英语学习点: Chocolate Vocabulary 与巧克力和口味相关的词语

Confectionery manufacturers must be marvelling at their chocolate box balance sheets in the middle of the economic downturn. That's because sales of chocolate products are up.

Chocoholics have pushed one UK company's profits up 25%. In Syria, one of the largest producers has increased sales over the past six years from 150 packs a day to more than a million.

Analyst Marcia Mogelonsky from Mintel said: "Unlike a lot of other foodstuffs chocolate is somewhat recession-resistant. Consumers will turn to chocolate as a reward or a treat."

The scrumptious and widely-available snack has come a long way from its origins in the jungles of Central and South America. The seeds of the cocoa tree fruit were used by the Mayan and Aztec civilisations as currency.

Then, the cocoa beans were used to produce a spicy, rather bitter drink for special occasions. The beverage reached Europe thanks to the Spanish adventurer Hernan Cortés and landed on the tables of kings and queens.

The first chocolate bars didn't have the yummy, velvety taste they have today. In the 1840s, they were a coarse mixture of cocoa powder and sugar with a little of the melted cocoa butter extracted from the beans.

Choccy bars, biscuits and drinks that satisfy even the most sweet-toothed consumer are within the reach of most people. But there are those who can't resist a little extravagance. This week, British businessman Carl Weininger tucked into a £22,000 (218,000 yuan) chocolate-laced pudding that included champagne jelly and edible gold leaf. It was eaten with a gold spoon set with diamonds.