Today, my delight knew no bounds: in the city of Alassio (Alassio), where I live, there was an exhibition of chocolate. For the first time in my life, I came across so much chocolate: bitter, milky, white, in tiles, on sticks, of various shapes.
My eyes ran up from the abundance of this world famous product. I don’t know about you, but for me chocolate is an addiction, although scientists, having conducted a number of studies, have not confirmed the possibility of developing an addiction to chocolate.
It is impossible to convey in words the sight seen, so I tried to make the most detailed photo report from this event, so that even you could smell the chocolate that hung in the air.
The birthplace of chocolate, like the cocoa tree, is Central and South America. Maya Indians, and then the Aztecs, for many centuries mixed ground and roasted cocoa beans with water and hot pepper, getting a bitter, spicy drink of high fat content, which was drunk cold.
In Europe, this drink appeared in the 1520s, and over time, it began to be consumed sweet and hot. Initially, the production of this drink was very expensive, so it was affordable and to taste only to a narrow circle of wealthy people. And only in the XVIII century, chocolate entered mass production, giving rise to the art of creating the taste and elegance of chocolate.
The pioneer and trendsetter in chocolate production is Switzerland, but France, Italy and Belgium are not inferior.
In the world there are about 50 museums of chocolate, most of which are located in Europe. In Italy, in turn, a huge number of exhibitions of chocolate are held:
- Chocolate Exhibition in Florence (la Fiera del Cioccolato di Firenze) www.fieradelcioccolato.it
- Chocolate Show in Bologna (Cioccoshow di Bologna) www.cioccoshow.it
- Chocolate in Turin (CioccolaTo di Torino) www.cioccola-to.it and others.
The most popular chocolate producer is the Piemonte region, where chocolate with hazelnuts Prochet and the Caffarel chocolate machine were first invented. Thanks to the Talmone industry, chocolate has become nationally popular, while Ferrero, thanks to Nutella, has made chocolate world famous.
It is generally accepted that all tasty is harmful to health, but chocolate is an exception. In Italy, a large number of studies of this product were conducted, as a result of which the benefits of black chocolate were confirmed.
So in 2003, the Inran Institute in Rome (Istituto Nazionale Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione) confirmed that chocolate is good for the heart and reduces the risk of heart disease. Dark chocolate also improves mood and increases sexual desire.
After the above, I would like to add: do not forget to pamper yourself and loved ones with good dark chocolate. Chocolate love to everyone with the tastiest show from Alassio.
