 Fantasy: December 14, 2022 Issue [#11702] |
This week: Chocolate Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.
― Linda Grayson
Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain.
― Dave Barry
Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power...it is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits.
― Justus von Liebig |
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As the War on Christmas intensifies, it's important to take the time to consider something that really matters, something that all sides can agree on during the contentious holiday season.
That thing, of course, is chocolate.
Chocolate is ancient. For well over 3000 years , people have been eating and drinking chocolate, and adding it to other foods.
While most chocolate consumed today has some degree of sweetness from added sugars, it's bitter in its natural state and is fermented for consumption. As such, it can be used in both sweet and savory dishes.
How exactly the process was developed that allowed chocolate consumption, or why, is lost to time, which of course makes it ripe for speculation by writers. What is known is that the cacao plant is native to Mesoamerica, notably in the Olmec and Maya civilizations. Apparently, the Aztec couldn't grow the stuff themselves, but found it so valuable that they demanded it as tribute from their conquered nations and associated it with Quetzalcoatl, who, as with Prometheus and fire, was cast out by the other gods for daring to share its secret with us lowly humans.
In short, chocolate was a Big Deal.
It wasn't until Europeans invaded the Americas that chocolate began to spread worldwide. Reportedly, most of today's chocolate is produced in Africa, and it's plentiful and cheap enough for mass consumption—a far cry from the time when only the richest Aztec nobles were able to drink it.
While there's some controversy about how chocolate is produced and delivered now—reportedly, underpaid and/or child labor is involved—that doesn't seem to affect demand much. It seems some things are worth sacrificing one's principles for, and chocolate is one of them. Besides, if we didn't buy chocolate, they'd be paid even less.
So sit back, relax, and have some chocolate. It may or may not be good for you, , but at least you get to pretend you're an Aztec king. |
Some fantasy for your December reading:
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Last time, in "Gems and Jewels" , I discussed shiny things.
brom21  : In my novel I am querying for, I have a place called the Emerald Forest which is enchanted. For some reason, any other gem wouldn't have had the same ring to it. Pun not intended. lol. In the LOTR I recall those big dark spheres that the evil Saruman uses to control a king in the realm. It's not quite a gem or a metal but it has the same concept. Magical stones are a typical element in fantasy as you said. Hear from you next time!
We have palantirs here in the real world. They're called iPhones.
So that's it for me for 2022. See you next year! Until then...
DREAM ON!!!
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