CONVERGENCE JULY - AUGUST 2016

Chronicles
Turning
Back Time
WORLD
CHOCOLATE DAY
CELEBRATE THE FLAVOUR OF
CHOICE IN CANDIES, ICE CREAM,
CAKES, BREAKFAST CEREAL,
TOPPINGS AND A WHOLE HOST
OF DESSERTS.
UNEQUALLED IN POPULARITY, IT
CERTAINLY DESERVES A DAY
— JULY 7 — IN ITS HONOUR.
What's the first type of dessert or sugary treat that
pops to mind when you have to bring a gift,
surprise someone on their special day, visit
someone at the hospital or you're just simply
feeling down and you need a pick-me-up? — yes,
a good ol' chocolate bar.
There are variations to the dates for this day but
according to 'Days Of The Year', a London-based
website that aims to bring all of the world’s weird,
funny, wonderful and bizarre holidays under one roof,
the day to eat, binge and heck, take a shower in
chocolate if you wish is — July 7. The website claims,
"There are a number of dates throughout the year
promoting variations of local, national or international
Chocolate Day — our research leads us to believe
that this is the true, definitive, purist ‘Chocolate Day‘,
so celebrate with some of the high cocoa, rich, dark
chocolate that makes you go tingly inside… Or failing
that, stock up on chocolate biscuits, ice-cream and
enjoy a day of secret treats and indulgence…"
The reason for choosing the day was believed to
stem from the introduction of chocolate to Europe
during the 16th century. It is believed that since
7 July 2016, it has been 466 years since chocolate
was introduced to Europe.
But hey, go easy on those bars okay? Chocolate
contains high levels of a powerful stimulant called
'theobromine'. Theobromine poisoning can cause
heart failure, seizures, acute kidney damage and
dehydration. Although for it to be fatal, you have to
eat about 10 kilogrammes of chocolate or 40 bars
of Cadbury's Dairy Milk.
Did
You Know?
Chocolate is a
vegetable. It comes
from cacao trees
located in tropical
rainforests.
Did
You Know?
Cacao and cocoa are not
the same thing. Well, not
entirely. Cacao is the bean that
comes from the cacao tree, which
is known by the scientific name of
'Theobroma cacao'. The beans are
harvested, fermented, dried,
cleaned and finally roasted.
From then onwards, the
beans are known as
cocoa.
Did
You Know?
It takes roughly
between two and
four days to make a
single chocolate
bar.
Did
You Know?
Between 300 and
600 cocoa beans are
needed to make one
kilogramme of
chocolate.
Did
You Know?
It takes four years
for a cacao tree
before it can start
producing cocoa
beans.
Did
You Know?
In Mayan times, the
cocoa bean was used
as currency as it was
considered to be
worth more than
gold dust.
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