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The Brief History of Chocolates
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* Confectionery history has a record of at least 4,000 years, when Egyptians displayed
their pleasures on papyrus.
Sweetmeats were being sold in the marketplace in 1566 BC.
Yet chocolate didn't appear on the scene until the ancient Aztec
and Mayan cultures
discovered the value of the cacao plant. It is reputed to have originated in the Amazon
or Orinoco
basin.
* In 600 A.D. the Mayans migrated into the northern regions of South America,
establishing the earliest known
cocoa plantations in the Yucatan. It has been argued that
the Mayans had been familiar with cocoa several centuries prior
to this date. They
considered it a valuable commodity, used both as a means of payment and as units of
calculation.
*
Mayans and Aztecs took beans from the "cacao" tree and made a drink they called
"xocoatl." Aztec Indian legend held that
cacao seeds had been brought from Paradise and
that wisdom and power came from eating the fruit of the cacao tree.
*
Ancient chronicles report that the Aztecs, believing that the god Quetzalcoatl traveled
to earth on a beam of the Morning
Star with a cacao tree from Paradise, took his offering
to the people. They learned from Quetzalcoatl how to roast and
grind the cacao seeds,
making a nourishing paste that could be dissolved in water. They added spices and
called this
drink "chocolatl," or bitter-water, and believed it brought universal wisdom
and knowledge.
* The word "chocolate"
is said to derive from the Mayan "xocoatl"; cocoa from the Aztec
"cacahuatl." The Mexican Indian word "chocolate" comes
from a combination of the
terms choco ("foam") and atl ("water"); early chocolate was only consumed in beverage
form.
As part of a ritual in twelfth-century Mesoamerican marriages, a mug of the
frothy chocolate was shared.
* Arthur
W. Knapp, author of The Cocoa and Chocolate Industry (Pitman, 1923) points
out that if we believe Mexican mythology, "chocolate
was consumed by the Gods in
Paradise, and the seed of cocoa was conveyed to man as a special blessing by the God of
the
Air."
* Ancient Mexicans believed that Tonacatecutli, the goddess of food, and
Calchiuhtlucue, the goddess of water,
were guardian goddesses of cocoa. Each year they
performed human sacrifices for the goddesses, giving the victim cocoa
at his last meal.
* Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) was dissatisfied with the word
"cocoa," so renamed
it "theobroma," Greek for "food of the gods."
* Christopher Columbus is said to have brought back cacao beans to King
Ferdinand
from his fourth visit to the New World, but they were overlooked in favor of the many
other treasures he had
found.
* Chocolate was first noted in 1519 when Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez visited the
court of Emperor Montezuma
of Mexico. American historian William Hickling's
History of the Conquest of Mexico (1838) reports that Montezuma "took
no other
beverage than the chocolatl, a potation of chocolate, flavored with vanilla and spices,
and so prepared
as to be reduced to a froth of the consistency of honey, which gradually
dissolved in the mouth and was taken cold." The
fact that Montezuma consumed his
"chocolatl" in goblets before entering his harem led to the belief that it was an
aphrodisiac.
*
In 1528 Cortez brought chocolate back from Mexico to the royal court of King Charles
V. Monks, hidden away in Spanish monasteries,
processed the cocoa beans and kept
chocolate a secret for nearly a century. It made a profitable industry for Spain, which
planted
cocoa trees in its overseas colonies.
* It took an Italian traveler, Antonio Carletti, to discover the chocolate treasure
in 1606
and take it into other parts of Europe.
* "With the decline of Spain as a power, the secret of cacao leaked
out at last, and the
Spanish Crown's monopoly of the chocolate trade came to an end. In a few years the
knowledge of
it had spread through France, Italy, Germany, and England." (The Nestle
Company, Inc., White Plains, New York, The History
of Chocolate and Cocoa, p. 2.)
* When the Spanish Princess Maria Theresa was betrothed to Louis XIV of France in
1615,
she gave her fiancé an engagement gift of chocolate, packaged in an elegantly
ornate chest. Their marriage was symbolic
of the marriage of chocolate in the Spanish-
Franco culture.
* The first chocolate house was reputedly opened in
London in 1657 by a Frenchman.
Costing 10 to 15 shillings per pound, chocolate was considered a beverage for the elite
class.
Sixteenth-century Spanish historian Oviedo noted: "None but the rich and noble
could afford to drink chocolatl as it was
literally drinking money. Cocoa passed currency
as money among all nations; thus a rabbit in Nicaragua sold for 10 cocoa
nibs, and 100 of
these seeds could buy a tolerably good slave."
