Organic Chocolate
In the past decade, America has developed a love of organic foods. And while organic foods historically came from small, family-run farms, thus limiting the availability of organic foods to local farmers’ markets, increased public awareness and concern for a better and more sustainable future has made organic food available to the masses in grocery stores all over the country. This increase in availability spreads beyond produce and meat, making products like certified organic chocolate readily available in...
Read MoreVegan Chocolate
In our meat-obsessed society, vegetarian and vegan lifestyles remain a minority. The vegan philosophy and lifestyle is demanding, and requires vigilance to ensure the food that one eats is animal product free. Fortunately, with the growing popularity of the vegan lifestyle, more and more companies are producing delicious vegan options for popular foods from mayonnaise to cherry pie. And so, luckily, there is no reason at all for you to have to miss out on chocolate and its many delicious applications just because...
Read MoreVegan Definition
By this point, the term “vegan” is familiar to most people in the United States, and around the world. Veganism is a diet, but it is also much more than that. It is the broader philosophy and lifestyle of those who choose to avoid the use of animal products in food, clothing, and any other product they consume or utilize. Initially, the word “vegan” was derived from the term “vegetarian.” When, in 1944, Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson became frustrated that vegetarians were...
Read MoreA Brief History of Chocolate
Chocolate Through the Years The story of chocolate, as far back as we understand it, begins with the discovery of America. Until 1492, the Old World knew nothing at all about the delicious and stimulating flavor that was to become the favorite treat of millions. The Court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella got its first look at the principal ingredient of chocolate when Columbus returned in triumph from America and laid before the Spanish throne a treasure trove of many strange and wonderful things. Among these...
Read MoreThe Chocolate Timeline
600 AD – The cocoa bean is considered the ultimate status symbol in the Mayan and Aztec cultures. They use the beans as currency and those wealthy enough to have an excess of beans use them to make a chocolate drink that gives them “wisdom and power”. 1000 AD – Emperor Montezuma, who no doubt possesses more cocoa beans than anybody else at the time is a “chocoholic.” Montezuma, it is reported, drinks nothing but chocolate, particularly before entering his harem. He believes...
Read MoreWhat Is Raw Chocolate?
The chocolate making process begins with a tree called the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao). This tree grows in equatorial regions, especially in places such as South America, Africa and Indonesia. Raw chocolate is the unprocessed cacao bean or nib, which has been dried. It can be used for many different purposes, and is one of the top antioxidant sources available on the modern market. Raw chocolate contains approximately 380 known chemicals, many of them that are extremely beneficial to the body. Dr. Drewnowski...
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