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More American Classics
Monday, October 02, 2006

Chocolate Bar
The tasty chocolate bar has been an American mainstay for quite awhile. Chocolate has been around almost since the beginning of time. The Indian tribe called the Olmec Indians were the first to be thought of as growing the cocoa bean as an actual crop and was drunk as a beverage. The Mayan peoples were have thought to have brought this crop down to South America and in 1519, cocoa (still as a drink) was presented to the then ruler of Spain. The cocoa bean was not shared with the rest of the European countries until nearly a century later.

In 1657, the first chocolate house was opened up in London, England and thus, the chocolate beverage was available for the general public. It was seen as an elite drink for the upper class of society. In 1765, chocolate was introduced to North America by an Irish gentleman, John Hanan imported cocoa beans from the West Indies to his business in Massachusetts and with the help of Dr. James Baker and the famous Bakers Chocolate was born.

In 1849, the Cadbury brothers developed the modern day chocolate bar in England and in 1900, Milton Hershey developed the milk chocolate bar and in 1911, the world saw the birth of a candy company that would later become the Mars Inc. In 1913, the first nickel chocolate bar was offered for sale by Robert Ganong in Canada. In 1923, the Milky Way chocolate bar was invented, followed by in 1930 which saw the first Snickers bar developed and no matter what chocolate bar is your favourite (admit it, you do have one), I am sure chocolate bars will be around to stay and will continue to change as our tastes do.

Beer
Early Egyptians were the first one to consume beer. Grain was one of the first crops that is known to man, it was the first domesticated crop and was the father of the farming process. Following the Egyptian empire, the Greeks and Romans continued where the Egyptians left off, beer continued to be brewed. It has been proved that Noah had provisions for beer on the ark. Early civilizations drank beer through a straw as to not drink in the hulls that were left in the beer.

Each country had their own way of beer making. For instance, Japan made theirs with rice ( Saki) and in 1000, hops were added to aid in the brewing process; 1420 saw the Germans using the lager method of brewing beer and in 1587 saw beer being brewed in the new world thanks to Sir Walter Raleigh. From there beer expanded into Canada (thanks to Molsons in 1786) but before the dawn of the 1800s what was drunk was mostly ale, but the modern approach to beer in the US did not appear until the latter part of the 1800s with the invention of modern refrigeration, bottling and railway distribution.

Many of the breweries that we know of today came initially from Europe. Breweries such as Coors, Schlitz and Miller (just to mention a few) got their beginnings from German ancestors and by the year 1880 there were approximately 2,300 breweries in the US. After Prohibition, only 160 breweries survived and many continue on to this day. But Americans still love their beer and are ranked 13th world wide in the amount of drinking per year.

Ice Cream Cone
The ice cream cone as we know it today got its start with the beginning of ice cream. Ice cream has been around since the 4th century bc! Early references to the first ice cream can be found in China and with the Roman Emperor Nero. Ice cream was likely brought to Europe from China,

Eventually, ice cream made its way to North America. The first ice cream parlour opened up in 1776 in New York City and in regards to the very first ice cream cone, many parties seem to take the credit for its inception, but no one really knows who in fact put the first ice cream cone together. According to fact, the first walk away ice cream cone was served up at the St. Louis Worlds Fair in 1904, but was served there by several vendors. Paper and metal cones had been used, but this was the first time that an edible cone had been used here in North America, but had been already served for several years in England.

Licorice
Licorice has been around for very long time. The earliest use of licorice has been noted when a generous supply of licorice was located in the tomb of King Tut. Licorice was a popular beverage back (used to quench the warriors thirst on long marches), then and the root of the plant used as medicine to combat issues like peptic ulcers, sore throats and coughs in Eastern and Western medicines.

Hundreds of years later, a monk in Pontefract, England began forming licorice into candy. Early settlers brought licorice recipes over the new world with them and today the US is one of the biggest exporters of licorice candy in the world.

These foods, love them or hate them, they will continue to be in our daily diet for many years to come.

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