Chocolate, oh the joy you bring

Go away vanilla, don't even try it.

Chocolate truly is the stuff of God’s. Few foods can boast such an amazing melt in the mouth experience as good quality chocolate. Yummy! Yet choc is not just an amazing indulgence. It even packs a nutritional punch. Yep, chocolate contains magnesium, zinc, copper and iron. It even contains a type of fat called stearic acid, which is supposed to be good for the heart. It’s all good.

Chocolate has been around for eons, so it certainly has an interesting history about it. Here are a few tidbits:

Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He also discovered the cocoa bean and brought it back to Europe. Yay Chris!
The botanical name of the cocoa tree ’Theobroma cacao’ means ‘Food of the Gods’.
The Aztecs viewed cocoa as a sacred plant and they believed that prophets brought the cocoa beans to them. Cocoa was therefore considered extremely valuable.
Sugar wasn’t around when cocoa was first consumed, so the ancient Mayans mixed the cocoa bean with spices to make a warming drink.
Cocoa was considered so valuable that the Aztecs, Mayans and Toltecs even went to war over it!
Cocoa was only for the elite in the good ol’ days – it was mainly consumed by royalty.
Before there were coffee houses, there were chocolate houses. In the 15th century people used to enjoy chocolate in ‘chocolate houses'. No Starbucks in those days!
The Pope put the Catholic seal of approval on chocolate. In 1569, Pope Pius V stated that eating chocolate was not considered breaking a fast on religious fast days. No wonder we eat so much chocolate at Easter!
Chocolate contains a stimulant called theobromine. This stimulant is very similar to caffeine. Strangely enough; this chemical is so stimulating to horses that it is now banned in horse racing. Apparently trainers used to use this stuff for a competitive edge.
Theobromine in chocolate also works as a mild anti depressant. No wonder people eat ice-cream after a break up!
Cocoa was a traditional ingredient in Mexican cuisine back in the day. Traditional Mexican food still contains cocoa – with cocoa powder being added to chilli and chocolate sauce being used on meat dishes. True story.
Chocolate is so amazing that entire stories have been built around it. From the infamous Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book to the Chocolat movie, the sweet stuff is inspiring to many.
Dark chocolate has one of the highest levels of antioxidants of any food. It’s even higher in antioxidants than green tea.
"Never mind about 1066 William the Conqueror, 1087 William the Second. Such things are not going to affect one’s life ... but 1932 the Mars Bar and 1936 Maltesers and 1937 the Kit Kat - these dates are milestones in history and should be seared into the memory of every child in the country." - Roald Dahl
"A new British survey has revealed that 9 out of 10 people like chocolate. The tenth [person] lied." - Robert Paul.