Chocolate
Chocolate, a term of Mesoamerican origin, is a sweet food produced from the cocoa bean. The latter is fermented, roasted and crushed to form a liquid cocoa paste from which the fat, called cocoa butter, is extracted. Chocolate is made up of the mixture, in varying proportions, of cocoa paste, cocoa butter and sugar; optionally, spices such as vanilla or vegetable fats are added. Originally consumed as xocoatl in Mexico and Central America, chocolate is becoming more democratic with the industrial revolution. In the 21st century, it is consumed in solid or liquid form. Chocolate is found in many desserts such as confectionery, biscuits, cakes, ice creams, pies, drinks. To offer chocolate, molded in different ways, has become traditional during certain festivities: eggs, rabbits, chickens and bells at Easter, coins for Hanukkah and Christmas, hearts for Valentine's Day, or the traditional cooking pots of the feast of Escalade in Switzerland in the canton of Geneva.