fun facts about Chocolate

 

As its Easter week, we have some fun facts about Chocolate

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  Chocolate comes from a fruit tree; it’s made from a seed.
• It takes 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate.
• Each cacao tree produces approximately 2,500 beans.
• Research to date supports that chocolate can be enjoyed as part of a balanced, heart-healthy diet and lifestyle.
• The average serving of milk chocolate has about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaf coffee.
• Because cacao trees are so delicate, farmers lose, on average, 30 percent of their crop each year.
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  U.S. chocolate manufacturers use about 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day to make milk chocolate.
• Studies have demonstrated that one of the major saturated fats in chocolate does not raise cholesterol like other hard fats–meaning chocolate can be enjoyed in moderation.
• Chocolate comes from a fruit tree; it’s made from a seed.
• Theobroma Cacao is the tree that produces cocoa beans, and it means “food of the gods.” Carolus Linnaeus, the father of plant taxonomy, named it.
• Approximately 3 million tons of cocoa beans are turned into chocolate products each year.
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  It takes two to four days to make a single-serving chocolate bar.
• Chocolate contains two doses of cocoa butter—the natural amount from the bean, plus an extra dollop to bump up creaminess.
• Cacao percentage determines the amount of cocoa bean products by weight in a chocolate.
• “Cacao” is how you say “cocoa” in Spanish.
• Champagne and sparkling wines are too acidic to pair well with milk or dark chocolate. Try pairing a sweet bubbly with white chocolate and red wine with dark. In general you want to match the sweetness level of the wine with the sweetness level of the chocolate.
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  Some cocoa certification programs are modelled on success with a similar product–coffee.
• Chocolate can make dogs and cats ill–meaning no tastings for your furry friend, and more for you.
• A farmer must wait four to five years for a cacao tree to produce its first beans.
• German chocolate cake was named for Sam German, who developed a sweet bar for Baker’s Chocolate–and was not from Germany.
• The French celebrate April fool’s Day with chocolate-shaped fish, or “Poisson d’Avril.”