Celebration of Chocolate Month is celebrated in February and is dedicated to everyone’s favorite decadent treat. While these holidays aren’t official, they are simply a way for all lovers of chocolate to learn about and indulge in it. This celebration is usually a time for trying out creative chocolate recipes and enjoying chocolate-themed events. Celebration of Chocolate Month is an exciting time (for obvious reasons), where one can enjoy activities such as having chocolate cake bake-offs, gifting beautifully shaped chocolate pieces to one another, and generally creating a ‘chocolate-y’ vibe.
History of Celebration of Chocolate Month
Celebration of Chocolate Month is specially dedicated to celebrating the tasty goodness that is chocolate. Chocolate is nearly as old as time, as the earliest known history of it took the form of a drink consumed by the Aztecs.Chocolate is made from roasted and ground cacao pods, liquid, solid, or paste. It can also be used to flavor food. The seeds of the cacao tree have a bitter taste (we’re just as surprised as you) and need to be fermented to develop the flavor that you and I recognize. The beans are then dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is then removed to produce cocoa nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in raw form.Most of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, which is a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or added vegetable oils, and sugar. The milk chocolate variation also contains milk powder or other forms of milk such as condensed milk.Chocolate is one of the most popular types of food and flavoring all over the world, and there is a variety of foodstuffs that contain chocolate including desserts, cakes, pudding, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate is also used in many candies by way of filling or coating them with it. Chocolate snacks, such as chocolate bars, are either made of solid chocolate or other ingredients coated in it.Chocolates are a wonderful gift idea as chocolate can be molded into different shapes. Gifting chocolates is especially traditional on certain Western holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Hanukkah.To date, the largest producer of cocoa, the main ingredient in the production of chocolate, is West Africa, with Ghana and the Ivory Coast being responsible for 70% of the entire world’s cocoa production output.
Celebration of Chocolate Month timeline
Cacao production begins in 1674 in the state of Maranhão, Brazil
The first chocolate factory in Switzerland opens in the town of Vevey, courtesy of Francois-Louis Cailler.
The globally renowned chocolate brand Hershey is established.
The chocolate brand Twix is introduced and produced in the United Kingdom.
Celebration of Chocolate Month FAQs
Is white chocolate actually chocolate?
White chocolate isn’t chocolate, no. It doesn’t contain cocoa particles, just cocoa butter, sugar, and a little vanilla flavoring. For this reason, white chocolate isn’t exactly chocolate.
Is cocoa even sweet at all?
Cocoa in its raw form, as in the beans, is quite bitter, and if you tried to taste cocoa that hasn’t been made into chocolate, you would be unpleasantly surprised.
Is chocolate a fruit?
Chocolate in and of itself is not a fruit. However, some of the key ingredients in chocolate production are obtained from the Theobroma cacao or cocoa tree.
Celebration of Chocolate Month Activities
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Learn how chocolate is made
What better time to learn how chocolate is made? You can watch YouTube tutorials to learn about the art.
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Give someone chocolate
One of the beautiful things about this holiday is the opportunity to share. So, in celebration of Chocolate Month, you could simply give some chocolate to your neighbor or work colleague.
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Eat some chocolate
The best way to celebrate chocolate is to eat some! So for Celebration of Chocolate Month, make sure to add some chocolate to your menu, and have fun with it.
5 Interesting Fact About Chocolate
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400 beans to a pound of chocolate
Research shows that the average cocoa pod contains 40 beans, and it takes approximately 400 of those beans to make one pound of chocolate.
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Joseph Fry made the first chocolate bar
The first chocolate bar was made in 1847 by a British man, Fry, and his sons, making chocolate more affordable in the U.K. and the world over.
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The first chocolate treat was hot chocolate
Chocolate treats weren’t always candy bars, cakes, bonbons, and the like; the earliest form of chocolate treats was hot chocolate.
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Cacao was once a form of currency
The Aztecs, to whom chocolate is native, once used cacao as a means of exchange the same way we use money today.
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Cocoa and cacao are the same
In case you’ve ever wondered or been worried about mistaking one for the other, you can rest assured knowing that both cacao and cocoa mean the same thing.
Why We Love Celebration of Chocolate Month
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Chocolate tastes delectable
If you’ve ever tasted chocolate, in any form, then you can agree that chocolate is yummy.
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Chocolate keeps the brain active
Experts say (and we agree) that eating chocolate is good for you. Chocolate contains caffeine, which boosts brain activity and energizes the body.
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Chocolate equals happiness
Chocolate consumption is said to release endorphins into our brains, making us feel happy. So if you’re ever feeling down, try some chocolate as ‘pick-me-up.’
Celebration of Chocolate Month dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | February 1 | Wednesday |
| 2024 | February 1 | Thursday |
| 2025 | February 1 | Saturday |
| 2026 | February 1 | Sunday |
| 2027 | February 1 | Monday |