* Chocolate also appears to have been used as a
medicinal remedy by leading physicians
of the day. Christopher Ludwig Hoffmann's treatise Potus Chocolate recommends
chocolate
for many diseases, citing it as a cure for Cardinal Richelieu's ills.
* Chocolate traveled to the Low Countries with
the Duke of Alba. By 1730, it had
dropped in price from $3 per lb to being within the financial reach of those other than
the
very wealthy. The invention of the cocoa press in 1828 helped further to cut prices
and improve the quality of chocolate
by squeezing out some of the cocoa butter and
giving the beverage a smoother consistency.
* With the Industrial
Revolution came the mass production of chocolate, spreading its
popularity among the citizenry.
* Discussing the
introduction of coffee, tea, and cocoa into Europe, Isaac Disraeli (1791-
1834) wrote in his six-volume Curiosities of
Literature: "Chocolate the Spaniards
brought from Mexico, where it was denominated chocolatl. It was a coarse mixture of
ground
cacao and Indian corn with roucou; but the Spaniards, liking its nourishment,
improved it into a richer compound with sugar,
vanilla and other aromatics. We had
Chocolate houses in London long after coffee houses; they seemed to have associated
something
more elegant and refined in their new form when the other had become
common."
* Prince Albert's Exposition in 1851
in London was the first time the United States was
introduced to bonbons, chocolate creams, hand candies (called "boiled
sweets"), and
caramels.
* An 1891 publication on The Chocolate-Plant by Walter Baker a Co. records that, "At
the
discovery of America, the natives of the narrower portion of the continent
bordering on the Caribbean Sea were found in
possession of two luxuries which have
been every where recognized as worthy of extensive cultivation; namely, tobacco and
chocolate."
*
Chocolate was introduced to the United States in 1765 when John Hanan brought
cocoa beans from the West Indies into Dorchester,
Massachusetts, to refine them with
the help of Dr. James Baker. The first chocolate factory in the country was established
there.
*
Yet, chocolate wasn't really accepted by the American colonists until fishermen from
Gloucester, Massachusetts, accepted
cocoa beans as payment for cargo in tropical
America.
* Where chocolate was mostly considered a beverage for centuries,
and predominantly
for men, it became recognized as an appropriate drink for children in the seventeenth
century. It
had many different additions: milk, wine, beer, sweeteners, and spices. Dri
nking chocolate was considered a very fashionable
social event.
* Eating chocolate was introduced in 1674 in the form of rolls and cakes, served in the
various chocolate
emporiums.
* In 1747 Frederick the Great issued an edict forbidding the hawking of chocolate.
* By 1795, Dr.
Joseph Fry of Bristol, England, employed a steam engine for grinding cocoa
beans, an invention that led to the manufacture
of chocolate on a large scale.
*Around 1847, Fry & Sons sold a "Chocolat Delicieux a Manger," which is thought
to be
the first chocolate bar for eating.
* Nestle (The History of Chocolate and Cocoa, p. 3) declares that from
1800 to the present
day, these four factors contributed to chocolate's "coming of age" as a worldwide food
product:
1.The
introduction of cocoa powder in 1828;
2.The reduction of excise duties;
3.Improvements in transportation facilities,
from plantation to factory;
4.The invention of eating chocolate, and improvements in manufacturing methods.
*
By the year 1810, Venezuela was producing half the world's requirements for cocoa,
and one-third of all the cocoa produced
in the world was being consumed by the
Spaniards.
* The invention of the cocoa press in 1828 by C.J. Van Houten,
a Dutch chocolate master,
helped reduce the price of chocolate and bring it to the masses. By squeezing out cocoa
butter
from the beans, Van Houten's "dutching" was an alkalizing process.
* In his 1923 volume The Cocoa and Chocolate Industry,
Arthur W. Knapp attributes
the rise in popularity of cocoa to these innovations:
1.The introduction by Van Houten
of cocoa powder as we now know it.
2.The reduction of the duty to a low figure which remained constant for a number
of
years.
3.The great improvements that have taken place in the methods of transport.
4.Improvements in the
manufacture of eating chocolate.
* Daniel Peter of Vevey, Switzerland, experimented for eight years before finally
inventing
a means of making milk chocolate for eating in 1876. He brought his creation
to a Swiss firm that today is the world's
largest producer of chocolate: Nestle.
* In 1879 Rodolphe Lindt of Berne, Switzerland, produced chocolate that melted
on the
tongue. He invented "conching," a means of heating and rolling chocolate to refine it.
