Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is on at Theatre Royal Drury

A big day in the West End is looming. After two rescheduled preview performances at the end of last week, owing to some slight technical teething troubles, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is throwing open its doors for the first time at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane tonight, with the critics unwrapping their verdicts as to what Sam Mendes and co have made of Roald Dahl’s time-honoured children’s classic from June 25.

Even before the first note has sounded in the auditorium, though, the oohs and aahs should have started in the foyer areas; this week sees the unveiling too of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s £4 million Regency-faithful restoration of the theatre to mark its 350th anniversary. I happened to be in the Really Useful Group building back in March when Lord Lloyd Webber asked one of his assistants to get on the blower and look into him buying a copy of Canova’s The Three Graces – which he has now added to the theatre’s permanent statue collection after parting with the sum of £600,000. He made the request as swiftly and casually as you or I might ask someone the time.

The best (and worst) chocolate frostings

There's nothing tricky or difficult about making chocolate frosting. Dump a few ingredients into a bowl, beat for a few minutes, then taste, tweak and frost.

But for those who need to make dessert on the fly, pre-made frosting can be a lifesaver. It comes in a handful of flavors, including vanilla and citrus, but the flavor that dominates store shelves is chocolate in all its lush variety: milk, dark, fudgy and decadent. Most stores carry at least two kinds of spread-and-serve chocolate icing; some carry as many as six.

It's important to note that none of these frostings are made from all natural ingredients. Most contain at least a touch of hydrogenated fat, as well as artificial colors and flavorings, and a list of questionable ingredients you won't find in many pantries.

Calliope’s Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream

Evan Sung for The New York Times

 

The Restaurant Takeaway column is devoted to restaurant dishes you can make in your own kitchen, tweaked for home cooks. 

I didn’t plan to order dessert after my recent lunch at Calliope in the East Village. But the waiter told me the chocolate hazelnut ice cream was extraordinary. I don’t often say no to extraordinary, even when I’m skeptical. Was there really anything that could raise this chocolate hazelnut ice cream that far above the usual stuff?

In a word, yes. And the answer is butter.
It’s what gave the ice cream its voluptuous, velvety texture, almost like frozen chocolate mousse, but denser. It was utterly creamy and completely without ice crystals. The waiter was right.

Moving Chocolate Sculpture Illusion Is Mesmerizing (VIDEO)

Prepare for your minds to be blown! A YouTube video posted to Reddit shows a swirling chocolate sculpture that, under blinking lights, appears to come alive. The construction is a zoetrope, a device that creates the illusion of motion by presenting a series of still images or objects. In the case of this zoetrope, the blinking lights prevent the moving sculpture from appearing blurry by creating visual gaps and our brains interpret the result as movement. It's on display at Phillip Island Chocolate Factory in Newhaven, Australia, about an hour and a half outside Melbourne. The attraction is also home to a couple other cool things, like the world's largest chocolate waterfall and a chocolate sculpture of Michelangelo's "David."

Open up and say: Yeah!

Behind How Chocolate Makes You More Productive

New research suggests that the components of cocoa make you more content. And that leads to creativity. Open up and say: Yeah!

Stop for a minute and savor cocoa's accomplishments: battler of stroke, diabetes, and heart disease; booster of blood flow; and now, research suggests, calmer of the mind.

While there are many excellent qualities to chocolate, research at an Austrailian university shows that the polyphenols in chocolate can make people feel more calm and contended.

So what else can the lovely stuff do?

"Death by Chocolate" - chocolate conversations at work

I was once in a company meeting listening to our CEO lay out the annual new direction for the business. After the meeting, we all brought the plan back to our respective teams. As the plan worked its way through team meetings, company newsletters and the like, the original message got lost.

We all had our own interpretation of what we heard. As multiple interpretations of the plan were set in motion, we were left with a lot of unintended outcomes -- and disappointing results. The CEO was frustrated and other leaders were left scratching their heads.

Suddenly, I thought of a "Death by Chocolate" party I went to when in college. We had all gone to that party with a common objective -- bring chocolate, eat chocolate and be happy -- only to be separated by our different interpretations or standards for what constituted "ideal" chocolate.

