Fun Chocolate Facts For My Friends

Some friends of mine were sitting around the table the other day, when we decided to go out and buy some quality chocolate. While we were there, we started to ask each other questions about where we thought chocolate came from, why it tastes so good, etc. I decided when I got home that I would find some Fun Chocolate Facts that I could share with them the next time that we got together. Here are some of the things that I have found:

Historically, it is known that the Aztecs and Mayans created a drink out of the beans from the cocoa tree, which they called "cocoatl", which was discovered in around 1528 by the Spanish Conquistadors who brought the produce back to Spain. Later on, in 1615, chocolate was introduced into a royal wedding in France. It went on from there into England in 1662, known as "chocolata".

It is quite amazing to look back on these Fun Chocolate Facts to see how this treat was appreciated by people in similar or different ways than it is now. Chocolate was actually introduced to the United States in 1765, but it wasn't until 1930 that a woman named Ruth Wakefield invented the very first chocolate chip cookie, to whom many people give thanks for her work.

After finding out where chocolate came from, I wondered how it was actually made. I knew that my Fun Chocolate Facts would not be complete if I was not able to tell my friends where chocolate came from. I found that the cocoa beans can mostly be found down south, within two degrees of the equator, as workers plant a cocoa tree below a larger tree, so it will not be in constant sunlight.

A cocoa tree will also only produce about five pounds of chocolate per year, with each seedling taking about five to eight years to mature, which can take quite a long time to start a plantation. The workers will also need to gather the beans and put them through a very long process, before the end result will manage to land them into cooled and then sweetened pieces of chocolate mass.

I know that my friends will really enjoy to hear these Fun Chocolate Facts, as it will surely make them consider the process and history involved so we could better enjoy our treat.