After chocolate had been
conched for 72 hours and had more cocoa butter added to it,
the original "fondant" was created.
* Cadbury Brothers
displayed eating chocolate in 1849 at an exhibition in Bingley Hall at
Birmingham, England.
* Swiss confiseur Jules
Sechaud of Montreux introduced a process for manufacturing
filled chocolates in 1913.
* The New York Cocoa Exchange,
located at the World Trade Center, was begun October
1, 1925, so that buyers and sellers could get together for transactions.
*
Brazil and the Ivory Coast are leaders in the cocoa bean belt, accounting for nearly half
of the world's cocoa.
*
While the United States leads the world in cocoa bean importation and chocolate
production, Switzerland continues as the
leader in per capita chocolate consumption.
* In 1980 a story of chocolate espionage hit the world press when an apprentice
of the
Swiss company of Suchard-Tobler unsuccessfully attempted to sell secret chocolate
recipes to Russia, China, Saudi
Arabia, and other countries.
* By the 1990s, chocolate had proven its popularity as a product, and its success as a
big
business. Annual world consumption of cocoa beans averages approximately 600,000
tons, and per capita chocolate
consumption is greatly on the rise. Chocolate manufact
uring in the United States is a multibillion-dollar industry. According
to Norman
Kolpas (1978, p. 106),
"We have seen how chocolate progressed from a primitive drink and food of ancient
Latin
American tribes -- a part of their religious, commerce and social life -- to a drink
favored by the elite of European society
and gradually improved until it was in
comparably drinkable and, later, superbly edible. We have also followed its complex
transformation
from the closely packed seeds of the fruit of an exotic tree to a wide
variety of carefully manufactured cocoa and chocolate
products. Beyond the historical,
agricultural and commercial, and culinary sides to chocolate, others: affect on our health
and
beauty, and inspiration to literature and the arts."
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Just for the feast of your own eyes, we have provided somelinks to some chocolates sites that we think have the best
mouth-watering taste that is if a choco fan. Plus also some sites on chocolate recipes:
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In Brunei, there are a few companies devoted on selling chcolates alone
for example the Coco's Chocolate paradise located at No.15, Block B, Kompleks Delima Jaya, Simpang62, Kg. Delima Satu, Mukim
Berakas A. Coco's Chocolate Paradise imports the highest quality chocolates from around the world
and puts them all under one roof to truly create a Chocolate paradise for chocolate lovers everywhere.
HEALTH HELP OR RISK
Chocolate has been said to cause acne and tooth decay, and has a reputation
for being a fattening, nutritionless food. On the other hand, chocolate is also known for being everything from an anti-depressant
to an aphrodisiac. While there's still much we don't know about chocolate, recent research is helping us better understand
how chocolate consumption affects our health.
The good news is that most of the bad effects of eating chocolate are either
overstated or entirely false. Eating chocolate neither causes nor aggravates acne. Two studies -- one by the Pennsylvania
School of Medicine and another by the U.S. Naval Academy -- showed that eating chocolate (or not eating it) did not produce
any significant changes in the acne conditions of the study's participants. These results are further backed by research which
shows that acne is not primarily linked to diet.
Chocolate also has not been proven to cause cavities or tooth decay. In fact,
there are indications that the cocoa butter in the chocolate coats the teeth and may help protect them by preventing plaque
from forming. The sugar in chocolate does contribute to cavities, but no more than the sugar in any other food.
Obviously, eating too much of any food may cause health problems. The cocoa
butter in chocolate does contain saturated fat, which can increase blood cholesterol levels, and high cholesterol can contribute
to heart disease. However, recent research at the University of California, Davis, has found that chocolate carries high levels
of chemicals known as phenolics, some of which may help lower the risk of heart disease. Plants such as chocolate, coffee,
tea, and others contain high levels of phenolics.
Andrew Waterhouse, the lead researcher from U.C. Davis, is a wine chemist.
For several years he has been studying the possible health benefits of antioxidant phenolics found in red wine. Waterhouse
told us that phenolic compounds are found in all plant products, and that the plants "probably make them as protective agents
and for improving their success at reproduction." The bitter, astringent taste that these plants have is an indication of
the phenolics found within.
So how might phenolics prevent heart disease? Apparently, phenolics prevent
fat-like substances in the bloodstream from oxidizing and clogging the arteries. Said Waterhouse: "It's now believed that
atherosclerosis, or the formation of plaque in the arteries, is caused by oxidation of LDL (low-density lipoproteins) -- that's
one of the cholesterol particles. At first, this leads to subtle damage, and then eventually to the formation of advanced
plaque." The buildup of plaque can lead to clogging of the arteries, a major cause of heart attacks.
