Tag Archive: chocolate facts
South Australians Have Favoritisms
July 20, 2012
With the mere mention of chocolate, I could almost feel my mouth watering and my stomach rumbling. I may have exaggerated that a little bit, but you get the picture. I'm a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, and chocolate never fails to sweep me of my feet. It's something I yearn for all the time, something I crave in the wee hours of the night. Give me chocolate and you're sure to make me giddy.
However, despite my mad affection toward chocolate, I cannot single out each and every one of them. You cannot blame me for loving anything and everything about chocolate. I guess it's safe to say that I'm not the only one in this. As a chocoholic, I am most certainly aware of some flavors, shapes, and manufacturers. There are different and unique ways of processing them into becoming chocolates oozing with delight. Pardon me for being obsessed and indecisive, but I just want all of them. Well, not all of them, but most of them.
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Chocolates, Drugs Of The Past
July 19, 2012
Do not let the "drug" word fool you because there is actually more to that than meets the eye. In our current society, we often use drug to refer to illegal chemicals that will cause you a lot of jail time. However, the kind of drug we are about to discuss entails not only benefits to the body but also sweetness to the taste buds from then until now.
Dating back to the days when Mayans, Aztecs, and Early Europeans roamed the earth, chocolates were already within their midst. As opposed to the many variety of chocolates we have nowadays, the most popular for these earlier civilizations was chocolate in the form of a drink.
For the Aztecs, the cacao beans were brewed and drank in the belief that it was an elixir of life. It strengthened their warriors, cured the sick and awakened those who were weak and asleep.
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Chocolate as Poison?
July 10, 2012
Not being able to eat even a piece of chocolate for a short period of time is bad enough, how much more for a little girl who at the age of five is not allowed to taste even a little bit of this sweet heaven. For normal people, too much chocolate candy could cause maybe cavities, increased sugar levels, sore throats and inflamed tonsils. But to Lola Raine, this could cost her entire life.
Even before she was born, Lola's parents Natalie and Tim already found out that she had Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease or ARPKD. This is one very rare kidney and liver disease that is inherited by a child from her carrier parents. In this condition, kidneys do not function well. They do not dispose properly the waste materials of the body. Because of that, potassium and other toxic agents accumulate in the body, thus poisoning the blood and posing grave threat to the life of a person.
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Beneficial In Moderation
June 1, 2012
It's enough to make my head spin. Yes, I'm talking about food research as it relates to health. Here's a sample...
Coffee is widely known to make people's lives longer. Certain studies have shown that more than normal levels of "good" cholesterol does not give people immunity from heart diseases. Some liquors that contain alcohol, if taken in moderation, pack many benefits to our bodies, but alcohol is also an agent that causes brain shrinking.
The whole idea of food research can sometimes be misleading, even in recent years wherein medical research and innovations have helped Americans to live longer and healthier lives. This gives people who are health-conscious a little bit of a dilemma. For example, a recent study about coffee is contrary to the statement I made above. The study showed that for people who smoke and drink more alcohol, consume red meat, and don't exert efforts in doing some exercise, coffee was not able to help them.
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The Legend of Hernando Cortes
May 31, 2012
You're probably here due to your craving of chocolate and not a craving of famous explorers. But sometimes you have to go down a new path to get where you're going.
Have you ever considered what a certain Hernando Cortes contributed? As an explorer, he is considered to be one of the most influential people of his time.
Hernando Cortes was born to Martin Cortes de Monroy and Catalina Pizarro Altamirano in Spain in the year of 1485. His father was a dominant figure in the military. In fact, he was an infantry captain. Moreover, he is closely related to Francisco Pizarro, the Great Peruvian conqueror.
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Lindt’s Legal Case of Marketing Rights
May 29, 2012
Lindt and Spruengli have roots and origins dating back to 1845. It was all started by David Sprungli-Schwarz and his son Rudolf Sprungli-Ammann, who owned a small confectionery shop in the old town of Zurich, Switzerland, where major factories originated and robustly sprung up.
The legendary Lindt bunny, along with its golden foil and signature bell hanging around its neck, is readily recognizable to lots of children all over the world. But the company that has been mass-producing them has not been given any EU permit since it has been ruled that the bunny is not a distinctive character, said the European Court.
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Cacao Nibs
May 10, 2012
Cacao nibs have enjoyed an increased amount of attention lately. They are turning up almost everywhere nowadays, but since they are often just added to other products, many people don't really know what they are.
Nibs are actually cocoa beans with the shell removed. By the time you get them as an ingredient they have usually undergone roasting and prepping to a point that making them into bars is the only major step that remains.
The chocolate making process consists of grinding up the cocoa nibs into a very consistent and thick paste and then adding sugar. For milk chocolate, milk powder would be added. For some chocolate, extra cocoa butter might be added. But the basis of all chocolates are the ground up nibs.
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Single-Origin Chocolate
April 26, 2012
The cacao tree is the source of all the chocolates in the world. It grows in abundant and rich soils in tropical rainforests, located around a global belt that is situated from 10 degrees north to 10 degrees south of the Equator.
While the source of the cacao flavor comes through the genetics of the plant, the drying and fermenting process of the cacao beans after harvest are large contributing factors. Aside from that, the rich composition of soil in the tropics, as well as the climate, contributes to the varying regional differences in the flavors of these cacao beans.
Have you ever heard about Single-Origin Chocolate? Single-origin chocolate indicates that the cocoa beans used to produce the bar are from one specific region or country.
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Dark Chocolate Reduces Chronic Fatigue
April 19, 2012
Chronic fatigue syndrome refers to a disorder which tends to cause extreme fatigue. It's not the exhausted feeling you get which just goes away after you get some rest. Rather, it typically stays around for at least 6 months and holds you back from going about your daily routine efficiently.
Symptoms of chronic fatigue include physiological problems like tender lymph nodes, sore throat, sleep problems, pain in multiple joints, headaches, memory problems, and muscle pain, among others.
Other medical disorders come with these symptoms, as well, making it difficult to diagnose. The precise causative factors for chronic fatigue syndrome are still unknown. Practically anyone can suffer from it, but it is commonly seen in women in their 40's and 50's. It can't be cured, but it is highly treatable.
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The Chocolate Egg-Laying Easter Bunny
March 29, 2012
Easter is our chance for renewal and rebirth. It is the holiday where we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And, adding to the happiness we feel, is the fact that we also get our annual chance to have a visit from the infamous bunny and his heaps of Easter candy.
Contrary to popular belief, bunnies do not lay eggs. 🙂 Also, they don't have anything to do with how chocolate eggs are produced. However, we just seem to be huge fans of associating rabbits and eggs. Why did we even think that the Easter Bunny lays chocolate eggs?
How these two Easter symbols originated can be traced to some centuries back, and they have just drastically evolved as time passed by. The Easter Bunny and Easter eggs both started out symbolizing fertility. They surface when celebrating the arrival of spring. Like the majority of creatures, rabbits breed the most in the spring. Also, they are remarkable procreators. That's practically the reason why these lovely animals were used as a symbol of fertility.
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