Curious About Chocolate

PODCAST 214: CURIOUS ABOUT CHOCOLATE

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH, 2022

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  EVERY WEEK, WE GET CURIOUS ABOUT A NEW TOPIC, AND ALL OF THE TOPICS WE GET CURIOUS ABOUT ARE SUGGESTED BY OUR LISTENERS… THE BEST PODCAST LISTENERS IN THE WORLD.  SOMETIMES, OUR LISTENERS SUGGEST A TOPIC THAT GETS OLIVIA REALLY EXCITED, BECAUSE IT’S SOMETHING SHE LOVES, AND IT’S SOMETHING THAT SHE IS CURIOUS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT.  THIS WEEK IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT.  

O:  QUADRUPLE-MAILBAG!

D:  QUADRUPLE-MAILBAG!

“HELLO OLIVIA AND JACOB!  I AM 23 YEARS OLD RESIDING IN MUMBAI, INDIA.  I LOVE LISTENING TO YOUR PODCASTS!  ALTHOUGH I WOULD LISTEN TO ANY AND ENJOY AS MUCH, MY FAVORITE ONE SO FAR IS THE ONE ON WHALES!  I LEARNED A LOT FROM IT!  I AM CURIOUS ABOUT CHOCOLATES AND THEIR ORIGIN.  WHO MADE THE RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATES?  

LOTS OF LOVE, MANORIKA”

“HI OLIVIA AND HER DAD!  MY NAME IS PAHEL (PUH-HEL).  I’M 10 2/5 YEARS OLD AND I’M FROM ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS.  I RECENTLY DISCOVERED YOUR PODCAST AND I LOVE IT!  I’M STILL CATCHING UP ON ALL THE EPISODES, BUT I JUST DECIDED TO REACH OUT TO SAY HI.  IT WOULD BE GREAT IF MAYBE SOMEDAY, YOU COULD DO AN EPISODE ON CHOCOLATE.  HOW IS CHOCOLATE MADE?  WHY DO PEOPLE (INCLUDING ME) LOVE CHOCOLATE SO MUCH?  THANK YOU FOR YOUR PODCAST.”

“HELLOOOOO!  THIS IS DAISY AND I’M 7 YEARS OLD WITH MY BROTHER SILAS WHO IS ALMOST 10.  WE ARE FROM LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA, AND WE LOVE TO LISTEN TO YOUR PODCAST WHEN WE GO ON LONG TRIPS.  WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR A PODCAST ABOUT CHOCOLATE.  IT’S ONE OF OUR FAVORITE TREATS.  THANK YOU!”

“HI!  MY NAME IS ZORRO AND I AM 7 YEARS OLD AND LIVE IN SINGAPORE.  TOMORROW IS MY 7TH BIRTHDAY.  I AM SO HAPPY BECAUSE I GET TO CELEBRATE IT FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH MY BABY SISTER ZOYA.  I AM CURIOUS ABOUT CHOCOLATES.  I LISTEN TO YOUR PODCASTS EVERY DAY AND I REALLY ENJOY IT.”

O:  WOW!  THOSE WERE FOUR SWEET MESSAGES FROM AMAZING LISTENERS THAT CLEARLY LOVE CHOCOLATE JUST AS MUCH AS I DO.  AND ZORRO, YOUR TIMING COULDN’T BE BETTER.  WE GOT YOUR MESSAGE ON INSTAGRAM RIGHT BEFORE WE PUT TOGETHER THIS EPISODE.  WE CAN’T WAIT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CHOCOLATE FOR MANORIKA, PAHEL, DAISY, SILAS, ZORRO, AND BABY ZOYA.  

D:  I’M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS EPISODE BECAUSE IT WILL INCLUDE SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS:  CHOCOLATE, HISTORY, AND SCIENCE.  

O:  CHOCOLATE HAS A VERY INTERESTING HISTORY AND THERE IS ALSO A LOT OF SCIENCE INVOLVED IN MAKING YUMMY CHOCOLATE.

D:  BEFORE WE START OUR TASTY LEARNING JOURNEY, WHY DON’T YOU TELL US WHAT THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS?

O:  ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR SUPER YUMMY CHOCOLATE TREATS IN THE WORLD IS HERSHEY KISSES.  HOW MANY HERSHEY KISSES DOES HERSHEY MAKE EVERY DAY?

D:  WHILE YOU’RE THINKING OF THE ANSWER, LET’S LEARN ALL ABOUT CHOCOLATE.  

