Chocolate, The Sweetest Thing Ever!

Who doesn’t know about chocolate? I thought we all know chocolate. From this ingredient we can make delicious cake, pudding, ice cream, candy, etc. This is the best month to talk about chocolate. What happen with this month? This month is February. February 14 is known with special days, a day where we can share our love with someone beloved. We called this Valentines day.  What can we find in Valentines Day? We can find flowers or chocolate. This time I’ll write everything about chocolate. Are you chocolate lovers? This is the best place for you to know more about chocolate. I believe this make you all hungry. I’ll explain below. Please continue to read…..

Only a few people knew about Christoper Colombus. Beside he found America, but he was a Europeans who introduced cocoa to the other European, as we know cocoa is basic ingredient to make chocolate. He introduced this in the last journey to America. But Europeans didn’t accept this directly. Hernando Cortez , a European who came back from Mexico brought cocoa. After Cortez introduce cocoa to others and then cocoa become famous. Unfortunately, not all people love to drink chocolate because of the taste was bitter. After doing several experiment, Cortez find the delicious recipes of chocolate drink. By adding vanilla and cinnamon into hot water, this experiment really works. Chocolate drink became luxurious drinks. Spanish Empire hide secret the making of chocolate drink for almost hundred years.

In the 16th century, chocolate drinks began to be enjoyed in some countries such as French and England. The popularity of chocolate drinks beat the popularity of an existing bar or pub in London. Until Dutch begun to plant the cocoa tree. After this ,cocoa wasn’t became luxurious things because the price really affordable. And all Europeans and Americans could enjoy cocoa. In 1728 in Bristol stands a modern chocolate factory for the first time. In America itself, the existence of chocolate as begun with the chocolate factory in Massachusetts bay Colony in 1765. The Dutch itself also found the chocolate bar and chocolate candy. In 1876, Daniel Peter, as a candy maker from Switzerland tried to make a candy and chocolate bar by adding some milk and sugar. We called this milk chocolate.

You aren’t chocolate lovers if you didn’t know several of Chocolate. I’ll share a little about this below. Please check it out!

• Baking chocolate: This is kind of bitter chocolate because it didn’t add by sugar. This chocolate can be used to make cake and desert, but we must add some sugar.

• Dark Chocolate: We can taste the original chocolate from dark chocolate. Because there isn’t much milk inside this chocolate.  It can be used to make chocolate chips, chocolate candy or coat the peanut and other cakes. We can also find these in the bakery.
• Milk Chocolate: Milk chocolate is type of chocolate which is famous among us. This commonly consumed until now. Because of high milk substance, so this chocolate became favorites and became the main ingredient to make a chocolate candy or chocolate bar.
  
• White Chocolate: This chocolate was processed from butter, chocolate, sugar and additional flavor. Sweet taste and flavor of milk is very strong. This chocolate can be used to make candy and chocolate bar.
  

Chocolate also have a several story. Most of the stories really sweet like the chocolate taste. Curious, don't forget to keep on reading........

• Chocolate made by tropical plant, it called cocoa seed. Most of the cocoa tree came from West Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.
• To make a chocolate need a lot of works and much effort, like: the workers picking the cocoa from the tree, open the skin and remove seeds. Then dried like coffee, roasted, hulled and milled. From milling process cocoa beans was peeled. This mixture also called chocolate liquor.
• Montezuma has been called by the inventor of chocolate ice cream. Based on the story, Montezuma took the snow from the top of mountain and put the cocoa foam on top of snow, in the early 16th century.
• Chocolate often called as “the gift of God” by the Mayan, Incas and Aztec.
  
• Samuel Pepys (1633 - 1703), a British naval staff, put the chocolate into his personal diary as an "antidote stomach chaotic".
• America's ever made a chocolate wine (made from a pot of wine, or half a pot of port wine, four half ounces of chocolate, and six ounces of sugar).
• Mozart also used chocolate as his inspiration in one of his opera, Cosi fan tutte.
• The first movie about chocolate in 1933 with the title "Dinner at Eight" with Jean Harlow as the actress.
• Chocolate is also used as fake blood in the bath scene in a horror film by Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho.
  
  

Do not blame the chocolate if you are overweight and you have acne on your face.  Some research has shown that chocolate is actually good for your health, like:

• Biogenic amines, one of the chemical substance inside chocolate, related with amphetamin which can control mood and reduce depression.
• Chocolate contain high antioxidant which we can found in the vegetables and fruit (but we can’t change the function of vegetables and fruit with chocolate). This substance helped us to prevent blockage of the arteries. This means that chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease and protect against cancer.
• Calcium inside chocolate has a function to strong the bone including teeth and good to prevent osteoporosis. If you don’t get hurt in your teeth, don’t forget to brush your teeth after eat chocolate. Chocolate remaining on the teeth causing tooth pain.
• Magnesium substance in chocolate believed to reduce the impact of PMS (Pre Menstruation Weekend).
  
• Phenylethylaine is a natural substance in chocolate believed as the main factor to increase sexual arousal and improve the mood on the bed. 
  
• Stearic Acid inside chocolate is a one of fat which can’t increase blood cholesterol levels.
• Chocolate make you happy. Is it true? Of course, Endorphins in the chocolate make you happy.
  
• Chocolate make you longer life. A research found that a person who always consume chocolate one up to three times in a month has a long age than other who doesn’t consume chocolate.  Beside the substance which is good for our health, chocolate has a psychology attraction. For chocolate lovers, eating chocolate is like a gift and this make them happy finally give positive effect for the body. They have new spirit in doing work because of piece of chocolate.
  

Recently, there are many spa place that use chocolate as a body care product. Why don’t you try this at home by soaking your body with chocolate as the main ingredient. Chocolate is not only good for consumption, chocolate can be used as body care. Many of the benefits of chocolate for health, not just make quiet the mind but also good for the skin. Soaking with chocolate will give comfort. Chocolate is rich in antioxidants play a role to fight wrinkles and moisturize the body and make skin smooth blessing.
Here are the necessary ingredients for chocolate bath at home:

• 100 grams of dark chocolate.
• 40 ml soy milk.
• non-scented bubble bath

Prepare warm water and mix it with bubble bath in your bath tube. Then, mix with the melted chocolate and soy milk. Spa chocolate mixture has finished and you're ready to soak and be pampered with a delicious chocolate flavor.

• Inspired by Chocolate

  I think we all familiar with this food. Who doesn’t know about chocolate? From kid until older people know the chocolate very well. But do we know if we can get much inspiration from chocolate,

• Death by Chocolate, You Don't Really Die

  You certainly surprise to read the title above. We not really die by eating chocolate. This is the name of restaurant in my country, exactly at Bogor city. The owner has good idea to attract many visitors and consumer. This unique restaurant concept is created and called “death by chocolate (dbc) & Spagheti”.