Blog

Cups and saucers are one of those classic pairings like “salt and pepper” or “knives and forks”. They’ve become ubiquitous, part of everything from formal rituals to cosy treats, containing tea, coffee, hot chocolate—or occasionally something stronger.

“History is written by the victors” – (possibly, but unlikely to have been said by Winston Churchill)

In the case of chocolate, history is all too often written by those who spend the most money on marketing. Take filled chocolates: most of us when asked to associate a country with filled chocolates will say Belgium. After all, Belgium invented the “praline” and “ballotine” (box of pralines), claim over 250 filled chocolate makers who account for over 10% of all Belgium’s exports. However the actual history is more complex. The UK, Switzerland, US, Italy and many other countries also have their own histories of filled chocolates – many of which predate the Belgian’s Neuhas etc (who were actually Swiss /Italians who started by covering medicines in chocolate…).

It’s an extraordinary and rich story, starting with how cacao (or kakau, kakaw, etc.) was the unlikely “Rosetta Stone” that helped archaeologists unlock the secrets of Mayan “glyphs” (writing). From there, we’ll explore how cross-cultural linguistics and colonial history led to a widespread misunderstanding of the word “chocolate’s” origins—and, spoiler alert, it really does seem as if a fear of confusing cacao with Spanish slang for faeces (caca) played a role in the rise of the term chocolate. And in the next blog, we’ll also untangle the contested historical and modern definitions of chocolate (and explain why many Europeans still don’t accept British or American “chocolate” as proper chocolate).

Over 100 years ago, the Cadbury's slogan was "Absolutely pure, therefore best”. What can craft chocolate learn from this iconic British company?

Have you ever wondered why one day you really love a bar, and yet a few days - or even a week later - you crack open the same bar (and from the same batch) but it just doesn’t taste as great?

The earliest recorded decorated egg shells are of Ostrich eggs, dating back at least 60,000 years in South Africa (fragments have been found in caves).