Candy & Chocolate

Candy is made by dissolving sugar in water or milk to form a syrup, which is boiled until it reaches the desired concentration or starts to caramelize. The type of candy depends on the ingredients and how long the mixture is boiled. Candy comes in an endless variety of textures from soft and chewy to hard and brittle. Caramel, toffee, fudge, praline, tablet, gumdrops, jelly beans, rock candy, lollipops taffy, cotton candy, candy canes, peppermint sticks, peanut brittle, chocolate coated raisins or peanuts, sucking candy and candy bars are just a few examples of the confections that are sold under the generic name "candy."

Chocolate (http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/pronounced /ˈtʃɒklət/ (http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/help·http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/info)) comprises a number of raw and processed foods that are produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Native to lowland tropical South America, cacao has been cultivated for three millennia in Central America and Mexico, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. All of the Mesoamerican peoples made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor. After being roasted and ground, the resulting products are known as chocolate or cocoa.

Much of the chocolate consumed today is made into bars that combine cocoa solids, fats like cocoa butter, and sugar. Chocolate has become one of the most popular flavours in the world. Gifts of foil-wrapped chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and hearts on Valentine's Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and cocoa.

Chocolate contains alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Scientists claim that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure.The presence of theobromine renders it toxic to some animals.