Chocolates

Chocolate has become one of the most popular flavors in the world. It is a common ingredient in many snacks and desserts, including cookies, cake, ice cream, pudding, pie and candy. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular at Easter, chocolate coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols at Christmas, and hearts on Valentine's Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, including chocolate milk and hot chocolate.

The word "chocolate" comes from the Aztecs of Mexico, and is derived from the Nahuatl word xocolatl which is a combination of the words, xocolli, meaning "bitter", and atl, which is "water". The Aztecs associated chocolate with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility. Chocolate is also associated with the Maya god of fertility. Mexican philologist Ignacio Davila Garibi proposed that "Spaniards had coined the word by taking the Maya word chocol and then replacing the Mayan term for water, haa, with the Aztec term, atl." However, it is more likely that the Aztecs themselves coined the term, having long adopted into Nahuatl the Mayan word for the "cacao" bean; the Spanish had little contact with the Maya before Cortés' early reports to the Spanish King of the beverage known as xocolatl. William Bright noted that the word xocoatl does not occur in early Spanish or Nahuatl colonial sources.

For hundreds of years, the chocolate making process remained unchanged. When the people saw the Industrial Revolution arrive, many changes occurred that brought about the food today in its modern form. In the 1700s, mechanical mills were created that squeezed out cocoa butter, which in turn helped to create hard, durable chocolate. But, it was not until the arrival of the Industrial Revolution that these mills were put to bigger use. Not long after the revolution cooled down, companies began advertising this new invention to sell many of the chocolate treats we see today. When new machines were produced, people began experiencing and consuming chocolate worldwide.

Production costs can be decreased by reducing cocoa solid content or by substituting cocoa butter with a non-cocoa fat. Cocoa growers object to allowing the resulting food to be called "chocolate", due to the risk of lower demand for their crops. There are two main jobs associated with creating chocolate candy, chocolate makers and chocolatiers. Chocolate makers use harvested cacao beans and other ingredients to produce couverture chocolate. Chocolatiers use the finished couverture to make chocolate candies (bars, truffles, etc.).