Chocolate Lover

Ever since I can remember I have loved chocolate and there was a time I ate tons of it. Lately I do not eat as much chocolate candy but I do remember breaking out in hives after eating about five pounds of  Russell Stover's chocolates. I have never given chocolate much thought until this morning when I saw that the Denver Museum of Nature and Science had an exhibition of Chocolate.


Arriving at the museum I drove around and around trying to find some place to park. After thirty minutes of going up and down the parking aisles looking for an open spot, a car pulled out and I pulled in! Even the indoor garage had a sign letting me know it was full. After parking I entered the museum and was greeted by the bones of  a gigantic dinosaur and hundreds of noisy children, in matching t-shirts, wandering around.  I paid the Senior price of $11.95 and went directly to the third floor to see what there was to learn about chocolate.

At the entrance of the exhibit, where I was asked to get rid of my gum and that photos were allowed without flash, I saw molds for making candy. The pretend displays looked real and as my mouth watered, I began to find out about chocolate.

Chocolate comes from a cacao bean and in early times only the wealthy would drink it. Those working in gathering the beans never tasted it. When Hernan Cortes around 1519 invaded the Aztec world, he found store rooms filled with cacao seeds. The seeds were worth a fortune and he and the sailors returned to Spain with the cacao beans!  Before long, the making of chocolate spread across Europe. When sugar and milk were introduced, the chocolate drink became even more popular. The sticks with fancy bottoms were frothing instruments; by spinning the wooden tool, the chocolate would get whipped into a froth.

The process of making chocolate is long and it begins by picking the pods, about as big as a pineapple, from the trees. There are about 50-60 seeds inside the pod with the beans inside from the trees. Each tree makes about 20-30 pods a year. Seeds are scooped out and placed in the sun to dry and then put into gunny sacks. Sacks are then transported to countries who will make chocolate from the "nibs" which are then placed in a large vat and ground into a sticky mass. When it comes out of the grinding machines it is poured  into molds and once it hardens it becomes solid cocoa. At this point the cocoa is bitter but once sugar and milk are added it is transformed into milk chocolate which are poured into candy molds, wrapped and distributed to stores for selling.

During the Industrial Revolution, Daniel Peter introduced a chocolate bar and the candy bar was born! Now there are jillions of different bars to buy and enjoy. There is a high demand for cacao and farmers and scientist are trying to find out how to have the income for farmers without damaging the rain forest. At present, West Africa seems to be meeting the demands for cacao.

 Even though phenylethylame found in chocolate and the same substance found in the brain may express feelings of love, it is is not a proven fact that eating chocolate will make one feel romantic .

From 1759 to 1788 nearly 12 million pounds of chocolate were consumed each year in Madrid, Spain.  Chocolate, whether a drink or a candy, seems to be a favorite for many persons. I almost felt as if I had died and was in a chocolate heaven! The t-shirts at the exit of the Chocolate Display tempted me, especially the Chocolate Moose. When I played basket ball in high school, Moose was my nickname!

"If there is no chocolate in heaven,

I'm not going."

Jane Seabrook