Today, July 7th, is World Chocolate Day. What an excuse to eat chocolate! If you go on the internet, you can find menus for the day encouraging you to incorporate chocolate in every meal, snack and drink in this 24-hour period.
Cacao trees may have been growing in the wild for 10,000 years. The Olmec Indians in Mexico started to grow them domestically between 1500-300 BC, and made a drink out of the beans for the wealthy. It was adopted by the Mayan culture, then between 600-100 AD spread to the rest of South America, the cacao pod being seen as a religious symbol and referred to as ‘the food of the gods’. In wasn’t until 1657 that a chocolate house was opened in England where people could purchase chocolate drinks and in 1830 solid chocolate bars were first produced by J. S Fry and Sons. It’s interesting that the three main pioneering chocolate companies in England – Frys, Cadburys and Rowntrees were all established by Quaker families.
I’d love to know who stumbled across the idea of chocolate – after all, it’s not as simple as picking a fruit from a tree. It’s a fermented food – once the pods are picked and cleaned up, the beans are dried and fermented. Papery shells are removed and the cacao nibs revealed, ground and separated into cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Each chocolatier has their own unique recipe. But it all probably stems from one unknown person, chewing on an old fermented mush of a bean somewhere far in the past and deciding to re-create this pleasure for an important person in their life.
When God created the world, he hid the secret of chocolate in nature, for all of us to enjoy now. I think that’s amazing! We now use chocolate to celebrate Him in our feasting and tree decorations at Christmas, in our eggs and cakes at Easter. And yet, Jesus probably never tasted it himself.
Enjoy your chocolate today!
Thank you, God,
You filled creation with sweet surprises. Thank you for the luxury of comforting chocolate drinks and shakes, warming us up and cooling us down. For the melting nature of chocolate which makes it accessible to all – the very young and the very old. Thank you for the indulgence of gateaux and cakes, for its drizzling effect to add specialness to dessert recipes. For its unique after taste that stays with us. For its use at festivals and festivities when we remember great events and memorable anniversaries. We pray that we may have some of the characteristics of chocolate – to be comforting in crises, celebrating You to others and uplifting their spirits. Amen