Have you ever wondered where chocolate comes from? There are so many kinds of chocolate: chocolate chips, chocolate coins, chocolate powder, and even giant chocolate bars. Imagine a fountain of flowing chocolate where you can dip your favorite snacks. Yum!
Our friend Miyuri asked a great question: “Where does chocolate come from?” Today, we see chocolate everywhere, but a long time ago, only people in Central America knew about it. They were the first to discover chocolate!
Chocolate doesn’t just appear on trees as candy bars. It comes from a special tree that grows in the rainforest. This tree has colorful fruits that look like footballs. These fruits are called cacao fruits.
Inside the cacao fruit, there’s a bunch of white, slimy stuff, and inside that, there are brown seeds. These seeds are the secret to making chocolate!
The ancient Aztecs were one of the first groups to use cacao seeds to make chocolate. They would let the seeds ferment, dry them in the sun, and then grind them into a powder. They used this powder to make a drink called xocoatl. Can you hear the word “chocolate” in xocoatl?
This drink wasn’t sweet like the chocolate we know today. It tasted more like dark chocolate, which is a bit bitter. Have you ever tried dark chocolate? It’s not as sweet as the chocolate bars we usually eat.
So, how did chocolate become sweet? The secret ingredient is sugar! When people started adding sugar to chocolate, it became a delicious treat loved by many. Soon, chocolate was traded all over the world.
People also figured out how to make chocolate solid, so we could eat it, not just drink it. That’s how we got the chocolate bars we enjoy today!
In summary, chocolate comes from cacao trees in the rainforest. The ancient Aztecs turned cacao seeds into a drink, but it was bitter. Once sugar was added, chocolate became the sweet treat we all love.
Thanks to Miyuri for the great question! Stay curious, and keep exploring the mysteries around us. Who knows what sweet discovery you’ll make next?
Chocolate Seed Planting: Let’s explore how cacao seeds grow! Find a small pot and some soil. Pretend you have a cacao seed and plant a small bean or seed in the soil. Water it and place it in a sunny spot. Observe it every day and note any changes. Discuss with your friends or family how this process might be similar to how cacao seeds grow into trees.
Chocolate Taste Test: Gather different types of chocolate, such as milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. With the help of an adult, taste each one and describe the flavors. Which one is the sweetest? Which one is the most bitter? Talk about how adding sugar changes the taste of chocolate, just like in the story of how chocolate became sweet.
Chocolate Journey Map: Create a map showing the journey of chocolate from the cacao tree to the chocolate bar. Draw or use pictures to represent each step: the cacao tree, the cacao fruit, the seeds, the Aztec drink, and finally, the chocolate bar. Share your map with someone and explain each part of the chocolate-making process.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(phone ringing) – Hi, it’s Doug. There are many different kinds of chocolate: chocolate chips, chocolate coins, chocolate powder, and even giant chocolate bars. Check this out—liquid chocolate that flows like in a fountain. I’m going to turn it on, ready? Once it starts flowing, you can dip things in it. Mmm. (laughter)
Someone named Miyuri has a question for us about chocolate. Let’s give her a call now. (phone ringing) – Hi Doug. – Hi Miyuri. – I have a question for you. Where does chocolate come from? – That’s a great question! Today, everyone knows about chocolate. There are entire aisles of chocolate products at the grocery store. But chocolate hasn’t always been around. From reading about the history of chocolate, we know that there was a time when only the people living in Central America knew about it. They were among the first to discover chocolate.
Now, how do you think they did that? How do you think chocolate is made? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, you ready? So how is chocolate made? How was it discovered? It’s not like chocolate just grows on trees. Well, actually, chocolate does come from a tree—not as candy bars growing on the branches, but from trees that have unusual-looking fruits that grow on the trunks. These fruits are colorful and shaped kind of like footballs. Here’s one of these fruits up close. It’s called a cacao fruit, and it grows in the rainforests of Central America.
One of the first groups of people to use cacao fruits to make chocolate were the ancient Aztecs. How did they make it? You might wonder if it has something to do with what’s inside the cacao fruit. If you cut open a cacao fruit, you’ll find a bunch of white, slimy stuff, and inside that, there’s a brown seed. That’s the part needed for making chocolate.
The ancient Aztecs knew they could do something special with those brown seeds. They would put them into piles and let them ferment, but not for too long. Before the seeds could spoil, they’d put them in the sun to dry. Then, they’d grind it all up into a powder, mashing them with a stone. The Aztecs would make a drink from this powder, which they called xocoatl.
Does that sound familiar? I’ll say it again, but a little differently: xocoatl. It’s where our word “chocolate” comes from. The very first chocolate wasn’t something you eat; it was a drink.
Now, you might think that this xocoatl drink would taste like hot chocolate or sweet chocolate syrup, but it doesn’t. It actually tastes more like dark chocolate, which is the kind of chocolate that many adults enjoy. Have you ever tried dark chocolate?
This is from a commercial where kids tried really dark chocolate for the first time. (laughter) You see, dark chocolate is not sweet; it’s bitter. You might have the same reaction to the Aztec drink. That’s because the chocolate you’re used to eating has a special ingredient that the ancient Aztecs didn’t have: sugar.
Sugar is the key ingredient for making chocolate taste sweet instead of bitter. The more sugar you add, the sweeter the chocolate will taste. After people started adding sugar to chocolate, that’s when it began to be traded all around the world. But not everyone wanted to drink their chocolate, so chocolate makers invented a new way of making chocolate that was hard and solid, allowing people to eat it too.
In summary, chocolate comes from the fruits of a tree called cacao trees, which grow in the rainforest. In ancient times, it was people from Central America, like the ancient Aztecs, who turned the seeds of cacao fruit into a chocolaty drink. But it tasted very bitter. It was only later, once people added sugar to chocolate, that it became a popular sweet treat enjoyed all over the world.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Miyuri, for asking it! Now for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and found three questions submitted to me that I’m thinking about answering. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: Why is snow white? Does maple syrup really come from a tree? Or How do coats keep us warm? So submit your vote when the video is over. I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week!
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