Get your chocolate fix today!

Holla! Today is the birthday of the King of Pop, and not forgetting yours truly! To grace this wonderful day, I shall talk about my deepest, sinful, guilty pleasures- CHOCOLATES! Just the thought of it sends me into a state of frenzy. While some adores chocolates (people like me), there are some who absolutely despise the taste of chocolate or even the smell of them! However, the sweet, delicious, milk oozing confectionery has its own share of history, and have evolved to different types of chocolates today. Care to join me on the journey of discovering the history of chocolates? Here we go!

Courtesy of http://www.wowwoo.com

Chocolates are produced from the seeds of the tropical Theobroma Cacao tree, and have been cultivated at least for three millennia in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. Experts nowadays say that “cacao” referring to the plant or its beans right before processing, while the term "chocolate" are based on anything made from the beans. "Cocoa" generally refers to chocolate in a powdered form, although it can also be a British form of "cacao."

However the origin of the word “Chocolate” came from the Aztec word “xocoatl” which ironically means a bitter drink made from cacao beans. Another shocking fact is the Latin term for the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao actually means “food of the gods.” Tell me about that!

While modern experts believes that chocolate has been around for about 2000 years, but according to the recent research, it is believed that they may be even older!

There are a couple of types of chocolates that I have come across in my life, and also quite popular in the land of Malaysia. Why don’t we take a look at the kinds of chocolates that are available in our country?

Dark Chocolate

To be honest, I don’t like dark chocolate. Really, to me, chocolates are supposed to sweet, and rich with milk. But, there are so many people out there who actually prefer dark chocolate. The content of cocoa in commercial dark chocolate bars can range from 30% (sweet dark) and escalate to 70- 80% for extremely dark bars. Bittersweet chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate also belongs to the “dark chocolate” category. Not only that, dark chocolate believed to have many health benefits as well! It is believed that dark chocolate are really good for your heart. Taking dark chocolate 2-3 times each week, can help lower your blood pressure. Dark chocolate also improves your blood circulation, and at the same time prevent blood clots.

Milk Chocolate

Check it out here

 Ah-ha! This is my favorite types of chocolate! This type of chocolate contains cocoa butter and also either condensed milk or dry milk solids. Milk chocolate must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor (in the United States), 3.39% butterfat, and 12% milk solids. Milk chocolates are generally much sweeter compare to dark chocolate, and have a lighter color and a less pronounced chocolate taste. Just as I like it!

White Chocolate

White chocolate retrieves its name from the butter of cocoa; however it doesn’t contain chocolate liquor or any other cocoa elements. It also doesn’t have pronounced chocolate taste, but usually tasted like vanilla or other added flavorings. By right, white chocolate should contain a minimum 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk solids, and also a maximum of 55% of sugar. I don’t fancy white chocolate that much as they don’t really taste like chocolates. But there are people who prefer these types of chocolates more than the rest.

Woah! That’s a lot of information on chocolates in one post! All these talks about chocolate making me crave for them more! So, I shall hunt for tasty chocolates now to satisfy my craving, catch you guys later!