EASTER` A TIME WHEN CHOCOLATE REIGNS SUPREME

EASTER` A TIME WHEN CHOCOLATE REIGNS SUPREME

The origin of easter eggs was supposedly due to the commemoration and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to legend, the drink from cacao seeds was worshipped by the gods, but with time, became a commercial drink, and child trafficking and slavery were rife.

By 1565, the first cocoa drink was prepared by the Spanish.  Later, only two ingredients were permitted legally; cocoa butter and dairy milk when manufacturing became advanced.

Later sugar, vanilla, and lecithin were included.

As for superb chocolate manufacturing, certain countries haloed as being the finest were Switzerland and Belgium, the latter having around 2000 chocolate shops!

Closer to home, Madagascar is home to a variety of cocoa beans with around 33,000 farmers on the land. Further afield, Lebanon known as the ‘Switzerland of the East’ produces and exports high-grade chocolate.

Although chocolate is probably the most consumed as against other sweetmeats, allergies are rare. However, anaphylaxis can be life-threatening as breathing becomes a major problem.

Chocolate can be used as a dipping sauce, a garnish for desserts, and flaky chocolate, magnificent heaped onto the icing of a cake!

Who would have thought that wine would come into the equation?  However, in 1672, chocolate was introduced into wine, when an English cook published a recipe!

Today, wine combined with alcohol results in brands like “crème-de-cacao” an enticing syrupy cocktail plus many others.

There are some “wacky” and novel ways in which chocolate has been used,  set in molds to produce coins, added to toothpaste that one can swallow, creation of a chocolate model of a train in Europe, and chocolate syrup used as blood on the set of horror movies!

In conclusion, the writer extends best wishes to all for a safe and joyful Easter season.