TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Deanna Pucciarelli: The history of chocolate

Unscramble the Blue Letters

If you can't imagine life without chocolate, you're lucky you weren't born before the 16th century. Until then, chocolate only existed in meroecasmia in a form quite different from what we know. As far back as 1900 BCE, the people of that region had learned to prepare the baens of the native ccaao tree. The earliest records tell us the beans were ground and mixed with cornmeal and chili peppers to create a drink - not a relaxing cup of hot cocoa, but a bitter, invigorating concoction frothing with foam. And if you thought we make a big deal about chocolate tdaoy, the msoemanraeics had us beat. They believed that cacao was a heavenly food gifted to humans by a feathered serpent god, known to the Maya as Kukulkan and to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl. Aztecs used cacao beans as currency and drank chocolate at royal feasts, gave it to soldiers as a rarwed for success in battle, and used it in rituals. The first transatlantic chocolate encounter ocrucred in 1519 when Hernán Cortés visited the court of Moctezuma at Tenochtitlan. As recorded by Cortés's lieutenant, the king had 50 jugs of the dnrik brought out and poured into golden cups. When the colonists rurteend with shipments of the strange new bean, missionaries' salacious auntcocs of native customs gave it a raotetpiun as an aphrodisiac. At first, its btteir tstae made it suitable as a medicine for ailments, like upset smoahtcs, but seinentewg it with heony, sugar, or vllniaa quickly made chocolate a popular dleccaiy in the Spanish court. And soon, no aaortircistc home was complete without dedicated coahtloce ware. The fashionable drink was dfuiciflt and time csonimnug to produce on a lrgae scale. That involved using plantations and imported slave labor in the Caribbean and on islands off the csoat of Africa. The world of chocolate would change forever in 1828 with the iotditoucrnn of the cocoa press by Coenraad van Houten of Amsterdam. Van Houten's itinevnon could separate the cocoa's natural fat, or cocoa butter. This left a powder that could be mexid into a drinkable solution or recombined with the cocoa btuter to cetare the solid chocolate we know today. Not long after, a Swiss clohceiator named Daniel Peter added powdered milk to the mix, thus inventing milk chocolate. By the 20th century, chocolate was no longer an elite luxury but had become a treat for the public. Meeting the massive demand required more cultivation of cocoa, which can only grow near the equator. Now, instead of African slaves being shipped to South American ccooa plantations, cocoa ptuirdcoon itself would shift to West Africa with Cote d'Ivoire providing two-fifths of the world's cocoa as of 2015. Yet along with the growth of the iusrtndy, there have been horrific abuses of haumn rights. Many of the plantations throughout West Africa, which supply Western cpmiaeons, use slave and child labor, with an estimation of more than 2 million children affected. This is a complex problem that psserits despite efforts from major chocolate companies to partner with African nations to reduce child and iedenntrud labor practices. Today, chocolate has established itself in the rituals of our modern culture. Due to its colonial association with native creutlus, combined with the power of advertising, chocolate retanis an aura of something suensal, decadent, and forbidden. Yet knowing more about its fascinating and often curel history, as well as its production today, tells us where these associations originate and what they hide. So as you unwrap your next bar of chocolate, take a moment to consider that not everything about chocolate is sweet.

Open Cloze

If you can't imagine life without chocolate, you're lucky you weren't born before the 16th century. Until then, chocolate only existed in ___________ in a form quite different from what we know. As far back as 1900 BCE, the people of that region had learned to prepare the _____ of the native _____ tree. The earliest records tell us the beans were ground and mixed with cornmeal and chili peppers to create a drink - not a relaxing cup of hot cocoa, but a bitter, invigorating concoction frothing with foam. And if you thought we make a big deal about chocolate _____, the _____________ had us beat. They believed that cacao was a heavenly food gifted to humans by a feathered serpent god, known to the Maya as Kukulkan and to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl. Aztecs used cacao beans as currency and drank chocolate at royal feasts, gave it to soldiers as a ______ for success in battle, and used it in rituals. The first transatlantic chocolate encounter ________ in 1519 when Hernán Cortés visited the court of Moctezuma at Tenochtitlan. As recorded by Cortés's lieutenant, the king had 50 jugs of the _____ brought out and poured into golden cups. When the colonists ________ with shipments of the strange new bean, missionaries' salacious ________ of native customs gave it a __________ as an aphrodisiac. At first, its ______ _____ made it suitable as a medicine for ailments, like upset ________, but __________ it with _____, sugar, or _______ quickly made chocolate a popular ________ in the Spanish court. And soon, no ____________ home was complete without dedicated _________ ware. The fashionable drink was _________ and time _________ to produce on a _____ scale. That involved using plantations and imported slave labor in the Caribbean and on islands off the _____ of Africa. The world of chocolate would change forever in 1828 with the ____________ of the cocoa press by Coenraad van Houten of Amsterdam. Van Houten's _________ could separate the cocoa's natural fat, or cocoa butter. This left a powder that could be _____ into a drinkable solution or recombined with the cocoa ______ to ______ the solid chocolate we know today. Not long after, a Swiss ___________ named Daniel Peter added powdered milk to the mix, thus inventing milk chocolate. By the 20th century, chocolate was no longer an elite luxury but had become a treat for the public. Meeting the massive demand required more cultivation of cocoa, which can only grow near the equator. Now, instead of African slaves being shipped to South American _____ plantations, cocoa __________ itself would shift to West Africa with Cote d'Ivoire providing two-fifths of the world's cocoa as of 2015. Yet along with the growth of the ________, there have been horrific abuses of _____ rights. Many of the plantations throughout West Africa, which supply Western _________, use slave and child labor, with an estimation of more than 2 million children affected. This is a complex problem that ________ despite efforts from major chocolate companies to partner with African nations to reduce child and __________ labor practices. Today, chocolate has established itself in the rituals of our modern culture. Due to its colonial association with native ________, combined with the power of advertising, chocolate _______ an aura of something _______, decadent, and forbidden. Yet knowing more about its fascinating and often _____ history, as well as its production today, tells us where these associations originate and what they hide. So as you unwrap your next bar of chocolate, take a moment to consider that not everything about chocolate is sweet.

