The origin of the cacao tree is in dispute. Some say it originated in the Amazon basin of Brazil; others place say it is native to Central America. We do know that during his conquest of Mexico, Hernando Cortez, the great Spanish explorer, came upon the Aztec Indians using cocoa beans to prepare their royal drink which they called chocolatl. Excited about this new product, Cortez took some beans back with him to Spain. With some added cane sugar, the chocolate drink became very popular, especially among the Spanish aris-tocracy.
Spain wisely started to plant cacao trees themselves which developed into a very profitable business. The Spaniards succeeded in keeping the art of the cocoa industry a secret from the rest of Europe for nearly a hundred years.
Spanish monks, who had been in-volved with the processing of the co-coa beans, leaked the secret out finally and soon Europe started to develop their own cacao bean industry. Throughout Europe, the delicious chocolate drink became hailed as a health-giving food.
In 1657, chocolate drinking houses started to open up, but mainly served only the rich, since the cost to make chocolate was still very expensive. As inventors created machinery, and thus eliminated the need for grinding the chocolate by hand, the manufacturing process became more efficient, thus less expensive, and produced an even better tasting chocolate. By 1828, the great taste of chocolate expanded to a wider audience although it wasn’t until 1847 that the first ‘candy bar’ was invented and 1876 that the first milk chocolate was invented.
March 1st is Peanut Butter Lover's Day
It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-oz jar of peanut butter.
The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before graduating high school.
By law, any product labeled "peanut butter" in the US must be at least 90% peanuts.
A serving of peanut butter (2 tablespoons) provides 8 grams of pro-tein.
The Reese's peanut butter cup was introduced to Americans in 1928.
A peanut traveled to the moon with astronaut Allen Shepherd.
Every year, an average American will eat more than 6 pounds of pea-nuts and peanut butter.
One acre of peanuts can yield enough peanuts to make 30,000 sand-wiches.
One peanut plant can yield about 40 peanuts.
The peanut is actually a legume, not a nut.
Peanuts have more antioxidants than grapes, green tea, broccoli and spinach.
Spain wisely started to plant cacao trees themselves which developed into a very profitable business. The Spaniards succeeded in keeping the art of the cocoa industry a secret from the rest of Europe for nearly a hundred years.
Spanish monks, who had been in-volved with the processing of the co-coa beans, leaked the secret out finally and soon Europe started to develop their own cacao bean industry. Throughout Europe, the delicious chocolate drink became hailed as a health-giving food.
In 1657, chocolate drinking houses started to open up, but mainly served only the rich, since the cost to make chocolate was still very expensive. As inventors created machinery, and thus eliminated the need for grinding the chocolate by hand, the manufacturing process became more efficient, thus less expensive, and produced an even better tasting chocolate. By 1828, the great taste of chocolate expanded to a wider audience although it wasn’t until 1847 that the first ‘candy bar’ was invented and 1876 that the first milk chocolate was invented.
March 1st is Peanut Butter Lover's Day
It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-oz jar of peanut butter.
The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before graduating high school.
By law, any product labeled "peanut butter" in the US must be at least 90% peanuts.
A serving of peanut butter (2 tablespoons) provides 8 grams of pro-tein.
The Reese's peanut butter cup was introduced to Americans in 1928.
A peanut traveled to the moon with astronaut Allen Shepherd.
Every year, an average American will eat more than 6 pounds of pea-nuts and peanut butter.
One acre of peanuts can yield enough peanuts to make 30,000 sand-wiches.
One peanut plant can yield about 40 peanuts.
The peanut is actually a legume, not a nut.
Peanuts have more antioxidants than grapes, green tea, broccoli and spinach.
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