News for Cacao & More

Discover the seven most nutrient-dense foods on earth Growing "industrial" hemp is legal in Canada because it contains practically no THC (the stuff that gets you high). Yet the U.S. still prohibits growing hemp on U.S. lands. (7) Noni juice that's raw and not denatured. It's immune enhancing an... Natural News.com • May 20, 2013, 10:43 PM (PST)

Natural News.com

Food swapping: The movement taking off in the UK Throughout history food has been swapped and traded, from cacao beans to spices. But a modern movement is growing in the UK with anything from home-made sushi, ice cream and pate to eggs, apples and wild garlic on offer. The swaps are BBC Online • May 21, 2013, 3:54 AM (PST)

BBC Online

Weight Loss Diets: Eating For Energy Foods That Give Us Energy These give me a natural high that can last for hours without the subsequent like you would get from coffee and caffeinated beverages. - goji berries – another incredible source of antioxidants and polysaccharides that improve cell-to-cell communication. Melodika.net • May 21, 2013, 3:58 AM (PST)

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theartsdesk.com

Are you a super-taster? Here's how to remodel your food choices Mushrooms (they are packed with vitamin D-3, too), sweet potatoes ... fish and bean dishes. Mix roasted mushrooms and tomatoes with ground skinless turkey for a meaty burger. Or dive into seafood such as salmon, ocean trout, cod or mackerel ... The Post and Courier • May 20, 2013, 9:07 PM (PST)

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Lose Man Boobs Without Pain or Surgery - Say Yes to Male Breast Reduction Pills and Creams New Delhi, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/20/2013 -- Thousands of men suffer with gynecomastia. It is a medical condition that is known to affect one in three men. “Men are not supposed to have breasts and those that have abnormally larger breasts, are often ... SBWire • May 20, 2013, 8:58 PM (PST)

Drs. Oz and Roizen: How to remodel your food choices Jack has won prizes for this, and it’s been widely reported in the media, but we’ve yet to see it in clinical trials or picked up by a pharma company. Hopefully, that breakthrough can ... calcium than any other nut, vitamin E, riboflavin ... Athens Banner-Herald • May 20, 2013, 2:56 PM (PST)

Chocolate Milk, Soda Among Foods That May Have More Calories Than Reported

Do your kids love chocolate milk? It may have more calories on average than you thought.

Same goes for soda.

Until now, the only way to find out what people in the United States eat and how many calories they consume has been government data, which can lag behind the rapidly expanding and changing food marketplace.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are trying to change that by creating a gargantuan map of what foods Americans are buying and eating.

Part of the uniqueness of the database is its ability to sort one product into what it really is — thousands of brands and variations.

Take the chocolate milk.

Dark chocolate mousse with cardamom, candied ginger and hazelnuts

I was in the mood for a chocolate mousse and started looking around for a vegan recipe. I thought it would be a bit lighter than a traditional recipe, and to be honest I was curious if a vegan recipe could even hold a candle to a mousse made with dairy. When I found a recipe that called for candied ginger and cardamom, I was sold. And after making it I can definitely say that no one would know this is made with coconut milk instead of cow's milk unless you told them. It's every bit as decadent and delicious, and yet is not nearly as indulgent (okay, let's just say it: unhealthy) as a traditional chocolate mousse.
It also comes together incredibly quickly -- in about 15 minutes or so. As long as you plan ahead for when you want to use it, it is a recipe requiring minimal time and effort.

Odu'a Museum Opens At Cocoa House Ibadan

The Cocoa House in Ibadan famous as one of the first in terms of architectural innovations in South-west Nigeria recently got a complimentary attraction. The penthouse of the 24-storey structure now houses the Odu'a Museum and Hall of Fame. The museum was conceptualised to promote the history, culture, heritage and ingenuity of the Yoruba people.

The apartment housing the museum is divided into two, giving visitors the option of choosing the museum or the hall of fame from the main entrance.

Tastefully decorated and equipped with a blend of contemporary collections, the museum and hall of fame were conceived to preserve and promote the heritage of the Yoruba and by extension educate and entertain tourists about the Yoruba people and culture. The design aims to replicate the traditional Yoruba village setting and thus evoke a sense of nostalgia in those familiar with such.

