Here I sit, eating chocolate chips.

To quit eating chocolate, I need more than tips.

There are so many kinds of chocolate, it's hard to choose.

No matter which one you pick, you just can't lose.

Chocolate is a smooth processed sweetened food and is produced from the seeds of the cacao tree. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. People use to make chocolate beverages known as Xocolatl, meaning bitter water, as the seeds have an intense bitter taste. Cocoa was initially used in Mesoamerica as a beverage and an ingredient in food. Today, it has become one of the most popular food type in the world, and a vast number of foodstuffs have been created using it.

In earlier times, chocolate was mainly used as a drink. It played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious events.

The Maya civilization used the cacao seeds to make a frothy bitter drink and for ceremonial purposes, in addition to everyday life. Aztecs adopted this into their culture and associated chocolate with Xochiquetzal, their goddess of fertility, and often used chocolate beverages as sacred offerings. Chocolate was an important luxury good throughout the Aztec empire, and cocoa beans were often used as currency.

For hundreds of years, the chocolate-making process remained unchanged until the Industrial Revolution arrived that brought chocolate, today in its modern form. The mass production of shiny and tasty chocolate bars and related products were then possible. Later, mechanical mills were created that squeezed out cocoa butter, which in turn helped to create hard, durable chocolate.

Today, several types of chocolates are made. Unsweetened chocolate also known as bitter or baking chocolate is pure and unadulterated chocolate in which the pure, ground and roasted chocolate beans impart a strong deep chocolate flavor. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of Sweet chocolate, combining chocolate with sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk while White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, but no cocoa solids. Dark chocolate has been promoted for unproven health benefits, as it seems to possess substantial amount of antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals. It is produced by adding fat and sugar to the cacao mixture. It possesses cardio-protective properties and is said to reduce the possibility of a heart attack when consumed regularly in small amounts.

Chocolate is made from the dried and partially fermented cocoa beans of the cacao tree. First, the cacao pods are harvested by cutting the pods from the tree. The beans with their surrounding pulp are removed from the pods and placed in piles or bins for fermentation which takes up to seven days and produces several flavors that eventually result in the familiar chocolate taste. The dried beans are then cleaned, roasted, and graded. Next, the shell of each bean is removed to extract the nib. Finally, the nibs are ground and liquefied, resulting in pure chocolate in fluid form called chocolate liquor.

Chocolate liquor is blended with the cocoa butter in varying quantities to make different types of chocolates. The chocolate is then conched which makes it smoother in taste and texture. A conche is a container filled with metal beads, which act as grinders and keeps the blended chocolate in liquid state by frictional heat. The length of the conching process determines the final smoothness and quality of the chocolate. High-quality chocolate is conched for about 72 hours while lesser grades for about 4-6 hours.

Chocolate has both positive and negative health effects associated to itself. Several studies have suggested that eating chocolate can help reduce the risk of certain cardiovascular problems and reduce blood pressure. It may also boost cognitive abilities. According to one study, its consumption correlates with lower body mass index. Cocoa or dark chocolate may positively affect the circulatory system and may lower cholesterol levels. Other possible effects include anticancer, brain stimulator, cough preventer and anti-diarrhoeal activities.

Chocolate is believed to cause heartburn because of one of its constituent, which relaxes the oesophageal sphincter muscle, permitting stomach acidic contents to enter into the oesophagus. The unconstrained consumption of large quantities of it, without a corresponding increase in activity, is thought to increase the risk of obesity. Chocolate absorbs lead from the environment during production, and there is a slight concern of mild lead poisoning for some types of chocolate. There are some evidences that chocolate may be addictive.

The International Chocolate Day is observed on 13 September. Chocolate has become one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world, and a vast number of foodstuffs involving chocolate have been created. Chocolate chip cookies have become very common, and very popular. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate.

It is one of the most popular holiday gifts. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays like chocolate coins, bunnies and eggs on Easter, snowmen and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and chocolate hearts  on Valentine's Day.

Chocolate has been the center of several successful book and film adaptations. In 1964, Roald Dahl published a children's novel titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The novel centers on a poor boy named Charlie Bucket who takes a tour through the greatest chocolate factory in the world, owned by Willy Wonka. Two film adaptations of the novel were produced - the first was Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, a 1971 film and other titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a 2005 film which was one of the highest grossing films that year.

Chocolat, a 1999 novel by Joanne Harris, tells the story of Vianne Rocher, a young mother, whose confections change the lives of the town people. The 2000 film adaptation, Chocolat, also proved successful, receiving many awards.

Submitted by:- Group 2

Jatin Kukreja (A2305212439)

Skand Arora (A2305212440)

Rishab Bhan (A2305211081)

Ayaz Ahmed (A2305212435)