World Chocolate Day 2020
How will you be celebrating World Chocolate Day this year?
Here at The Chocolate Emporium, we don’t need a special day to celebrate all things chocolate, but as World Chocolate Day falls on 7 July each year, we thought we would mark the occasion with some little known and sometimes whacky facts about this most revered sweet treat.
We all know the fact that chocolate comes from the seed of the tropical Theobroma Cacao tree and Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia and grows in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America, but here are some facts you probably didn’t know. . .
Chocolate is universally loved all over the world, but do you know which country consumes the most per capita, per year?
There’s no surprise that Switzerland comes in at number one with 8.8 kilos, that’s a whopping 19.4 pounds per person, each year!
The Swiss people lead the world when it comes to eating their own delicious chocolate and they generously ensure that people in other parts of the world are not deprived of their delicious delicacies. The UK, Germany, France and Italy are their biggest markets and The Chocolate Emporium helps to fight the cause by supplying you the world's largest range of Lindt Lindor chocolate varieties all in one place, available to buy online here in the UK.
Why American-made chocolate tastes so different to British made chocolate
If you’ve ever eaten chocolate manufactured in America, you would probably agree that it tastes distinctively different from the kind made in Switzerland, Belgium and the UK. In fact, you would be forgiven if you thought it tasted just a little bit like vomit!
American chocolate is renowned for its slightly sour or tangy taste; Hershey bars are said to contain a chemical that is also found in parmesan cheese, rancid cheese – and vomit! The taste is the result of putting the milk through a process called lipolysis which breaks down the fatty acids in the milk and produces butyric acid, a process which is believed to be carried out by American chocolate companies such as Hershey’s.
The river in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory was made from real chocolate
Back in the day, before CGI, to make things look real on film sets, filmmakers actually used real ingredients to recreate the desired effects.
We all remember Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), but did you know that the chocolate river in that movie was made from real chocolate?
The film makers original concoction turned blood red, so they had to change the formula, which consisted of 150,000 gallons of water, real chocolate and cream. But, because of the cream the mixture quickly spoilt. According to the cast and crew it emitted a rather vile odour!
Why chocolate makes us feel so good
According to research, tucking into a bar of chocolate gives us a sense of calm and tranquillity. The smell of chocolate apparently increases our brain waves; creating signals in the brain that are activated by chemicals called methylxanthines. These are plant produced compounds that also help to improve some of our bodily functions.
A number of studies have shown that eating chocolate improves our concentration levels. Nutrients called cocoa flavanols, which are found naturally in cocoa, and thus chocolate, seem to have a positive effect on our brains; one study concluded that eating this nutrient can ‘reduce some measure of age-related cognitive dysfunction.’ The suspicion is that eating it increases blood flow to the brain, which in turn improves a number of its functions.
That doesn’t mean that you should all rush off to stuff your faces with masses of this ‘magical’ treat – eating small amounts of chocolate without guilt is fine, as long as you don’t substitute chocolate for a normal balanced healthy diet!
Research is still ongoing, so who knows what other magical effects chocolate might turn out to have?
You don’t have to wait until World Chocolate Day every year before you can treat yourselves to your favourite chocolate.
Here at The Chocolate Emporium, we’ve got something to satisfy every discerning chocolate lover from the ever-popular Swiss Lindt and Ghirardelli ranges, luxurious Belgian chocolate from Godiva and a whole host of delicious chocolate from the UK including our ever popular range of quirky artisan chocolate Bizarre Bars, from The Chocolate Smiths and a range of individually wrapped luxury truffles from Monty Bojangles. All available as part of our exclusive Pick & Mix Collection.
However you decide to celebrate World Chocolate Day, make sure you treat yourself to some delicious chocolate or send a gift to someone special to let them know you’re thinking of them.
Chocolate world Image by Comfreak from Pixabay
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