Allergy-friendly cookbook for kids from Washington chocolate makers

To be a “kid in a candy store” epitomizes the ultimate dream come true, one that only gets better when the shop is owned by your mom and aunt.

But for Justin Young, whose family owns Washington’s Chocolate Chocolate , the reality was a nightmare. Because he was born with severe food allergies, nearly everything in the store — the rich truffles, the dark-chocolate-dipped caramels, the milk hazelnut pralines — was off-limits.

“One second of abandon could cost him his life,” Chocolate Chocolate co-owners Ginger and Frances Park, Young’s mom and aunt, write in their new book.

“Allergies, Away!” is a cookbook and memoir, chronicling the past decade of the Parks’ efforts to keep Young’s hives at bay without depriving him of treats.
Recipes in the book are free of nuts, dairy and eggs, per Young’s dietary restrictions. (It’s important to note that recipes do contain other allergenic ingredients such as soy and gluten.) Comfort foods such as lasagna are made with vegan cheese and tofu, and the chocolate truffles utilize soy creamer and soy butter — alternatives that the writers claim taste as good as if not better than the “real thing.”

Katzie Guy-Hamilton has joined Max Brenner International

Max Brenner International, the worldwide Chocolate Bar chain based in New York City, today announced that Katzie Guy-Hamilton has joined the company as Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage. Guy-Hamilton will oversee menu development for all Max Brenner locations as well as the ideation and rollout of sweets, pastries, desserts and beverages for new and existing Chocolate Bars.

"Katzie's innovative approach to pastry and her spirited personality fit perfectly with Max Brenner's tradition of creating a uniquely adventurous chocolate experience," said Sam Borgese, CEO, Max Brenner International. "Katzie is already hard at work enhancing the Max Brenner menu and developing new creations for chocolate lovers around the globe."

Cocobod data: Ghana cocoa purchases hit 679,088 T

Dried cocoa beans are packed in hessian sacks on a cocoa farm near Amankwakram in Western Ghana on the border with Ivory coast.

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's cocoa purchases reached 679,088 tonnes by May 9 since the season started on October 12, down 10.1 percent from the same period last year, data from industry regulator Cocobod showed on Monday.

Total purchases for the week ending May 9, the 30th of the 33-week main crop, rose marginally to 20,425 tonnes from 20,375 tonnes in the week before, according to the data. Ghana, the world's second-largest cocoa grower after Ivory Coast, has forecast about 800,000 tonnes of cocoa purchases this season.

Downtown Cocoa Beach - Super Boat Grand Prix

Thunder on Cocoa Beach - The Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix is here! Get ready for more off-shore power boat race action than you can handle on Cocoa Beach from May 15th - May 19th, 2013. Race weekend kicks off with an early VIP Sponsor Party on Wednesday, May 15th at Juice N' Java Cafe in Downtown Cocoa Beach from 6pm - 11pm. Party-goers can enjoy live musicplus complimentary food, beer, wine and soft drinks.

Race Director Kerry Bartlett told us, "This is our 4th annual race and we're expecting this year's Thunder on Cocoa Beach to be bigger and better than ever. We've got more boats lined up than last year and have added some awesome newperks for our VIP Pass holders."

Cocoa-Butter: buyers scarce

High cocoa butter ratios in Asia deterred chocolate makers this week, but grinders saw inquiries for powder from the Middle East ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, dealers said on Friday.

The ratios were unchanged at a four-year high at 2.0 times London futures and traded at that level this month, but grinders may have to cut prices to attract buyers. Butter gives chocolate its melt-in-the-mouth texture.

"To be realistic, I think you need to go a little bit lower to below 2.0. Maybe at between 1.96 to 1.98 times. Most people are probably well covered. Ratios have to soften a bit so that we can move the butter," said a dealer in Singapore.

"I don't see powder prices moving down. At this moment people are probably holding back powder until they can sell butter. Most people are reluctant to sell powder at below $2,000 because of the losses they have suffered."

