Chocolate (pronounced /tklt/), an English article about chocolate. Including many raw and processed foods produced from the seeds of tropical cocoa trees. Cocoa has been cultivated in Mexico, Central America and South America for at least 3000 years, and the earliest record of its use was in BC 1 100. Most Central Americans make chocolate drinks, including the Aztecs. They make chocolate into a drink called xocolātl, which is a Navarre word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of cocoa trees have a strong bitter taste and must be fermented to produce this taste. After fermentation, cocoa beans are dried, washed and roasted, and then shelled to produce cocoa beans. Then grind the crumbs into cocoa pieces, that is, coarse pure chocolate. Because this cocoa mass is usually liquefied and then shaped with or without other ingredients, it is called chocolate liquid. The liquid can also be processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened baked chocolate (bitt er chocolate) mainly contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter in different proportions. Most chocolate consumed today is sweet chocolate mixed with cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fats and sugar. Milk chocolate is a sweet chocolate containing milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar and milk, but contains no cocoa solids. Cocoa solids contain alkaloids, such as theobromine and phenylethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It is related to the level of serotonin in the brain. Some studies have found that moderate consumption of chocolate can lower blood pressure. The existence of theobromine makes it toxic to some animals, especially dogs and cats. Chocolate has become one of the most popular food types and tastes in the world. In some festivals, it has become a tradition to make gifts of different shapes with chocolate: chocolate rabbits and eggs are popular in Easter, chocolate coins are popular in Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols are popular in Christmas, and hearts are popular in Valentine's Day. Chocolate is also used for cold and hot drinks, producing chocolate milk and hot chocolate. The world's largest producer of cocoa beans is Africa, and the recent controversy focuses on the use of child labor in cocoa production.