Where Does a Candy Bar Come From?
Thousands of years of exploration and invention are packed into that snack. Here's part of the story.
Chocolate already had a centuries-long history when Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter changed it forever. In the mid
Where Does a Candy Bar Come From?
Thousands of years of exploration and invention are packed into that snack. Here's part of the story.
Chocolate already had a centuries-long history when Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter changed it forever. In the mid-1800s, chocolatemakers across Europe were racing to find a way to combine chocolate and milk to make a smoother product. The problem: Milk contains water, and water makes chocolate disintegrate. Peter experimented for eight years, trying to find a solution. Success came in 1876, when he took his problem to a maker of condensed milk. Chocolate mixed with sweetened, condensed milk did the trick. And the milkmaker? He decided to go into the chocolate business, too. His name was Henri Nestl.
THE Aztecs of Mexico were probably the first to blend cocoa and vanilla. Whitish cocoa beans from the pods of the cacao tree were roasted, ground, and mixed with spices to make a frothy, bitter drink they served cold and called cacahuatl. (The main spice in the recipe was chili peppers!) The Aztecs conquered Indians of southern Mexico who used the seed pods of a climbing orchid as a flavoring - vanilla. When put in cacahuatl, vanilla helped make it less bitter. The Spanish conquistadors added cane sugar and other refinements to the drink in the 1500s. Hot chocolate was Spain's secret recipe for 100 years, until Spanish monks disclosed it to the French.
PEANUTS have their roots in South America. Incan pottery decorated with peanuts has been found in Peru dating back 3,500 years. In the 15th century, Spanish explorers took peanuts from there to Africa. In the 1700s, African slaves brought the peanut to the American South. (The word "goober," another word for peanut, comes from the Kongo word nguba.) At first, peanuts were used as pig food. But with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1860, soldiers on both sides found peanuts in their rations. P.T. Barnum's circus began selling roasted peanuts to audiences in the 1870s. The cheap seats in theaters everywhere soon became known as "peanut galleries."
SUGAR plantations began in India around 4000 BC. Explorers had found the tall grass-like plant (sugar cane) growing wild, probably on the island of New Guinea, near Aust