While phenolics have chemically been proven to reduce oxidation, Waterhouse
cautioned that: "It's not known if the phenolic compounds, like the flavenoids that are present in chocolate, can reduce disease.
It's well known that these substances are antioxidants in a chemical sense. . .but we don't have strong, large-scale, controlled
human studies." More research still needs to be done, but certainly the initial research is encouraging.
One of the most pleasant effects of eating chocolate is the "good feeling"
that many people experience after indulging. Chocolate contains more than 300 known chemicals. Scientists have been working
on isolating specific chemicals and chemical combinations which may explain some of the pleasurable effects of consuming chocolate.
Caffeine is the most well known of these chemical ingredients, and while it's
present in chocolate, it can only be found in small quantities. Theobromine, a weak stimulant, is also present, in slightly
higher amounts. The combination of these two chemicals (and possibly others) may provide the "lift" that chocolate eaters
experience.
Phenylethylamine is also found in chocolate. It's related to amphetamines,
which are strong stimulants. All of these stimulants increase the activity of neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) in parts
of the brain that control our ability to pay attention and stay alert.
While stimulants contribute to a temporary sense of well-being. There are
other chemicals and other theories as to why chocolate makes us feel good. Perhaps the most controversial findings come from
researchers at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California. They believe that "chocolate contains pharmacologically
active substances that have the same effect on the brain as marijuana, and that these chemicals may be responsible for certain
drug-induced psychoses associated with chocolate craving." We talked to Emmanuelle diTomaso, who worked on the original study
in San Diego (she's now a researcher at Harvard), and to Daniel Piomelli, who heads the project and continues to do research
at the Neurosciences Institute.
 How does this work? Brain cells have a receptor for THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the active ingredient in marijuana.
A receptor is a structure on the surface of a cell that can lock onto certain molecules, making it possible to carry a signal
through the cell wall. (diTomaso described it as a "lock-and-key" system.) "The active compound," she told me, "will lock
itself to the protein on the membrane of the cell, and that triggers a reaction inside the cell." In the case of THC, that
chemical reaction is what would make someone feel "high."
 THC, however, is not found in chocolate. Instead, another chemical, a neurotransmitter called anandamide, has been isolated
in chocolate. Interestingly, anandamide is also produced naturally in the brain. Both diTomaso and Piomelli went to great
lengths to explain that this finding doesn't mean that eating chocolate will get you high, but rather that there are compounds
in chocolate that may be associated with the good feeling that chocolate consumption provides.
Still, the research results made for great newspaper headlines. In 1996, when
Piomelli's first study was published and "picked up" by the press, he received a number a phone calls and visits from representatives
of the major chocolate companies. "They were worried," he said, "that they would have to put a warning from the Surgeon General
on their products."
Anandamide, like other neurotransmitters, is broken down quickly after it's
produced. Piomelli and his team found other chemicals in chocolate which may inhibit the natural breakdown of anadamide. This
means that natural anandamide (or introduced anandamide) may stick around longer, making us feel good longer, when we eat
chocolate.
More research needs to be done to understand the effects of chocolate on the
brain, and Piomelli's group is currently working on a new study that should be published next year. In the meantime, I'm going
to be doing a few experiments of my own. Now that I know more about the captivating confection, I guess I'm going to have
to start sampling all the different types and brands of chocolate at my local candy store--one by one.
CHOCOLATE : the Psychoactive Cocktail
Chocolate contains small quantities of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid found in the brain. Sceptics claim one would need to consume several pounds
of chocolate to gain any very noticeable psychoactive effects; and eat a lot more to get fully stoned. Yet it's worth noting
that N-oleolethanolamine and N-linoleoylethanolamine, two structural cousins of anandamide present in chocolate, both inhibit
the metabolism of anandamide. It has been speculated that they promote and prolong the feeling of well-being induced by anandamide.
Chocolate contains caffeine. But the caffeine is present only in modest quantities. It is easily obtained
from other sources.
Chocolate's theobromine content may contribute to - but seems unlikely to determine - its subtle but
distinctive psychoactive profile. Surprisingly, perhaps, recent research suggests that pure theobromine may be superior to
opiates as a cough medicine due to its action on the vagus nerve.