O:  IT MIGHT BE HARD TO BELIEVE WHEN YOU BITE INTO A CHOCOLATE BAR, BUT MAKING CHOCOLATE STARTS WITH THE SEEDS FROM A TREE.  THE TREE THE SEEDS COME FROM IS CALLED A CACAO TREE.  

D:  PEOPLE REALIZED THAT THE SEEDS FROM THE CACAO TREE COULD BE USED ABOUT TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO.  THE DISCOVERY WAS MADE BY MEXICANS AND CENTRAL AMERICANS.

O:  FOR A LONG TIME, THE SEEDS WERE USED TO MAKE A DRINK, AND THEY WERE NOT USED FOR MAKING CANDY.  NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THE DRINK WAS VERY BITTER, NOT SWEET.

D:  BECAUSE IT WAS BITTER, OTHER INGREDIENTS WERE OFTEN ADDED FOR FLAVOR.  FOR EXAMPLE, THE AZTECS WOULD ADD CHILI OR VANILLA TO MAKE A CHOCOLATE DRINK.  

O:  CHOCOLATE WAS ALSO ONLY ENJOYED BY KINGS, OTHER ROYALS, AND THE WEALTHY.  IT WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY, SO LOTS OF PEOPLE WEREN’T ABLE TO ENJOY CHOCOLATE LONG AGO.

D:  AND CHECK THIS OUT.  CHOCOLATE WAS ACTUALLY USED AS CURRENCY, MEANING THAT IT WAS USED LIKE MONEY.  ONE AZTEC DOCUMENT FROM ABOUT 500 YEARS AGO SHOWS THAT PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO BUY A TURKEY FOR THE PRICE OF 100 CACAO BEANS AND A TAMALE.  

O:  IT WAS ALSO ABOUT 500 YEARS AGO THAT EUROPEANS WERE INTRODUCED TO CHOCOLATE.

D:  BACK IN 1519, SPANISH EXPLORER HERNANDO CORTES VISITED THE AZTEC RULER MONTEZUMA II, WHO ABSOLUTELY LOVED CHOCOLATE.  NINE YEARS LATER, HE BOUGHT CHOCOLATE BACK TO HIS HOMELAND.  

O:  EUROPEANS MADE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO CHOCOLATE, BY ADDING SWEETNESS IN THE FORM OF SUGAR OR HONEY.  EUROPEANS SPENT A LOT OF MONEY TO HAVE THE CHOCOLATE THEY LOVED IMPORTED FROM CENTRAL AMERICA.

D:  WITH THE POPULARITY OF CHOCOLATE ON THE RISE, MORE COUNTRIES STARTED TO PLANT CACAO TREES.  AS THE SUPPLY OF CHOCOLATE STARTED TO GO UP, THE PRICE OF CHOCOLATE FELL.  THIS ALLOWED MANY MORE PEOPLE TO AFFORD CHOCOLATE.    

O:  CACAO TREES CAN ONLY SURVIVE IN VERY SPECIFIC CONDITIONS, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU CAN’T JUST PLANT CACAO TREES IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD.  CACAO TREES GROW BEST IN COUNTRIES CLOSEST TO THE EQUATOR.  

D:  AS RECENTLY AS 200 YEARS AGO, CHOCOLATE WAS STILL ONLY CONSUMED AS A DRINK.  

O:  SO MANY YUMMY THINGS DIDN’T YET EXIST, LIKE CHOCOLATE CHIPS, CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM, CHOCOLATE CAKE, CHOCOLATE BARS, CHOCOLATE PUDDING, …

D:  WE GET IT!  LOTS OF YUMMY CHOCOLATE FOODS DIDN’T EXIST YET.  BUT THAT WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE.  IN 1828, A DUTCH MAN NAMED COENRAAD JOHANNES VAN HOUTEN LEARNED A SPECIAL WAY TO PRESS CACAO BEANS IN A WAY THAT SEPARATED THE COCOA BUTTER FROM THE DRY COCOA.  HE ALSO USED ALKALI TO TREAT THE COCOA, RESULTING IN A LESS BITTER AND SMOOTHER CHOCOLATE.

O:  A FEW YEARS LATER, AN ENGLISH MAN BY THE NAME OF JOSEPH FRY (HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FRENCH FRIES BY THE WAY), MIXED THE DUTCH COCOA WITH MORE COCOA BUTTER AND SUGAR.  HE THEN PRESSED THE MIXTURE INTO A MOLD, MAKING THE FIRST EVER CHOCOLATE BAR. 

