From Cacao Bean to Midnight Snack

The Sweetest Temptation

                                                                                         -By Anupama S Mani

Ancient luxury: A 650–750 CE painted Maya vase showing an enthroned ruler being served a frothy, spiced cacao beverage.

It is neither my birthday/wedding anniversary on Tuesday, the 7^th of July, nor any religious festival, nor a day marking a nation getting independence, but this is one day of some historic significance that, I am very clear, deserves a grand celebration.

It is World Chocolate Day. A day on which one can officially dig one's teeth into this heavenly treat and, for once, silence the tiny nutritionist who lives inside our heads.

You are free to ‘taste’ any goodies made from chocolate- candy, bars, sauce, cake, brownies, cookies, ice cream, spreads, or anything covered in or with chocolate, even chocolate milk or hot chocolate, which though come in a different category altogether.

Chocolate brought the phrase, “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” into our lexicon when in the 1500s Spaniards who were looking for gold, first saw the Aztecs using cocoa beans as currency. “A tolerably good slave was worth around 100 beans, a rabbit cost 10 beans, and a prostitute could be procured for as few as 8 beans.” *

Chocolate also teaches a valuable life lesson: some of the sweetest things in life begin as something bitter and rather unpromising, much like certain vegetables, job assignments and relatives.

I was tempted to wax lyrical about chocolate for several paragraphs, but in the interest of preserving both your time and my self-respect, a timeline seems the wiser option.

World Chocolate Day Timeline

Year	Event
1100 B.C.	Earlier record of use of cacao seeds in Central America
1519	Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés first encountered cacao (the drink called xocolatl) during his expedition to the Aztec Empire
1528	Cortés returned to Spain and presented cacao beans and chocolate-making equipment to King Charles V.
1828	Cocoa press invented
1847	First modern chocolate bar
1875	Milk chocolate developed
1890s	Milton Hershey founded his company
1894	Joseph Fry (owner of an English-based company — Fry’s) and his son creates the first mass-produced chocolate bar.
1971	Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, the movie which completely revolves around the obsession with this sweetie, premieres in the U.S.
2009	Chocolate gets its own day on calendar

Africa has 70% of the growing cacao trees in the world today although it also grows in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. Amul in India gets it chocolate from Ivory Coast but the suitable climate of parts of south India also produces some.    

While sharing about my visit to the Amul factory I had narrated the process of making of chocolate from the seeds of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree.

https://anupamaexcursions.blogspot.com/2025/05/deliciously-healthy-taste-of-india.html

Just a quick recap for those who thought chocolate magically appeared on store shelves: The intensely bitter tasting cacao seeds have to be fermented to develop their flavour. Then they are dried, cleaned, roasted and their shell removed to produce cacao nibs. These nibs are ground to a mass, pure chocolate in rough form. The cocoa mass is usually liquefied through a process thus creating chocolate liquor which is further made into cocoa solids and cocoa butter chocolate liquor- two components.

Most of us are familiar with 4 common types of Chocolate:

1.   Unsweetened baking chocolate – cocoa solids+ cocoa butter in varied proportions.

2.   Sweet chocolate – cocoa solids+ cocoa butter/other fats+ sugar.

3.   Milk chocolate – sweet chocolate with milk powder or condensed milk.

4.   White chocolate – cocoa butter+ sugar+ and milk, no cocoa solids.

Why do we love chocolate so much?

Part of the answer lies in how our brains work. Chocolate contains tiny amounts of compounds such as phenylethylamine—sometimes called the ‘love chemical’, and anandamide, which affects some of the same brain receptors as cannabis. It also encourages the release of endorphins, serotonin and dopamine, the chemicals associated with pleasure, happiness and reward. In other words, chocolate comes with its own little publicity team working inside our heads.

Then there is the ‘melt factor’. Cocoa butter melts at around 35°C, just below body temperature. The moment you pop a piece of chocolate in your mouth, it begins to melt, creating that silky, smooth sensation that feels far more luxurious than a humble bean has any right to.

And finally, chocolate hits a biological sweet spot. Thousands of years of evolution never stood much of a chance against a well-made chocolate bar.

Irish physician Dr Hans Sloan (1660–1753) recommended chocolate milk as a medicine and most other doctors swore by the positive results theobromine has in curing cough. It is eaten by one billion people every day, led by the Swiss consuming about 8.8 kgs of chocolate per year. No wonder they are high up on the Happiness Index. The Swiss may say it is a coincidence. Chocolate lovers, however, remain unconvinced.

Whether a mass-manufactured bar or specially crafted dish, chocolate always emotionally resonates with most of us.

Why do people have this wrong notion that chocolates are only for children? They are a reflection of the growth and maturing of one’s tastes. The milk and sweet chocolates we once devoured until our parents warned that our teeth would fall out, have gradually surrendered centre stage to dark chocolates and increasingly complex flavours. Why, I know a couple of people who merrily enjoy a bitter one with 90 per cent cocoa content.

Photo collage: Whittakers Chocolates advertisements

Flowers may not be available at airports, perfumes are expensive, cosmetics are risky, and forget mithai, soaps or candles. Chocolates are perhaps the safest last-minute gift for someone you are visiting—proof that cocoa beans continue to function as a form of currency, just in a different way. Few gifts have rescued as many forgetful travellers from social embarrassment.

No wonder then, much like coffee and wine, chocolate too has its sects of followers based on quality, origin, and processing methods.

So, all ye chocoholics, let us say cheers to chocolate. It has survived empires, crossed oceans, conquered continents and defeated countless diets.

Indulge in your favourite chocolate dessert, host a chocolate tasting party for family and friends, let them bring their best chocolate recipes to share. You may also learn about chocolates from around the world, read your children a book about chocolate, like Candy’s Chocolate Kingdom, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or The Chocolate Touch. If you are big on social media, post photos of your favourite chocolate treat.

Try out a recipe using chocolate. Even savoury dishes are possible. After all, Mexican Mole Poblano uses chocolate to create a rich sauce that balances chillies and tomatoes.

And if none of that appeals to you, simply unwrap a favourite bar and eat it. World Chocolate Day is one occasion when doing the bare minimum still counts as enthusiastic participation.

*Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao. M.N. McNeil.  University Press of Florida. 2006.

                                      **************************************