Euromar Commodities GmbH Delivers Cocoa

Euromar Commodities GmbH, the European unit of cocoa processor Transmar Group, delivered some cocoa into the expired May futures contract on NYSE Liffe in London after slowing its factory in Fehrbellin, Germany.

Euromar slowed processing capacity “significantly,” resulting in excess cocoa beans, Peter G. Johnson, president of parent company Transmar in Morristown, New Jersey, said in an e-mail in response to Bloomberg questions. The slowdown was due to a drop in the so-called combined ratio, an indication of a grinder’s profitability, he said. The German factory has capacity to process 100,000 metric tons of cocoa a year.

“Transmar/Euromar delivered cocoa to the terminal market to manage inventory levels,” Johnson said. “With the combo ratio in negative territory, Euromar has slowed significantly its processing capacity, creating excess raw material supply.”

Strawberry-Yogurt and Chocolate Chip Popsicles

When the dog days of summer hit, there's nothing more refreshing than a popsicle. Made with Greek yogurt and fresh strawberries, these strawberry yogurt and chocolate chip popsicles will not only cool you down, but they are a healthy alternative to ice cream.

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Helpful Tip:
Special items needed: 10 count popsicle mold and 10 popsicle sticks

The Chocolate & Confectionery Production industry

The Chocolate & Confectionery Production industry has found itself in a sticky situation during the past five years. The onset of the financial crisis and the United Kingdom's descent into recession have gradually eroded consumer confidence, sharply constraining spending on chocolate and confectionery products. At the same time, rising cocoa, sugar and milk prices have increased production costs, but weak demand has limited producers' ability to pass these costs on to consumers, resulting in falling profitability. According to IBISWorld industry analyst Patrick Ross, “the organic and fair trade movements have gathered momentum over the past decade and created niche segments across the food and beverage sector”. Rising health consciousness has drained demand away from industry products in general, but also created opportunities for producers to develop low-sugar products. Imports have been capturing an ever greater share of domestic demand and become a threat to UK operators. In the five years through 2013-14, industry revenue is expected to decline at a compound annual rate of 2.8%. In 2013-14, industry revenue is forecast to decrease by 2.1% to £4.8 billion, its lowest value in over a decade.

Cocoa High football to play in DC

Cocoa High football to play in DC

The Cocoa High Tigers are going to Washington. For the fourth consecutive season, the Cocoa football team will travel beyond the state lines of Florida for a game while getting what head coach and athletic director Joh...

Sugar Falls to 2010-Low on Brazil, Thailand Output; Cocoa Drops

Sugar cane processing in Thailand was just above 100 million metric ... “This comes despite the price signal which should have encouraged a shift to ethanol.” The price of hydrous ethanol, the pure biofuel used in flex-fuel cars in Brazil

Cocoa Beach city commission cracking down on illegal parking lots

You could be seeing some big changes when it comes to parking in Cocoa Beach. City commissioners say the sandy and grassy parking lots in the area are illegal and the city is part of the problem. A city owned lot at 1st Street South in...

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day: 6 Recipes to Celebrate

It's National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Half of all cookies sold today in the U.S. are chocolate chip, but the popular cookies were actually invented by accident. The story goes that in 1930, Ruth Graves Wakefield mix

Recipe: Mom's chocolate chip cookies

Note: This recipe comes from my mother, who was a home ec teacher. It's the one she taught me and my sister, and our friends from high school -- all of whom would gather in our kitchen after school. She added the oatmeal because it was a Quaker

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies with Hazelnuts

There are only a few times I miss gluten at all anymore. Mostly I eat better than I ever did before I had to cut gluten out of my life. However, when friends of mine started raving about Kim Boyce's whole wheat chocolate chip cookies

'Sexual Chocolate' Wine Ads Feature S & M Scene, Man In Banana Hammock And More (NSFW VIDEO)

But forget most of the wine world cliches - there are no beautiful images of grapes ... getting high and a S & M sex scene. WATCH (this may be NSFW for some): Sexualized wine not your thing? There's Sexual Chocolate beer as well

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies with Hazelnuts

Shine's going gluten-free this week for National Celiac Awareness month. We'll be serving up smart ideas, solutions, stories, and of course, super-delicious recipes to help you eat sans gluten––without feeling like you're missing a thing.