D:  BETWEEN THE LATE 1800s AND EARLY 1900s, CHOCOLATE CANDY WAS BECOMING MORE AND MORE POPULAR, THANKS TO INVENTIONS BY RODOLPHE LINDT, HENRI NESTLE, AND MILTON HERSHEY.  

O:  HOW IN THE WORLD DO WE GET FROM CACAO SEEDS TO YUMMY CHOCOLATE?  LET’S LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW CHOCOLATE IS MADE.  

D:  MAKING CHOCOLATE IS A SURPRISINGLY DIFFICULT PROCESS.  IT STARTS WHEN THE CACAO SEEDS, ALSO CALLED BEANS, ARE PUT INTO CONTAINERS TO FERMENT.  FERMENTATION TURNS THE SUGAR INSIDE THE BEANS INTO ALCOHOL.  AFTER FERMENTATION, THE BEANS ARE DRIED AND CLEANED.  

O:  THEN THE BEANS MUST BE COOKED, AND THEN CRUSHED.  BY DOING THAT, YOU ARE ABLE TO GET THE COCOA BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE LIQUOR TO COME OUT OF THE BEANS.  

D:  AT THIS POINT, DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS ARE ADDED DEPENDING ON WHAT TYPE OF CHOCOLATE YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE.  IF YOU ARE MAKING MY FAVORITE CHOCOLATE, DARK CHOCOLATE, YOU NEED COCOA BUTTER, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, AND SUGAR.

O:  IN ORDER TO MAKE MY FAVORITE CHOCOLATE, MILK CHOCOLATE, YOU NEED ALL OF THE SAME INGREDIENTS PLUS MILK AND VANILLA… YUMMY IN MY TUMMY.

D:  TO MAKE WHITE CHOCOLATE, YOU DON’T USE CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, BUT INSTEAD YOU NEED COCOA BUTTER, MILK, SUGAR, AND VANILLA.  

O:  THEN COMES A REALLY IMPORTANT STEP CALLED CONCHING.  THIS STEP WAS INVENTED BY RODOLPHE LINDT IN THE YEAR 1879.  BEFORE CONCHING WAS INVENTED, CHOCOLATE WAS ROUGH INSTEAD OF SMOOTH.  IT PROBABLY DIDN’T TASTE AS GOOD WHEN IT WAS ROUGH.

D:  YOU’RE PROBABLY RIGHT.  DURING THE CONCHING PROCESS, THE CHOCOLATE IS CRUSHED UP REPEATEDLY FOR HOURS, MAKING IT VERY FINE.  THE CHOCOLATE IS ALSO KEPT WARM, SO THAT IT IS LIQUID.  

O:  THE FINAL STEP FOR MAKING CHOCOLATE IS CALLED TEMPERING.  IN THIS STEP, THE CHOCOLATE IS HEATED, THEN IT IS SHAKEN, AND FINALLY IT IS COOLED.  

D:  AND, THAT’S HOW YOU END UP WITH CHOCOLATE.  IT’S A LONG PROCESS, BUT BOY IS IT WORTH IT.  PAHEL ASKED WHY PEOPLE LIKE CHOCOLATE SO MUCH.  

O:  PEOPLE THINK CHOCOLATE IS ADDICTING.  SOME EVEN USE THE WORD CHOCOHOLIC TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE THAT IS ADDICTED TO CHOCOLATE, BUT IS CHOCOLATE REALLY ADDICTING?

D:  WELL, STUDIES HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN DONE TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION.  THE GENERAL CONSENSUS IS THAT EATING CHOCOLATE, ESPECIALLY MILK CHOCOLATE, CAN MAKE PEOPLE FEEL GOOD.  MILK CHOCOLATE STIMULATES SWEET TASTE RECEPTORS, RESULTING IN THE RELEASE OF A CHEMICAL IN OUR BODIES CALLED DOPAMINE.  

O:  DOPAMINE IS A CHEMICAL THE BODY MAKES IN RESPONSE TO FEELING HAPPY.  WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING THAT HELPS RELEASE DOPAMINE IN THE BODY, YOUR BODY WANTS TO REPEAT WHATEVER IT IS THAT MADE YOU HAPPY IN THE FIRST PLACE.  IN THAT SENSE, EATING CHOCOLATE CAN MAKE YOU CRAVE MORE AND MORE CHOCOLATE.  

