{"id":513425,"date":"2025-07-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/july-7th-world-cocoa-day-the-food-of-the-gods\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T12:00:00","slug":"july-7th-world-cocoa-day-the-food-of-the-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/style\/anniversaries\/july-7th-world-cocoa-day-the-food-of-the-gods\/","title":{"rendered":"July 7th: World Cocoa Day, &#8220;the food of the Gods&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a day like today, July 7, 2010, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diainternacionalde.com\/ficha\/dia-mundial-cacao\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>International Cocoa Organization<\/strong><\/a> and the French Academy of Chocolate and Confectionery Masters granted this distinction to honor its properties and benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cocoa is a tropical fruit that comes from the cacao tree, its scientific name being Theobroma Cacao. In Greek, it means &#8220;the food of the Gods&#8221;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Origins and History of Cacao<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to some researchers, the origins of cacao are located in the Amazon Region (upper Amazon and Orinoco river basin).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is estimated that the ancient Mesoamerican settlers discovered and transported cacao to Central America, spreading to South America and Mexico. Evidence of its ritual use was found in the Olmec culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In some pre-Columbian cultures, cocoa was used as currency, being a product of great value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In archaeological investigations from nearly a decade ago, evidence was found from over 5,000 years ago of the cultivation and consumption of cacao by the Mayo-Chinchipe-Mara\u00f1\u00f3n culture, as well as commercial exchange with coastal cultures, in the Ecuadorian Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Traces and remains of theobromine (cacao husk) have been found in carbon-14 analyses performed on vessels dating back to 1,750 B.C. in Veracruz. In Honduras, archaeological studies estimate the date of cacao consumption to be as early as 1,000 B.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Europeans became acquainted with this fruit after the process of conquest and colonization of the Americas, later being considered in Europe as a luxury item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chocolate (as a processed cocoa product) was introduced to Europe in the 16th century by the Spanish, becoming very popular among royalty and the upper classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Monasterio de Piedra was the first place where chocolate was made in Europe, in the year 1524.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the 17th century, chocolate was introduced to France, thanks to the support of Queens Anne and Maria Theresa of Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"resTit_4\"><strong>Properties of Cacao<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The composition of (defatted) cocoa is as follows: 35% fiber, 23% protein, 14% carbohydrates, 22% other, 6% minerals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a day like today, July 7, 2010, the International Cocoa Organization and the French Academy of Chocolate and Confectionery Masters granted this distinction to honor its properties and benefits. Cocoa is a tropical fruit that comes from the cacao tree, its scientific name being Theobroma Cacao. In Greek, it means &#8220;the food of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[40918],"tags":[44354],"class_list":["post-513425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-anniversaries","tag-cocoa"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-29z3","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","dum_api":{"author_name":"Redacci\u00f3n De \u00daltimo Minuto","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cropped-logo-de-ultimo-minuto-96x96.png","categories_name":["Anniversaries"],"featured_media_url":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513425\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}