A flavor which drives the world
crazy, chocolate hails the land of Mesoamerica as the region of its origin.
Since time immemorial, chocolate has been held in high regard by humans. The
last Mesoamerican civilization of Aztecs loved it to such an extent that Cacao
seeds were used as currency! Since then, people
around the world have turned to chocolate to cure sickness, appease gods, show
love, buy rabbits, fete holidays, survive fasts, ward off scorpions and sustain
warriors. And all the
while, the number of chocolate lovers, or Chocolateers, has only grown with the
passage of time. Chocolate enthusiasts have dedicated novels, movies and entire
festivals to the delicious flavor of chocolate. The chocolate craze can be estimated from the
example of a town in Central Sulawesi in Indonesia, where cacao farmers
have built a statue that is nearly 20 feet high, simply a pair of hands holding
a cacao pod.
Despite not being the place of
origin, Africa has overtaken the Americas as the largest producer of chocolate,
responsible for around two thirds of the world’s production. The chocolate which
ends up in a shiny and expensive package often begins its life inside a fruit,
called a pod, on a tree in the tropics, primarily in remote areas of West
Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and South America. The process includes
separating the seeds from the pod and fermenting them. After being dried, they
are shipped to factories where they are processed into a paste known as
chocolate liquor. After more pressing, rolling, mixing with sugar and other
ingredients, and heating and cooling, the final product yields delicious
chocolate.
The making of chocolate is
in itself a vast industry, employing around 40 to 50 million people, who
collectively produce 3.8 million tons of cocoa beans per year. The astonishing
fact is that despite its extremely large size, it is still growing. The global
production is climbing at 2% per year and still it has not been able to catch
up with the demand, which has steadily climbed at 3% per year. In India alone,
the sale crossed 10,000 crore in 2014. Adjusting to the changing demands of the
country, the manufacturing and delivery of packaged chocolates has undergone a
vast change. An example is Nita Mehta, a celebrity chef who manufactures her
own brand of chocolate and which can be easily bought online through websites
like FoodFeasta.com.
Nearly everyone has been scolded by their mother during
childhood for eating too much chocolate and yet chocolate has been used
throughout history to treat a variety of ailments, most commonly to help thin
patients gain weight, to stimulate the nervous systems of feeble people, to
calm those who are hyperactive, or to improve digestion and kidney function. A
modern proof of the positive effect of chocolate on health can be seen through
the example of the Kuna Indians of the Panama, who drink five or more cups of
chocolate each day. Studies have shown considerably low incidence of heart
disease and cancer. With such a lot of benefits of chocolate added to its magical
flavor, it does not remain a mystery as to why so many people are crazy for
chocolate.
