Chocolate Trivia Collected from our Newsletters
- The stage blood in the black & white Hitchcock thriller "Psycho" was really chocolate syrup.
- The word "chocolate" comes from the Aztec word "xocoatl". The Aztecs, and before them the Mayans, used to drink spicy chocolate flavored with chilis, achiote, and vanilla.
- The famous "Three Musketeers" candy bar got its name in 1932 when it was originally made of three pieces of candy: one chocolate, one vanilla, and one strawberry. One for all and all for one!
- It takes about 400 cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate. That means there are thousands of beans in our Mt. McKinley Mountain of Chocolate alone!
- Theobroma cacao, the scientific name for the tree that cocoa and chocolate are made from, means “Food of the Gods”.
- Many of us believed an old myth that chocolate causes acne. The good news for teenagers everywhere is that modern research showns that's just not true. The only effect of chocolate on your face is to induce a smile.
- In early America, sugar was a rare and prized ingredient, so gifts of sweets were especially generous and meaningful. Marzipan, sweetmeats, and sugar plums seem old fashioned now but the tradition lives on in candy, cake, and especially chocolate.
- Archaeological evidence points towards a new theory of the origins of chocolate. Chemical analysis of 3000 year old pottery found in Honduras suggests that a form of beer made from the cacao fruit might have led to the earliest use of the seeds themselves.
- Long before Easter was a holiday, eggs symbolized the rebirth of everything living in Spring. In the 17th century people decorated eggs and made artificial eggs. Many materials were used including fabulous gems and precious metals. Then in the early 1800s someone got the idea of using chocolate which caught on in a big way!
- Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the United States of America, loved chocolate fiercely. He even wrote in 1785 to John Adams, the 2nd president that, "The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain."
- Chocolate is wonderful for people but keep it away from your pets. A chemical in chocolate called theobromine is poisonous to dogs and cats. Darker chocolate contains more theobromine so it's more dangerous. A single ounce of baking chocolate can kill a small dog. If your dog ever eats chocolate, the sooner you get it to a vet, the more likely that he or she will be saved. The good news is cats usually won't eat chocolate - they're too picky.
- Most people know that chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao fruit, but how many of us know anything about the fruit itself? The pod looks somewhat like a large yellow, orange, or red papaya and grows directly from the trunk. Each tree makes about 20 pods. The fruit has a hard rind and is white, creamy, tart, sweet, and delicious but because it's so soft inside it's never exported. If you happen to visit the Amazon be sure to try it!
- "Candy" is such a delightful word — so where does it come from? In modern usage it means a sweet made from sugar syrup but it was originally borrowed as so many English words are. As early as the year 1274 the term sucre candi was known in Old French. That term probably derived from the Arabic qandi which came from Persian's qand and that came from the Sanskrit word khanda. Even older derivations are thought to possibly come from Tamil in Southern India.
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We collect these tidbits from our email newsletter. If you liked them you might also like:
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