A deep dive into making the wrong gastronomical choice...It's time to re-open the age old debate....Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate. (And can there really be a wrong choice between these two)?
Before the debate starts and in true Brown Ajah fashion; a little chocolate history from that source of ALL KNOWLEDGE for our modern generation...yep, WIKIPEDIA.
Chocolate history according to Wikipedia (with hyperlinks thoughtfully removed)...
"The history of chocolate dates back more than 5,000 years, when the cacao tree was first domesticated in present-day southeast Ecuador. Soon after domestication, the tree was introduced to Mesoamerica, where cacao drinks gained significance as an elite beverage among different cultures including the Maya and the Aztecs. Cacao was extremely important: considered a gift from the gods, it was used as a currency, medicinally and ceremonially. Multiple cacao beverages were consumed, including an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting the pulp around cacao seeds, and it is unclear when a drink that can be strictly understood as chocolate originated. Early evidence of chocolate consumption dates to 600 BC; this product was often associated with the heart and was believed to be psychedelic.
Spanish conquistadors encountered chocolate in 1519 and brought it to Spain as a medicine. From Spain, it gained popularity among the European elite over the following three centuries, was debated for its medicinal and religious merits, and was understood as an aphrodisiac. In the 19th century, technological innovations completely changed chocolate, from a drink for the elite to a solid, milky block increasingly eaten by the public. That century saw the rise of Swiss and British chocolate makers, and production was industrialized.
Since World War I, chocolate has been developed further, creating couverture and white chocolate, while manufacturers added ingredients such as cheaper fats and lecithin. Chocolate production has increased dramatically, and new markets in Asia and Africa have opened. Attitudes towards the quality of chocolate, and the ethics of its production have shifted, as awareness of child labor has risen. As of 2018, the global trade of chocolate was worth more than US$100 billion, and production was concentrated among a small set of cocoa processors and chocolate makers."
And so...since WWI, the debate has begun...
Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate?
Which do you prefer? Why? What do you enjoy your chocolate with? And did you share any chocolate today on 14 ♥️ February?