World Chocolate Day will appeal to anyone with a sweet tooth. After all, Chocolate is a favorite treat, whether you’re talking about chocolate truffles or chocolate-covered strawberries. How much do you know about this popular sweet? The word Chocolate (and all the variations and associated words) has a lot more meaning than you may have thought.

A Brief History of Chocolate

First recorded in 1600-1610 was the word Chocolate. The word comes from the Nahuatl chocolate, which is a combination of cocoa, which means “bitter,” or “sour,” with atl, which means water. It refers to how people in Mesoamerica, around present-day Mexico, have traditionally consumed cocoa as a beverage.

Around 4,000 years ago, the Olmec – one of the oldest Mesoamerican civilizations – is believed to have been the first to consume a beverage made with the beans from the chocolate plant. Aztecs and Mayans followed. Chocolate was used in a variety of ways, including for religious ceremonies, as currency, as an Aphrodisiac, and as a drink before the war. Chilies and cornmeal are often added. Spanish conquerors introduced Chocolate to Europe, where it was drunk as a sweetened beverage with honey and sugar. In the 1800s, after the Industrial Revolution, people could make chocolate powder, which they then mixed with liquid to form the first chocolate bar.

It’s not necessary to visit a candy store to realize that Chocolate can be eaten in many different ways. This word is used to describe the preparation of cacao seed that has been sweetened and ground. It can be used to make anything from hot Chocolate, chocolate bars, and syrup to chocolate-covered bacon.

Many of our favorite desserts contain Chocolate. Be sure to know the difference between dessert and dessert.

Which is the best? Dark vs. White vs. Milk vs. Bittersweet: What’s the difference?

Chocolate is available in a variety of styles. You’ll most likely see dark white milk and bittersweet.

Dark Chocolate does not contain any milk. The Chocolate is made from cocoa and sugar to give it a smooth texture. Flavors are sometimes added. On the packaging, you’ll see a percentage. The higher the number, the more cocoa in the Chocolate.

White chocolates sometimes receive a bad reputation for not being true Chocolate. It’s because the cocoa butter is extracted and not chocolate solids. White Chocolate is made with sugar, milk, vanilla, and lecithin.

As the name implies, it contains milk. The recipe is similar to that of dark Chocolate, using chocolate liquor, sugar, and flavorings. However, it also contains sweetened condensed whole milk or powder. Conching is a method that blends cocoa butter, sugar, and other ingredients.

Bittersweet Chocolate contains at least 35 percent cacao. Milk solids are less than 12 %. Semisweet Chocolate is also used. Packages labeled Bittersweet Chocolate can be used to bake rather than eat straight. Semisweet Chocolate is usually sweeter than bittersweet, but their contents are not regulated.

A chocolate lover knows cocoa vs Cacao.

The two terms that you are likely to hear in any serious discussion about Chocolate — and which are often confused with each other — are cocoa. While the two words may be related, they are not interchangeable.

Cacao Cacao is a small evergreen tree. Cacao refers to both the plant and its fruit or seeds. The word comes from the Nahuatl Nahuatl. Cocoa is made of cacao seeds. The cacao seeds are roasted and husked before being ground. Chocolate makers then use this cocoa to create the final product.

Words you should know about Chocolate

You should also be familiar with other terms if you want to understand this popular treat truly. Cocoa Butter is a fatty substance that comes from cacao seeds. It’s used in soaps, cosmetics, and more. You can also enjoy Chocolate in the form of fudge, a sweet made up of sugar, butter, and Chocolate.

As delicious as the names of some new chocolates and candies are, it wasn’t always so. Sweetmeat is an example of a word that was once used more often to describe sweet treats. About 1300, it began to refer more specifically to animal flesh.

Word List

Take a minute to familiarize yourself with these common chocolate phrases. Click Here for the complete word list with flashcards and more.

  • cacao
  • cacao butter
  • cacao bean
  • cocoa
  • dark Chocolate
  • white Chocolate
  • milk Chocolate
  • semisweet
  • fudge
  • brown
  • truffle
  • ganache
  • bonbon
  • Sweetmeat
  • candy
  • Maya
  • Aztec
  • Mesoamerica
  • Olmec
  • Nahuatl