Tuesday, April 30, 2013


History of chocolate

On August 15, 1502 the European Christopher Columbus was the first to discover cocoa beans and to come in contact with cacao .
The cacao tree was found in Central American rain forests. Cacao is actually a Mayan word meaning "God Food" which is known today as chocolate and the cacao beans were used as currency in Nicaragua and also drunk in the Aztec culture and it was named xcolat by roasting and pounding the seeds of the Cacao tree. Within a few years the first factories of chocolate opened in Spain to dry fermented beans. Chocolate was treasured at that time 10 beans would buy a rabbit and 100 beans would buy a slave. And it was used as currency until the 19th century in some parts of Latin America.    The cocoa powder was a very great idea which was produced in Spain and it got too popular and it was exported to Europe, Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany and England and eating chocolate was first mentioned in England in solid form in the mid 1600’s, then in 1847 chocolate powder was mixed with sugar and milk to be the first milk chocolate drink. The chocolate was considered as healthy food and a cure for fever and cooling the body.
The cocoa tree was not available in every country and so instead of importing cocoa beans the British, the Spanish, the French, and the Dutch started to plant their own cacao that they took out from Central America.
Chocolate began to be manufactured in the United States in 1765. The cocoa beans were brought by John Hanau. Chocolate quickly made its way to the rest of the states. In 1850 the first solid chocolate was made by Joseph Fry by adding cocoa butter to cocoa powder and sugar. In that time chocolate was very popular in most countries but it was made for the very wealthy until 1853 when the numbers of manufacturers were increased. A Dutch chocolate master help decrease the price; also it came within the reach of a wider population. And then later in 1857 Daniel Peter and Henri Nestle mixed milk and solid chocolate to produce the milk chocolate bar. So every country had its different way of mixing chocolate with other things like milk, vanilla, and hot water. And so each country kept trying to find new ways of mixing and making a new product of chocolate. It was not long before they found a way of mixing chocolate with milk as a chocolate bar, not a drink.
In 1824 John Cadbury opened a chocolate shop making chocolate drinks and cocoa. John Cadbury was inspired by the good taste of chocolate so he kept doing what he liked the most and in 1831 John Cadbury crowned his own success by opening a chocolate factory to make the most wanted products of chocolate varieties of drinks, solids and cocoa. John Cadbury retired leaving his business to be continued by his two sons Richard and George and they were successful as they made good changes, making new kinds of eating chocolate. Cadbury as we know it today is one of the biggest chocolate companies in the world. In 1847 Fry and Sons produced a chocolate bar that we know today. Chocolate can be healthy or a sweet vice for the young and the old depending on what kind of chocolate you’re looking for and how much you eat chocolate. The sweet taste of chocolate gives us all, men and women, young and old, a good feeling. It’s even helping us to change our bad stressful mood to normal or even happy. Chocolate nowadays is more popular than ever; there are many factories today all over the world producing different kinds of mixed solid cakes of chocolate, available for everyone with a satisfying price for all.


roasting, and pounding the seeds of the Cacao tree (cocoa beans) with maize. "History of Chocolate." Buy Easter Chocolate Gifts Online at Aphrodite Handmade Chocolates. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. http://www.aphrodite-chocolates.co.uk/history_chocolate.htm.

Monday, April 29, 2013


Reflection summary

So far we have done three summaries and the first one was about horsemen police patrol, which is talking about how important horsemen are and what they do. Horsemen  go in the desert where cars can’t go to protect and search for troublemakers; they start making their way through the desert from 6pm; each pair of horsemen works four shifts. And the second summary was about road crashes, the main cause of child death in the UAE, and how, to help reduce these crashes, the RTA has taken action promoting road safety and authorities also have taken educational action, educating children about road safety and also for parents to to use special seats for children and to keep their children below ten years old in the back seat for their children’s safety. And finally we read about the pearls of the Arabian Gulf. The proud tradition of pearl diving in the UAE may be gone but it’s certainly not forgotten as the two companies, EMEG and Jumeirah, reconnect Emiratis and tourists with the past by forming a new pearl diving eco tour.