attempt to speedily amass a fortune. He exploited the people and the land and is responsible for the Aztec disappearing from the face of the earth in just a number years. The Spanish colonists are fascinated by this "brown gold" and in no time, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Jamaica and Hispaniola are covered with cocoa plantations. Chocolate became increasingly widespread and its popularity rose in the other European countries. From then on, cocoa has been grown all over the world, but the most valued and expensive varieties are still found in the regions from which the tree originates.
   7. where is it used? According to recent nutrition research, chocolate contains antioxidants that can help reduce health risks. A Harvard University publication, the Harvard Women's Health Watch, reports in its current issue on a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finding that diet supplemented with chocolate products can slow oxidation of LDL or "bad" cholesterol and can increase the level of HDL or "good" cholesterol. The dietary supplements added were cocoa powder and dark chocolate, the Harvard health newsletter said. "Cocoa and chocolate, produced from cacao beans, contain high amounts of polyphenols and other flavonoids, naturally occurring antioxidants whose effects are associated with reduced cardiovascular risk," it said. "Other research suggests that high levels of certain flavonoids found especially in dark chocolate may slow blood platelet aggregation, another heart health benefit. Chocolate also contains several important minerals. And it doesn't cause acne." Scientists in Switzerland also found that test volunteers who ate two chocolate bars a day reduced the absorption of fat when their intake was accompanied by calcium. "Over a two-week period, those who ate chocolate laced with calcium absorbed 13 percent less chocolate-derived fat (and 9 percent fewer calories) than those who ate plain chocolate," the Harvard Women's Health Watch reported. At the same time, LDL or "bad" cholesterol fell by 15 percent. The publication explained that calcium apparently binds with the fatty acids in chocolate, making those acids more difficult for the body to absorb.
7. CULTURAL INFLUENCES
   1. - Valentine’s Day in Japan: women give chocolate to men. White Day: Men give chocolate back to whom they receive chocolate from. - Military ration in early 20th century. - Cacao pulps were found to be fermented into alcoholic drinks as early as 1400 B.C.E. in Honduras. - Cacao beans were used as currency in Latin America centuries ago. - “Boost” for Aztec sacrifice victims. - Indonesia, Ghana and Ivory Coast, the three largest cacao producing countries today. - Slavery in the history and child labor today to produce. - Decadent treat, source of income, and ritual component. - Chocolate is occasionally treated as love stimulant. - American writer Nika Standen Hazelton: chocolate with blue wrapper won’t sell in China, and Swiss and Germans don’t like girl pictures on the packages. - Italians are creative with chocolate: they were combined with main courses as early as 18th century. - Fiji and Ghana have cacao on their national coat of arms. - In Denmark, Chocolate is vegetable. - Mars Inc., Nestle, and Hershey Foods are the global top manufacturers of chocolate.
8. WORS AND PHRASES
   1. Anything is good and useful if it's made of chocolate! A nice dose of Chocolate will cure just about anything. Chocolate....it's not just for breakfast anymore! Chocolate makes my clothes shrink. Forget love....I'd rather fall in chocolate! Hand over the chocolate and no one gets hurt! How many calories in a piece of chocolate? Who Cares? I NEED CHOCOLATE !!....Need I say more? I put "eat chocolate" at the top of "my to do" list everyday, That way I get at least one thing done. I’d stop craving chocolate but I’m not quitter. I'd stop eating chocolate ... but I'm no quitter! If I had a chocolate for every time I thought of you....I'd have a butt the size of Texas! If not for chocolate there would be no need for control top pantyhose.  An entire garment industry would be devastated. In the cookies of life...friends are the chocolate chips. Life is a box of chocolates...why do I get the cherry filled? Life...Liberty...and the pursuit of chocolate! Money talks.  Chocolate sings. Never pay full price unless it's coated in Chocolate. Save the earth its the only planet with chocolate Some things in life are better rich...coffee, chocolate, men. There are only two kinds of foods; if it's not chocolate, it's a vegetable! There is nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate. Things are bad! Send Chocolate! Without chocolate life would be darkness and chaos