Indulge

Today is World Chocolate Day. I know--every day is chocolate day.  But let's stop and think about one of the greatest food inventions ever.

I'm aware that chocolate comes from nature and has been consumed by humans for thousands of years.  But chocolate as we know it is a relatively recent creation.

About 500 years ago explorers brought the cacao bean from the Americas back to Europe.  And about 400 years ago Europeans started adding sugar to it.  That was the turning point.  It spread across the continent, generally as a drink.

During the Industrial Revolution they figured out new ways to process it.  It became better known as a solid, and dairy was often added.

It's now a multi-billion dollar worldwide business.  Most of the world's cocoa is produced in Western Africa--where, remember, it's not indigenous.  I believe it's more popular in Europe than anywhere else. (And why not? I think they have better chocolate than America does.)

Chocolate has indeed taken over the world of sweets.  For instance, the term candy bar almost always refers to a chocolate bar.  So if you to name a day after something, you can't do much better than chocolate.