Solution

coast
chocolate
introduction
honey
returned
chocolatier
delicacy
mesoamerica
drink
invention
cocoa
production
occurred
reputation
cultures
sweetening
human
bitter
reward
cacao
persists
retains
large
mixed
industry
accounts
mesoamericans
today
difficult
create
stomachs
sensual
beans
aristocratic
butter
companies
taste
consuming
indentured
vanilla
cruel

Original Text

If you can't imagine life without chocolate, you're lucky you weren't born before the 16th century. Until then, chocolate only existed in Mesoamerica in a form quite different from what we know. As far back as 1900 BCE, the people of that region had learned to prepare the beans of the native cacao tree. The earliest records tell us the beans were ground and mixed with cornmeal and chili peppers to create a drink - not a relaxing cup of hot cocoa, but a bitter, invigorating concoction frothing with foam. And if you thought we make a big deal about chocolate today, the Mesoamericans had us beat. They believed that cacao was a heavenly food gifted to humans by a feathered serpent god, known to the Maya as Kukulkan and to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl. Aztecs used cacao beans as currency and drank chocolate at royal feasts, gave it to soldiers as a reward for success in battle, and used it in rituals. The first transatlantic chocolate encounter occurred in 1519 when Hernán Cortés visited the court of Moctezuma at Tenochtitlan. As recorded by Cortés's lieutenant, the king had 50 jugs of the drink brought out and poured into golden cups. When the colonists returned with shipments of the strange new bean, missionaries' salacious accounts of native customs gave it a reputation as an aphrodisiac. At first, its bitter taste made it suitable as a medicine for ailments, like upset stomachs, but sweetening it with honey, sugar, or vanilla quickly made chocolate a popular delicacy in the Spanish court. And soon, no aristocratic home was complete without dedicated chocolate ware. The fashionable drink was difficult and time consuming to produce on a large scale. That involved using plantations and imported slave labor in the Caribbean and on islands off the coast of Africa. The world of chocolate would change forever in 1828 with the introduction of the cocoa press by Coenraad van Houten of Amsterdam. Van Houten's invention could separate the cocoa's natural fat, or cocoa butter. This left a powder that could be mixed into a drinkable solution or recombined with the cocoa butter to create the solid chocolate we know today. Not long after, a Swiss chocolatier named Daniel Peter added powdered milk to the mix, thus inventing milk chocolate. By the 20th century, chocolate was no longer an elite luxury but had become a treat for the public. Meeting the massive demand required more cultivation of cocoa, which can only grow near the equator. Now, instead of African slaves being shipped to South American cocoa plantations, cocoa production itself would shift to West Africa with Cote d'Ivoire providing two-fifths of the world's cocoa as of 2015. Yet along with the growth of the industry, there have been horrific abuses of human rights. Many of the plantations throughout West Africa, which supply Western companies, use slave and child labor, with an estimation of more than 2 million children affected. This is a complex problem that persists despite efforts from major chocolate companies to partner with African nations to reduce child and indentured labor practices. Today, chocolate has established itself in the rituals of our modern culture. Due to its colonial association with native cultures, combined with the power of advertising, chocolate retains an aura of something sensual, decadent, and forbidden. Yet knowing more about its fascinating and often cruel history, as well as its production today, tells us where these associations originate and what they hide. So as you unwrap your next bar of chocolate, take a moment to consider that not everything about chocolate is sweet.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
cocoa butter	2

Important Words

abuses
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