Chocolate: Did You Know?

1

• Chocolate Did You Know?

Information gathered from Chocolate A Sweet
History by Sandra Markle (New York, NY Grosset
and Dunlap, 2005) Photos by Margaret Sites
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Did you know

• that chocolate comes from a cacao tree? The
  cacao tree grows in Mexico because of the
  tropical climate. The cacao tree grows pods and
  inside are the seeds. We roast the seeds and
  grind them up. They are the most important
  ingredient in CHOCOLATE!

The roasted seeds
A cacao pod
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• Did you know that a long time ago in Mexico you
  had to be rich to have chocolate? The ancient
  Mayan people were buried with their treasure and
  in some tombs there were cacao beans!

This structure at found Chichén Itzá is an
example of the impressive pyramids the Mayan
people built.
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• Did you know that in the year 1730 a machine was
  invented that made chocolate a lot easier to
  make? The machine ground the cacao beans. Using
  the machine made it cheaper to make chocolate, so
  people who werent rich could have some, too!

The roasted beans go into the grinder and come
out as liquid. It doesnt taste good yet,
because it doesnt have any sugar in it.