It’s nearly Valentine’s Day, and millions of people will receive a delectable gift of decadent chocolate this year. In fact, approximately 58 millions pounds of chocolate will be sold in America during the week of Valentine’s Day, including 36 million of those cute heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.
Since chocolate is such an integral part of Valentine’s Day celebrations, we thought we would share a few fun facts about it.
- Because of where cacao trees grow wild, people have speculated that the Olmec people of what is now Southeast Mexico may have been the first to use chocolate, though there is no proof of it. The word “cacao,” however, originated from their word, “kakawa”.
- Mayans were the first people known to have used chocolate, as currency and in religious ceremonies, like weddings and baptisms.
- Joseph Fry created the very first chocolate bar, as we know it now, in 1847.
- Chocolate was actually consumed as a liquid, not the solid we think of now, for about 90% of its history.
- You know the three types of chocolate: dark, milk, and white chocolate. But did you know that white chocolate isn’t technically chocolate? Its primary ingredient is cocoa butter, which comes from cocoa beans; however, it doesn’t contain any of the nibs that actually turn into traditional chocolate! We still love it though.
- According to The Guinness World Records, the largest chocolate bar ever created weighed more than 12,770 pounds.
- In the late 1930s, Ruth Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie. She later sold her Toll House recipe to Nestlé for a dollar and a lifetime supply of chocolate.
If you would rather give a chocolaty confection made by your own two hands, try one of these desserts that are sure to make your sweetie swoon.
