![\"Chocolate\"](\"http:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/chocolate.jpg\" "\\"Chocolate\\"")
Chocolate could well be called the food of gods and kings.\u00a0 Early Mayan writings record pictures of gods with cacao pods and bowls of cacao beans.\u00a0 Elite members of upper Mayan society had ornately carved vessels depicting these same cacao pods. Chocolate drinks were important to Mayan ceremony as well and used to seal contracts and marriages.\u00a0 The Aztecs borrowed Mayan chocolate tradition and also celebrated the primitive confectionary.<\/p>\n
Christopher Columbus and his crew were the first Europeans to come in contact with this precious stuff that was typically drunk.\u00a0 The first imports to Europe were regarded as healthy drinks and the chocolate was believed to be infused with medicinal properties.\u00a0 Cacao beans became so valuable to the Spanish that they were even at times used as currency.\u00a0 Chocolate drinks then went on to become the beverage of wealthy continental European aristocrats who woke up to their customary cups of chocolate.<\/p>\n
Chocolate fared a bit differently in England where it entered the country at roughly the same time as sugar, coffee and tea.\u00a0 Here, at least, anyone could afford the new commodity from the New World.\u00a0 Of course, of all countries, Switzerland is often most closely linked to chocolate.\u00a0 By the 1800s, Switzerland’s people consumed more chocolate than anywhere else.\u00a0 Today, it’s even estimated that the Swiss eat about annually about twelve pounds per person.\u00a0 Switzerland, if you may remember, is also the birthplace of Nestle.\u00a0
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\nToday, chocolate covers everything from raisins to pretzels.\u00a0 Candy bars feature both light and dark varieties of chocolate.\u00a0 Of course, for the ancients, chocolate was preferred as a liquid.\u00a0 Mayan women would pour the chocolate from one vessel to another to create the precious foam-the best part of the drink.\u00a0 Chocolate was so highly revered to these peoples that it took on the aspect of human blood-a symbolic reference, but it demonstrates how much chocolate was valued.<\/p>\n
The Aztecs preferred to flavor their chocolate with vanilla, honey and even chilies.\u00a0 The Spaniards were initially repulsed by the beverage, but soon got over their distaste.\u00a0 Today this ancient beverage of the elite is served as hot cocoa, or hot chocolate and school children all over the world flavor their milk with a bit of chocolate too.\u00a0 This food of the gods is today a beloved treat for all.\u00a0 Serve some at your next family gathering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chocolate could well be called the food of gods and kings.\u00a0 Early Mayan writings record pictures of gods with cacao pods and bowls of cacao beans.\u00a0 Elite members of upper Mayan society had ornately carved vessels depicting these same cacao pods. Chocolate drinks were important to Mayan ceremony as well and used to seal contracts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":360,"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions\/360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.avivadirectory.com\/trivia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}