Posts Tagged ‘love’

The Origins Of Chocolate

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

The Theobroma Cacao or ‘the food of the Gods’ is what we all know as the cocoa tree. It’s origins can be traced back to South America’s rain forests, particularly to Central America, although historians are still at variance over certain facts surrounding this tree.

It is suggested that the Mayans first cultivated the cacao tree in 300 AD, although others point to flimsy evidence that it was grown or at least harvested in around 3,000 BC. The Aztecs also used the cacao, but from about 1100 AD.

The chocolate (drink) that we all know today was called ‘xocoatl’. It was a very exclusive beverage that was made with cacao, chilies, anise seed, vanilla, corn meal and some other spices. It is believed that only royalty were allowed to drink it and then only from golden chalices, which were to be used for the purpose only once.

The cacao tree is very sensitive to its environment and it most often grows in the shade of the rain forest canopy. If only for this reason alone, chocolate lovers should join forces with the environmentalists to save the rain forests so that the cacaos will survive.

This tree is unusual because its fruits grow directly on its branches and trunk; midges cause the pollination of the flowers during the night time.

The cacao tree is very prolific, but not very fruitful. It can have approximately 10,000 blossoms, but only about 10 to 50 of those will mature into fruits or pods. This is thought to be because the cacao tree can adjust the number of blossoms that will mature according to its ability to handle the energy loss of bearing fruit or pods.

The cacao tree regulates itself in this way to preserve its health. Too many pods might exhaust its energy so much that it could not survive a viral or insect attack or too many ripe pods might snap off its branches.

The cocoa beans grow within the pod, the fruit of the blossom. Harvesters wait for the pod to ripen. They will then break open the pods and take out the seeds, which are surrounded by a white pulp. This is thrown away these days, but it is thought that many years ago it was fermented into an alcoholic drink for ceremonial occasions. The beans are the source of chocolate, although there is lots to do yet..

The seeds are very bitter at this stage and it is for this reason that they will go through a procedure of fermentation for between three and seven days. This causes the seeds to go through chemical as well as physical changes. The result of this was used for the royal drink, the ‘xocoatl’.

However, to turn it into what we recognize as chocolate, the fermented beans have to go through quite a few more processes. Processes by the name of: drying, cleaning, roasting, grading, opening, separation, grinding and liquefying.

After liquefying, you have unadulterated chocolate in the form of chocolate liquor. This is sold to chocolate manufacturers and the good ones make high-quality chocolate from it and the bad ones adulterate it so much that it is hardly chocolate any more.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Gourmet Chocolate Candy. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas

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A Straight-Forward Answer To The Question – “Help Me Get My Ex Boyfriend Back?”

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

Are you feeling definitely at a lost because irrespective of what you do, you appear to be pushing your ex much further away? And do you consistently asked yourself this query “How To Get Back With Ex Boyfriend?”. If you answered yes to both scenarios, then perhaps this advice may help you increase the possibility of you getting back with your ex boyfriend.

Manifestly at this time you really are serious about saving or rekindling your relationship, which is what led you to this article in the 1st place. But if you’re feeling very anxious to get your ex back, you may be behaving in the wrong way, causing your ex to tug away naturally. It is man’s nature generally to resist this sort of pressure. Wrestling against human instinct is completely pointless, and it will only make matters worse.

A quick check of your recent behavior can exhibit much clue if this is the case. Ask yourself how many times you called your ex recently? Did you smother him with too many emails and text messaging? Now whether or not you have the best motivations of doing these things, the fact is, it will only push him away even more. So stop doing them right away.

So how to get back with ex boyfriend? Follow this plan instead.

You are going to want to take a completely fresh approach. Start by breaking contact off for a bit, doing your own thing. During this time where there is not any communication between you and your ex, you can concentrate on ways you can improve your own personal life, instead of targeting the relationship issues to hand. This is going to be a challenging time, and it is going to require discipline to stop you from returning to your old ways.

During this time, your ex is going to experience a shift in how he feels about you, since you won’t be following him. You may become puzzling to him in many ways, because he isn’t sure what you are doing or feeling. This is actually something that will work in your favor. Now your ex is in a position to miss you, which isn’t possible when you’re smothering him.

All that we have done is to work with mankind’s nature instead of against it. That’s truly the key to get your ex back. After you understand this basic principle, answering the query “Ways Of Getting My Ex Boyfriend Back” will start to show you some dazzling solutions. Balance in the relationship will be slowly restored and your partner may begin to recall why he loved you in the first place.

So let’s summarize. Keep your distance for a while, appear puzzling to him and let him miss you and all that attention all over again. Play hard to get once in a while ( just don’t over do it though ). Make him be the one to make the first move. If you keep to this strategy, you’ll improve the chances of getting him back. And then you can stop asking the question How To Win My Ex Boyfriend Back?.

And now I would like to invite you to discover more of the world’s most effective get your ex guides at How To Get My Ex Boyfriend Back Fast. Get the right help to get your ex back now.

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