Chocolate
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans that grow as fruits of the cocoa tree.
The indigenous people in South America have used cocoa beans as food for more than 3,000 years. The Aztecs ground the dried beans to a powder and made a delicious drink by mixing the cocoa powder with water and herbs. Later the drink was sweetened with honey or sugar and today sweetened cocoa powder is mainly mixed with milk. In 2018, cocoa is grown in more than 35 countries. Most cocoa beans are produced by the Ivory Coast.
Milk chocolate was invented by Henri Nestle of Switzerland in 1875. Different countries have different tastes, as the British enjoy milk chocolate the most, while American prefer chocolate candy bars!
Tomatoes
The largest tomato weighed 3,51kg (7lb12oz) according to the Guiness Book of World Records. That is as heavy as eight cans of coke and weighs actually almost as much as two 2-litre bottles of soda!
Tomatoes are thought to originate from Peru in South America.
In Spain, the annual tomato festival 'Tomatina' is celebrated every year in August. There people throw tomatoes at each other for fun.
Bananas
Bananas grow on plants that are up to 5m/16ft tall. There are more than 1,000 species of bananas. Banana plants can yield fruit all year round.
The biggest banana producers are China, India and South America. The world's biggest importing country is the USA with 25%.
A banana consists to over 75% of water and is rich in vitamins and minerals such as potassium. Bananas are very low in fat and low in fibre.
Did you know that bananas float when you put them in a bowl of water. Go on and try it.
Popcorn
Corn was grown already 9,000 years ago in Mexico. IN 2012, archaeologist found the evidence that popcorn was eaten already by native Americans in Peru more than 5,000 years ago.
Popcorn is made with maize/corn kernels that 'explode' when the kernels are heated over fire or on a stove. A temperature of about 180°C/355°F must be reached to make the kernels pop. Then each kernel puffs to more than 20 times its original size!
Did you know that Mexicans enjoy to munch their popcorn with hot jalapeño sauce? Americans usually prefer to snack on popcorn with salt and butter and Germans eat them sprinkled with sugar.
More interesting information:
Is popcorn good for dieting? How many calories are in popcorn?
ВідповістиВидалитиPopcorn is high in fiber, relatively low in calories and has a low energy density. These are all characteristics of a weight loss friendly food. With 31 calories per cup, air-popped popcorn contains much fewer calories than many popular snack foods.
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