D:  BUT HERE’S THE THING.  OTHER FOODS CAN ALSO LEAD TO DOPAMINE RELEASE, SO CHOCOLATE IS NOT UNIQUE IN THAT WAY.  EATING CHOCOLATE CAN MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY, WHICH MAKES THEM WANT TO EAT MORE CHOCOLATE, BUT OTHER FOODS CAN ALSO DO THE SAME.  

O:  BEFORE WE ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK, TAKE A BITE OF THESE TASTY CHOCOLATE FACTS.

D:  IN ADDITION TO MILK CHOCOLATE, WHITE CHOCOLATE, AND DARK CHOCOLATE, THERE IS ANOTHER LESS COMMON BUT VERY YUMMY TYPE OF CHOCOLATE CALLED BLONDE CHOCOLATE.  BLONDE CHOCOLATE IS A CARAMELIZED VERSION OF WHITE CHOCOLATE.  

O:  YOU AREN’T GOING TO BELIEVE THIS FACT.  THERE WAS A RECENT STUDY ON BOOKSTORE SALES.  THE STUDY SHOWED THAT WHEN A BOOKSTORE SMELLED LIKE CHOCOLATE, CUSTOMERS WERE 22% MORE LIKELY TO BUY BOOKS, AND THEY WERE ABOUT 40% MORE LIKELY TO BUY COOKBOOKS.  THAT’S SO RANDOM AND AMAZING.  

D:  THE LARGEST CHOCOLATE BAR IN THE WORLD WAS 12,770 POUNDS, WHICH IS CLOSE TO 6,000 KILOGRAMS.  

O:  AND THE MOST VALUABLE CHOCOLATE BAR WAS SOLD FOR $687.  IT IS A ONE HUNDRED YEAR OLD CADBURY’S BAR.  

D:  CHOCOLATE CHIPS WERE INVENTED BY RUTH WAKEFIELD IN 1930.  SHE MIXED NESTLE CHOCOLATE PIECES INTO HER COOKIE DOUGH WHEN SHE RAN OUT OF BAKER’S CHOCOLATE.  UNFORTUNATELY, SHE MADE THE POOR DECISION TO SELL THE IDEA FOR CHOCOLATE CHIPS TO THE NESTLE COMPANY FOR A LIFETIME SUPPLY OF CHOCOLATE.  

O:  REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS WERE INVENTED BY A DAIRY FARMER BY THE NAME OF HARRY BURNETT REESE.  HE WORKED FOR MILTON S. HERSHEY, THE MAN WHO CREATED HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE.  

D:  IT TAKES ABOUT 400 CACAO BEANS TO MAKE JUST ONE POUND OF CHOCOLATE.  IF YOU THINK THAT NUMBER IS HARD TO BELIEVE, JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR THE ANSWER TO OUR QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  HOW MANY HERSHEY KISSES ARE MADE EVERY DAY?

O:  EVERY DAY, HERSHEY’S MAKES 70 MILLION HERSHEY KISSES.  IN A SINGLE YEAR, HERSHEY’S MAKES ENOUGH KISSES, THAT IF YOU LINED THEM UP SIDE TO SIDE, THEY WOULD STRETCH FOR 300,000 MILES.  

D:  THAT’S A WHOLE LOT OF KISSES.  BY THE WAY, ARE YOU WONDERING WHY THEY ARE CALLED HERSHEY KISSES?

O:  MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE I WANT TO KISS THEM.  THEY ARE SO DELICIOUS!

D:  INTERESTING THOUGHT, BUT THEY ARE ACTUALLY CALLED KISSES BECAUSE OF THE SOUND THE MACHINE MAKES WHEN IT DROPS THE CHOCOLATE INTO IT’S WRAPPER.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O:  214 - CHOCOLATE.

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB MANORIKA, PAHEL, DAISY, SILAS, ZORRO, AND ZOYA FOR THE SWEET PODCAST TOPIC THAT GAVE US ALL A SUGAR RUSH OF KNOWLEDGE.  BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE, WE HAVE SOME INCREDIBLE LISTENERS TO THANK.

O:  THANK YOU TO OUR NEWEST PATREON SUPPORTERS, AIDAN L. AND LUCY C.  

D:  A BIG THANKS TO OUR SWEET LISTENERS, AIDAN AND LUCY, FOR THE SUPPORT.  IT MEANS SO MUCH TO US.  JOIN US NEXT WEEK, WHEN WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT VIKINGS FOR LISTENERS IN OHIO, NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA, AND ONTARIO.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.