Chocolate also contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid. It is the rate-limiting step in the
production of the mood-modulating neurotransmitter serotonin. Enhanced serotonin function typically diminishes anxiety. Yet tryptophan can
normally be obtained from other sources as well; and only an unusually low-protein, high-carbohydrate meal will significantly increase its rate of
intake into the brain.
Like other palatable sweet
foods, consumption of chocolate triggers the release of endorphins, the body's endogenous opiates. Enhanced endorphin-release reduces the chocolate-eater's sensitivity to pain.
Endorphins probably contribute to the warm inner glow induced in susceptible chocaholics.
Acute monthly cravings for
chocolate amongst pre-menstrual women may be partly explained by its rich magnesium content. Magnesium deficiency exacerbates PMT. Before menstruation, too, levels
of the hormone progesterone are high. Progesterone promotes fat storage, preventing its use as fuel; elevated pre-menstrual
levels of progesterone may cause a periodic craving for fatty foods. One study reported that 91% of chocolate-cravings associated
with the menstrual cycle occurred between ovulation and the start of menstruation. Chocolate cravings are admitted by 15%
of men and around 40% of women. Cravings are usually most intense in the late afternoon and early evening.
Cacao and chocolate bars contain
a group of neuroactive alkaloids known as tetrahydro-beta-carbolines. Tetrahydro-beta-carbolines are also found in beer, wine and liquor; they have
been linked to alcoholism. But the possible role of these chemicals in chocolate addiction remains unclear.
Perhaps chocolate's key ingredient is its phenylethylamine (PEA) "love-chemical". Yet the role of the "chocolate amphetamine" is disputed. Most
if not all chocolate-derived phenylethylamine is metabolised before it reaches the CNS. Some people may be sensitive to its
effects in very small quantities.
Phenylethylamine is itself
a naturally occurring trace amine in the brain. Phenylethylamine releases dopamine in the mesolimbic pleasure-centres; it
peaks during orgasm. Taken in unnaturally high doses, phenylethylamine can produce stereotyped behaviour
more prominently even than amphetamine. Phenylethylamine has distinct binding sites but no specific neurons. It helps
mediate feelings of attraction, excitement, giddiness, apprehension and euphoria. One of its metabolites is unusually high
in subjects with paranoid schizophrenia.
There is even a phenylethylamine
theory of depression. Monoamine oxidase type-b has been described as phenylethylaminase; and taking a selective MAO-b inhibitor,
such as selegiline (l-deprenyl, Eldepryl) or rasagiline (Agilect) can accentuate chocolate's effects. Some subjects report that bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban) reduces their chocolate-cravings; but other chocaholics dispute this.
In addition to the choco craze, a movie was produced in the 1970's entitled
'Willy wonka and the Chocolate factory'. In 2005, Warner Brothers decided to produce a remake of this film and they gave it
a new title, Charlie and the chocolate factory. It's the story of an ordinary boy: Charlie Bucket. He was no stronger or faster
than anyone else, his family was not rich, powerful or well connected but he was the luckiest boy in the entire world, he
just didn't know it yet.
15 years ago, Willy Wonka opened the largest chocolate factory in the world but spies stole
his recipes so he closed the factory. It didn't close forever though, and suddenly he decided to allow 5 children to visit
the factory and one of them will win a special prize at the end. The children have to find one of the five golden tickets
hidden beneath the ordinary wrapping paper of five ordinary Wonka bars. So, Augustus Gloop (a German chocoholic), Veruca Salt
(a spoilt English brat), Violet Beauregarde (junior bubblegum champion), Mike Teavee (who hates chocolate) and Charlie Bucket
(the luckiest boy in the entire world) win tickets and visit the factory.
"Accidents" happen while on the guided tour.
The greedy Augustus falls in the chocolate lake and gets accidentally sucked up and taken away to the room where they make
the most delicious kind of strawberry flavoured chocolate coated fudge. Violet, ignoring Wonka's advice, tries some of his
three course dinner gum and swells up like a blueberry. Veruca tries to grab a squirrel and ends up falling down the garbage
chute in the direction of the incinerator (which thankfully is broken so there's about three weeks worth of rotten garbage
to break her fall). Mike tries to use Wonka's chocolate teleport machine and ends up shrunk to about 6 inches high.
Charlie
wins the prize - it's Willy Wonka's factory (during his semi-annual haircut he found a grey hair and realised he'd have to
find an heir). The only catch? Charlie would have to move the factory and never see his family again. He declines Wonka's
offer. However, after Wonka is encouraged to make contact with his estranged father, he realises how important family can
be, so he invites Charlie's entire family to move into the factory together.
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