Sunday, August 14, 2011

Chocolate Exhibit at Muzeo




We had a great time at Chocolate -the exhibit at Muzeo in Anaheim the other day. It was very informational; we all learned a ton about chocolate. Here are some fun facts!

-Cacao trees grow in near the equator in places like Central and South America.
-The chocolate craze first started with the Mayans and then traveled to the Aztecs, Spanish and Europeans.
-The aztecs used cacao beans for money.
-Cacao was a luxury and sought-after drink. The aztec word for hot chocolate is chocolatl.
-They would put spices in the cacao beverage.
-The Europeans introduced milk and sugar being added to the cacao, so creating hot chocolate.
-Birds and different animals feast on cacao. A certain fruit fly called a midge pollinates the cacao flower and helps break down the cacao seeds into a rich fertilizer.
-Animals eat cacao pulp and spit out the seeds because the cacao seeds have caffeine in them which the animals don't like.
-A bird was found in the cacao trees in 1996 which was named the pink-legged graveterio. A disease called witches broom is wiping them out unfortunately.
-The Ivory Coast grows the most cacao: 1.4 million tons!
-Cacao pods contain 30-50 seeds, enough to make 7 chocolate bars.
-The swiss eat more chocolate per person than anywhere else in the world.
-There used to be chocolate houses where high class politicians went to sip hot chocolate and discuss politics in the 1600s and 1700s in England.

~post by Carly


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