The History of White Chocolate

Video Transcript

"Cacao from which chocolate is created is set to have originated in the Amazon nearly 4000 years ago. The Aztecs were so enthralled with the Cacao beans that they attributed its creation to their God. Who as legend goes, descended from heaven on the beam of a morning star, carrying a Cacao tree, stolen from paradise. Now the Aztecs so valued the Cacao beans, they actually used them as currency. The Aztecs also used the Cacao beans to prepare a thick cold unsweetened drink. This liquid was so prestigious that they served it in golden goblets, which were promptly thrown away after the first use. Christopher Columbus in 1502 was the first European to run across the beans in his fourth voyage to the New World. Now long on America's most wanted list, was the exquisite white confection that Europeans called white chocolate. It's now available coast to coast. And was not manufactured or distributed here nationally, until it's introduction in 1984. Though it was popular in Europe for nearly seven decades. Now white chocolate was first introduced in Switzerland in the years following World War 1. It's expensive to produce, more expensive than it's darker counterpart because it contains more of the expensive cocoa butter. And although it has a subtle hint of chocolaty flavor, this chocolate really isn't chocolate, at least by definition. According to the FDA standards, real chocolate must contain chocolate liquor. Which is the solids that result from finely grinding Cacao bean nibs. And now you know a little bit about the history of both white and dark chocolate."