There are only a few times I miss gluten at all anymore. Mostly I eat better than I ever did before I had to cut gluten out of my life. However, when friends of mine started raving about Kim Boyce's whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, I started to feel a little mopey. And then I did what I always do--converted them into something delicious that I can eat.

Kim Boyce's book, Good to the Grain, is one of my favorite baking books of all time. After leaving her pastry chef job at Spago, Kim set out to bake for her family. Realizing she didn't want to give them white flour and sugar all the time, she began working with whole-grain flours. Many of the flours she discovered are gluten-free. Everything I have made my own out of this book has been tremendous. But these are my favorite.

Why handling chocolate requires a chemist's touch

Chocolate is the intersection of food and science. When you understand that it needs more of a chemist’s touch than that of an artist, chocolate can be a chameleon of taste and structure. To learn the tricks of handling this malleable, yet delicious dessert staple, Globe Life turned to Canadian chocolate master, Chris Kwok, who finished second overall in the Canadian Selection Competition for World Chocolate Masters this winter.

Get a thermometer

For anyone who has attempted to temper chocolate, this advice comes as no surprise. Kwok is very precise in listing off temperatures for tempering: melt at 40 C for white and milk chocolates, 45 C for dark; cool a portion of the melted chocolate down to 28 C with a marble board, working the liquid to the point of soft peaks as you spread it with your spatula, before adding it back to the rest of the pot and getting the temperature back up to 31 C.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Aubrey Woods dead at 85: British actor was best-known for his role in ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’
The theater veteran landed his signature role in 'Willy Wonka' and was asked to reprise his sweetshop owner’s song, 'The Candyman,' by fans through his final days.

Woods delivers his big musical number in 1971’s “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.” Adoring fans requested that he sing “The Candyman” through his final days.

Aubrey Woods, the British actor who made the sun shine for generations of fans of the film, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” died last week at the age of 85.

The classically trained theater veteran died in a Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, hospital of an undisclosed illness, his wife, Gaynor, told the BBC.

Chocolate and Vanilla Dream

Chocolate and vanilla is a terrific combination, and cooks use it whenever they can. Black and white cookies, also called halfmoons, are big cakey discs covered with chocolate and vanilla icing sold at Dean and Deluca in New York City. A black cow is a chocolate soda with a vanilla ice cream float, and a hot fudge sundae is a scoop of vanilla ice cream with thick chocolate sauce running down the sides.

Black Bottom Pie is another twist on the chocolate and vanilla theme that’s hard to resist. Technically it’s a layer of chocolate covered with rum-flavored vanilla Bavarian cream and decorated with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. According to the late culinary guru, James Beard, recipes for Black Bottom Pie began showing up in cookbooks about 100 years ago.

Grandma Carr's Chocolate Chip Cookies

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

Chips ahoy! May 15 is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.

These tiny teardrop-shaped morsels will melt away your Wednesday woes.

Celebrate today's holiday with this scrumptious recipe from iReporter Cynthia Falardeau's grandmother.

"[My grandma] taught me that any adversity could be overcome by the simple gift of a cookie," Falardeau said.

Handmade truffles and bonbons

Bernachon

Thanks to a strong culinary tradition and top chefs like Paul Bocuse, Lyon is often referred to as France's gastronomic capital. Strengthening that moniker is the city's own Bernachon, one of the most famous chocolate makers in all of France—and the world. Started in 1953 by Maurice Bernachon, the shop is classically French in style but has a bean-to-bar approach that began well before its time.

Will travel for chocolate

Taza Chocolate

In my hometown of Somerville, Mass. (three miles from downtown Boston), Taza Chocolate brings cocoa beans to Beantown and transforms them, Mexican-style. Cofounders Alex Whitmore and Larry Slotnick keep things authentic by opting to produce chocolate using hand-chiseled Oaxacan molinos (stone mills). Unlike ultra-smooth European-style chocolate, the resulting texture is decidedly gritty, with remaining bits of cacao and raw sugar crystals (plus any flavorings). With few ingredients and minimal processing, the "chocolateness" of the bars is heightened. The bars are 100% organic, and just about anyone can enjoy them since they are vegan, kosher, and free of dairy, gluten, and soy.

