There are so many fun, weird, and wonderful facts about chocolate, it’s hard to know which one to include and which one to omit due to space considerations.
First of all, the Mayans used cocoa beans as currency, as they believed that they were more valuable than gold dust. They controlled the production of beans so that their currency did not depreciate.
White chocolate is not strictly speaking chocolate. We have been working under a misunderstanding for many years. Chocolate should contain cocoa solids, but white chocolate has none. Instead, cocoa butter is used in the production of white chocolate.
Europeans are the biggest fans of chocolate, accounting for the consumption of almost half of the chocolate produced globally.
Where was the largest chocolate bar produced? In the United Kingdom; It was made by Thornton’s for its centennial. He broke records, weighing in at 5,792.50 kilograms.
Toblerone is so popular that if the number of bars sold each year were put end to end, they would stretch to 62,000 km. That is more than the circumference of the Earth.
Chocolate contains theobromine, which is a very powerful stimulant. If you eat too much, it can be fatal. However, you would have to eat around 22 pounds of food in one sitting, which is not really possible. Theobromine poisoning causes seizures, heart failure, dehydration, and acute kidney damage.
Chocolate chip cookies, adored by many around the world, arose due to an accident that occurred in 1930. Ruth Wakefield ran out of chocolate to cook, but undeterred she used chocolate chips in her cookie dough. The chocolate he used was Nestles, and then he sold his recipe to the company in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate.
One pound of chocolate contains 400 cocoa beans and a cocoa tree will produce around 2,500 beans. Beans are the seeds of the cacao tree. These trees are delicate and cocoa farmers lose about 30 percent of their harvest each year.
Most of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa, with the Ivory Coast accounting for around 40 percent of the world’s cocoa supply.
The ancients fermented the pods of cocoa beans to make other beverages besides chocolate.
Montezuma, the Aztec emperor used to drink 50 cups of chocolate a day. These were served to him in a golden chalice.
Every November in Germany, people celebrate St. Martin’s Day with sweets and cups of steaming hot chocolate.
How many of these fun facts did you already know? Comments are appreciated.