Crazy for Chocolate!

 The history of chocolate began in Latin America where the cacao tree grows wild. Cacao was cultivated by many cultures and some of the first people to use chocolate were more than likely the Olmec’s of southeast Mexico. They lived around 1,000 BC and used cacoa beans as their currency. The Mayan culture used chocolate in religious rituals, in baptisms and in marriage ceremonies where the bride and groom exchanged it. The Mayans used it strictly for drinking. It was a bitter drink, but it was believed that drinking it made one stronger. As chocolate made it’s way through Europe, it was a big hit with the rich and elite. The first chocolate house, (which is much like our coffee houses of today.) was opened in London and the demand for the chocolate drink took off. As the demand grew, plantations began to spring up all over the world, mainly in Central and South America and now in Hawaii.
Solid chocolate as we think of today did not exist until around the 1850’s, when englishman Joseph Fry added more cocoa butter, rather than hot water to cocoa powder and sugar which made a paste, he molded the paste into a bar shape, and the chocolate bar as we know it today was born.
Rudolph Lindt invented the conch, a machine that rotated and mixed chocolate to a perfectly smooth consistency. Then in 1907, Milton Hershey’s factory was producing a whopping 33 million kisses per day!
With the advent of the World Wars and advertising, chocolate kept increasing in popularity and now today, over three billion tons of chocolate supplies a 35 billion dollar industry.
There are several types of chocolate: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and unsweetened chocolate. Chocolate can be flavored, colored and molded into different shapes. Chocolate has become one of the most popular foods in the world. It is the most popular food to give and or receive at any holiday.
February 14, Valentine’s Day is a day to give and or receive chocolate, we hope in a heart -haped box. Richard Cadbury was believed to have been the first person to actually patent the heart-shaped valentine box. Remember life is like a box of chocolates, it does not matter what shape it is. Enjoy!
Clarice’s Cake and Candy Supplies wishes everyone a very Happy Valentine’s Day. We offer chocolate classes and have candy and baking supplies for all your chocolate needs.  For more information, please call Clarice’s at 661-259-0352.