The True History of Chocolate

Comments:

1. Olemc civilization began about 1500-400 B.C
2. Some believe it was probably Olmec who first made chocolate from cacao.
3. There were many gods such as Maize God (the main god), Rain God, Opossum God, Cacao God, and more.
4. Cacao appears several times in Popol Vuh.
5. Cacao also appears in the far less artistic Madid Codex.

Questions:

1. What is "nixtamalization"???
2. How many gods are there in total???
3. Which god comes after Maize God???
4. What did each god mean???

Vocabulary:

1. Masonry- the craft or occupation of a mason.
2. Ethnohistoric- a branch of anthropology dealing with the development of cultures, as through the analysis of archaeological findings.
3. Obsidan- a volcanic glass similar in composition to granite, usually dark but transparent in thin pieces, and having a good conchoidal fracture.

Literary Terms:

1. ...Popol Vuh, but then we know that we do not have complete version of the epic, at least as it was known to the Classi Maya.
2. ...delicately painted and carved ceramic vessels testify to the artistic as well as material...

Overveiw:

1. This chapter is about the history of Olmec. Also the birth of Cacao. It lets the reader know where Cacao appears.

Comments:

1. Van Houten invented "cacao butter" or "cocao butter" from the fat of the cacao nibs.
2. Cacoa butter is a valuable commodity because, in addition to its role in the production of high-grade chocolate it has many uses in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
3. Interacting with female harmones in a way that produes incredible premenstrual cravings for chocolate.
4. The most extensive medical study of chocolate is by a French eloctor, Herve Robert, who published a book in 1990 called "Les vertus therapeutique dy chocolat".
5. Robert disproved any possiblity that choclate could cause migraine, ance, obesity, and tooth decay.

Questions:

1. What does the cacao bean contain???
2. What are alkaloids???
3. What does theobrime do???
4. What makes Robert believe chocolate doesn't cause migarine, ance, obesity, and tooth decay.

Vocabulary:

1. Phenylethylamine- An amine, C8H11N, that has pharmacological properties similar to those of amphetamine, occurs naturally as a neurotransmitter in the brain, and is present in chocolate and oil of bitter almonds.
2. Serotomin-
3. Commodity- an article of trade or commerce, esp. a product as distinguished from a service.

Literary Terms:

1. Its reputation as an aphrodisiac goes back as far as the European conquest of Mexico...
2. It is found, along with caffeine, in the kola nut of Africa, which bestowed its name, as well as its alkaloids...

Overveiw:

1. The chapter is about how chocolate is compared to medical problems in good or bad ways. Also the thoughts about Dr. Roberts.

The True History of Chocolate

Comments:

1. The Cacoa tree played a role in fashion, the flowers from the small cushions on its trunk and on the larger branch, were patterns known as "cauliflory".
2. A cacao tree in Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico, has the pods grow directly from the trunk of the tree.
3. The pods take some 4-5 months to reach a full size, and then another month to ripen completely.
4. The seed must stay between 113 and 122 in order to make chocolate.
5. There are four principal steps to produce the cacao, which are to ground into chocolate. They are (1) fermentation, (2) drying, (3)roating, and (4)winnowing.

Questions:

1. How do workers know when the pods are completely ripen???
2. How do workers know the exact temperature in order for it to become chocolate???
3. What color are pods suppose to be in order to know that they're completely ripen???
4. How do workers know the seeds are completely germinated???

Vocabulary:

1. Crillo-
2. Cauliflory- is clearly a response to ecological niche in which the cacao plant flourishes: the damp, shaded understory.
3. Forastero-

Literary Terms:

1. Cacao, like any other long-culivated plant, has many varieties, and their distribution, as well as that of the wild plant...
2. The problem was to identify a tree as "wild" rather than as a feral "escape"...

Overeview:

1. The chapter is about the foundation on making chocolate. Also how the cacao was useds for other things besides producing chocolate, such as "coco butter" we use on our body.

The True History of Chocolate

Comments:

1. Theobroma Cacao, chocolate, is known as "the food of gods".
2. Chocolate was popularized in coffee houses.
3. Chocolate was introduced to Europe, where it became the stimulating drink of Kings.
4. Aswedish man named Linnaeus gave the name Theobroma Cacao to the chocolate tree and the meaning.
5. The word "Cocoa" was often used in British English to refer to "chocolate".

Questions:

1. Who were the gods that Linnaeus had in mind when he gave Theobroma Cacao its definition???
2. Where were the coffee houses located???
3. In what year did Linnaeus give the chocolate tree a name???
4. How many gods were there???

Vocabulary:

1. Barbaric- uncivilized; primitive
2. Commodities- an article of trade or commerce, esp. a product as distinguished from a service.
3. Defatted- To remove fat from

Literary Terms:

1. ...if it does not get it, it sheds its otherwise evergreen leaves in a protest that is described as looking like autumn in New England.
2. ...(an eagerness that was doubled by the fact that among the Aztecs cacao beans were used as money as well as foodstuffs)...

Overeview:

1. The chapter of the book was basically about how Theobroma Cacoa got its name and defintion. Also about how it became very popular all over the world. Linnaeus was the master mind behind the name and definition. Who knows who the gods were, but him.