History Of Chocolate
You are standing in the shade under the beautiful cacao tree in hopes that a foot long pod will drop off the tree and into your hands. When it does you run, skip, and leap to your parents. You say, ‘let’s make chocolate!’ Chocolate tastes amazing but how is it made and what is it’s history?
Chocolate comes from cacao trees. These trees grow in tropical rainforests full of exotic birds, animals and flowers. They grow under the shade or canopy of the other trees around them. The beautiful cacao tree grows clusters of flowers and football sized pods. Inside these pods is white pulp. If you dig deeper down you will find dozens of rows of chocolate seeds! Once the chocolate seeds are gathered they are fermented, dried, roasted, shelled, and crushed into a smooth paste from which that sweet and melty chocolate bar is made.
The Maya Indians of Central America might have begun using cacao seeds as early as 600 BC. The Maya built a great civilization that included huge temples, hieroglyphics, and a passion for chocolate. From remains of hieroglyphics, we know that the Maya loved chocolate very, very much. During their religious holidays, they offered chocolate to their Gods. The Maya did not eat chocolate, they drank the sweet sensation out of carved pots. The Maya flavored their chocolate with chilly, flower petals, and vanilla. The Aztecs, who lived around 1500 AD used many of the same chocolate making strategies as the Maya. Just as the Maya had offered chocolate to their Gods, the Aztecs did the same.
Spanish explorers came to Central America in the late 1400s in search of gold. That is when they were first introduced to chocolate. Spanish Conquistadors adored chocolate. One Spanish Conquistador named Hernando Cortes, called chocolate the divine drink. The Conquistadors drank the sugary sweetness both hot and chilled. Chocolate first arrived in Europe in the mid 1500’s. But it is not known who brought it there. At first the Europeans gave chocolate mixed reviews. For 2,000 years chocolate was a drink only served to the upper classes. Hundreds of thousands of African American people were kidnapped and forced to work on sugar and cacao plantations.
This is an open Cacao pod.
Around the late 1800’s there were many advances in chocolate making. First came Daniel Peter who invented milk chocolate. He added evaporated milk to a mixture of liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar which created milk chocolate. He got this recipe from Henry Nestle. In the 1920’s Milton Hershey began to bring chocolate to the public in a grand way. He sold hundreds of thousands of chocolate bars at prices most people could afford. In the 1920’s many candy shops made their own chocolate. World war one gave chocolate a boost. American troops were given chocolate as an energy boost.
From cacao trees to delicious candy bars and from its beginnings in Central America through Europe and to the United States, chocolate has come a long, long way. According to the Farmers Almanac more than 58 million pounds of chocolate candy is sold during Valentines week. But Halloween takes the top spot as the number one chocolate candy holiday. 90 million pounds of chocolate candy is sold during Valentines week and Americans consume on average over 12 pounds of chocolate each year. What’s your favorite kind?
The reason I chose the history of Taekwondo is because I do it and it’s seems like it will be a fun topic to learn about. Taekwondo is a Korean sport. It teaches you self defense. For example if a stranger tries to kidnap you, you can use self defense to get away.
Did you know that there are over 500 Native American tribes in the United States of America. About 2,100 sports teams contain Native American names and logos. Since 2005 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) told 18 teams to change their names or logo because it is offensive to native americans and they don’t like being called indians or redskins. From my point of view, sports teams should change their names because they can be offensive to Native Americans because it makes look like savages. Many Native Americans don’t like the team names because it makes it look like they all have the same culture even though there is many different cultures of Native Americans.
Imagine yourself as a fish. You see a weird thing that is clear. You try to eat it and you suffocate. Later you become a shark’s dinner which means that the shark is now polluted too. Think of all the creatures that eat plastic and die. I think we should ban plastic, especially plastic bags. Plastic trash ends up in the ocean and can really harm marine life. Another reason for banning plastic is all plastic bags can also contribute to global climate change.
The ocean is in great danger! Every second there’s a ton of trash dumped into the ocean. Some states and countries don’t want to make areas for trash. They put their trash in the oceans. If we don’t stop them the ocean will get polluted with bad things. Many animals will eat ts are sold every minute around the world. People should recycle the plastic water bottles. Also, people should buy reusable water bottles. Everyone needs to get involved, even kids. Ocean Connectors is a group here in San Diego for kids to learn about ocean conservation. Kids go on field trips to clean-up beaches and learn about marine life.
