Interesting facts about chocolate
1. In ancient times, the Aztecs used chocolate as a currency. Scientists claim that cocoa beans, from which chocolate is produced, were actively used by the ancient Aztecs as a means of payment for purchases. Naturally, like any other currency, people tried to imitate them by making clay cocoa beans.
2. Three hundred years ago, military personnel in a number of units were paid in chocolate.
3. Cocoa is an excellent way to restore the body after intense workouts. The beneficial trace elements contained in it in a huge amount contribute to the rapid recovery of strength after long sports activities or other serious physical exertion.
4. Dark chocolate contains many antioxidants, and therefore it is very good for the heart. In addition, eating a bar of dark chocolate weighing 100 grams every day helps lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients.
5. Each average chocolate bar contains about 50 milligrams of caffeine, which is exactly as much as there is in a cup of espresso coffee.
6. The term "chocolate" came to us from the Aztec language, its prototype was the word "chocolatl", which can be translated from Aztec as "bitter water". Since the Aztecs did not know sugar, the taste of the chocolate they made was exceptionally bitter.
7. According to researchers, the smell of chocolate in a store increases sales of goods within its walls at times.
8. Chocolate milk was invented on the island of Jamaica at the beginning of the 18th century, the author of this invention was the biologist H. Sloane who came to Jamaica from Ireland. Having received cocoa beans from local residents, Sloan began to mix them with milk as an experiment, obtaining cocoa.
9. There are not three, but four varieties of chocolate. In addition to the well-known dark, white and milk chocolate, there is also the so-called blond chocolate, which contains about 1/3 of cocoa and has a somewhat specific, oily taste.
10. There are over 600 flavors in chocolate.
11. It will take the average annual crop of cocoa beans from one tree to make ten chocolate bars.
12. Chocolate biscuits popular all over the world appeared in the mid-30s of the last century absolutely by accident. American R. Wakefield decided to feed the guests with unusual pastries, adding chocolate instead of butter at her own risk.
13. By the way, Wakefield sold the recipe she invented to Nestle, but did not take money for it. Instead, the price of the invention was the obligation of the company to provide her with chocolate for life.
14. Chocolate bar was invented more than a century and a half ago by J. Fry, he created it on the basis of cocoa butter, to which he added cocoa powder and sugar.
15. The average annual volume of modern chocolate production is almost 75 billion dollars, which makes this industry one of the most successful and profitable on the planet.
16. The tree on which cocoa beans grow is called the "food of the gods." This name was given to it in the middle of the 18th century by the Swedish scientist K. Linnaeus, who was a huge admirer of chocolate.
17. The most expensive chocolate we know is a $687 bar. And its uniqueness, which determined such a significant price for a seemingly unremarkable chocolate bar, lies in the fact that this bar was taken with them on an Antarctic expedition at the very beginning of the last century. And they sold chocolate a hundred years later, at the beginning of our century.
Chocolate is considered to be one of the most beloved and famous delicacies in the world. Therefore, a little lower we will talk about interesting and unknown facts about chocolate to a wide audience.
