Chocolate

Chocolate (pronounced /ˈtʃɑklət/ (help info) comprises a number of raw and processed foods that are shaped from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Native to lowland tropical South America, cacao has been refined for three millennia in Central America and Mexico, with its earliest recognized use around 1100 BC. All of the Mesoamerican peoples made chocolate beverages, as well as the Maya and Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have a powerful bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor. After being roasted and ground, the ensuing products are known as chocolate or cocoa.

Much of the chocolate inspired today is made into bars that merge with cocoa solids, fats like cocoa butter, and sugar. Chocolate has turn into one of the most popular flavors in the world. A chocolate lover is also called as "chocoholics." Gifts of frustrated wrapped chocolate molded into different shapes has become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and further holiday symbols on Christmas, and hearts on Valentine's Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to make chocolate milk and cocoa.