White House - Chocolate bullets

"If we have chocolate bullets nobody would be hurt": Seven-year-old boy writes adorable letter to White House with a sweet solution on gun control and gets a handwritten reply from Joe Biden

A schoolboy's heartwarming solution to the gun control debate dividing America has captured the attention of the White House. Myles Nelson, seven, wrote to Joe Biden to suggest that guns should only fire bullets made out of chocolate. The Vice President penned a hand-written response to the little boy praising his idea, which he said would make the country happier as well as safer - because "people love chocolate".
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Wis. boy tells Biden nation would be safer with chocolate bullets, gets handwritten response

Mini Bars - Dark Chocolate

LiveSmart 360 Launches Revolutionary Exotic Camu Healthy Dark Chocolate Mini Bars

The new healthy, immune boosting product gives chocolate a whole new meaning. Blended with super fruit berries and ZorbMax technology known to enhance natural nutrient absorption, the Exotic Camu Mini Bars make chocolate a stress-relieving and guilt-free treat.

Innovative nutritional company, LiveSmart 360, has unveiled their newest addition to their unparalleled line of 360 Chocolates, the Exotic Camu Mini Bar.

This revolutionary healthy chocolate is sugar-free and made with organic dark chocolate blended with whole Camu Camu super fruit berries and incorporates LiveSmart 360’s patent-pending ZorbMax® technology.

Duck fat, lamb sausage, bittersweet chocolate at a North Hollywood warehouse sale

The anticipation outside Epicure Imports on Saturday morning was as thick as the French accents inside. Customers of the gourmet warehouse sale, which happens seven times a year, lined up in this industrial part of North Hollywood well before they would be let in, like teens at a rave -- except here, instead of a DJ, it was the late-arriving truffle-butter vendor who cut through the fawning crowd.

A manager came out to apologize for the delay -- it was already 9:35 a.m. -- and invited the crowd inside. Someone at the front shouted “Charge!” and others scrambled for one of the many mismatched carts (Ralphs, Target, 99 Cents Only Store).

Paradise Chocolate Festival gets its 2013 queen

With a great big smile, Margaret Kelly accepted the Chocolate Queen title Saturday afternoon. Held at the Terry Ashe Recreation Center, the 2013 Paradise Chocolate Festival was a warm, but sweet one.

Kelly, sponsored by Access Real Estate Lending, held several fundraisers and events to secure her title as queen.

She also wrote a song for the Chocolate Festival and posted it on YouTube, which helped bring in donations.

"(The Queen title) means a lot because I know what it's going to do for the children in our community," she said.

The Chocolate Ladies share the sweet life

Satisfy your sweet tooth with homemade chocolates and candies from The Chocolate Ladies.

How did your company get started? I always enjoyed making candy and working with chocolate. Then, I started teaching chocolate-making classes. As (my daughter and partner) Susan got older, she would want to give gifts to her friends for Christmas and Valentine’s, so we started doing chocolate. People started to ask, “Can we purchase your products?”

Why chocolate? I was a member of home demonstration clubs. The home demonstration agent who worked for the Ag extension did a demonstration on homemade candies. I was hooked from then on.

Mothering With Chocolate

In 2012 consumers in the United States spent an average of $152 dollars for Mother's Day gifts. A good portion of that was spent on slathering our mammas with chocolate treats. Earlier generations of women, some of the them childless due to their religious callings, have concocted and savored chocolate; they have contributed to the bountiful chocolate appetite evident in the current celebrations of our moms.

Aztec women received godly instructions to produce the first chocolate by beating cocoa bean paste with water in gourds. According to those earliest of chocolate sources in Aztec traditions, the beloved god, Quetzalcoatl, was said to have planted a cacao tree, collected its pods, roasted the cocoa beans, and then showed only the women how to process the beans into a spicy chocolate drink. Women guarded and transmitted those techniques.