Chocolate (pronounced /tklt, -lt/ (help�info); see below for etymology) comprises a number of raw and processed foods that originate from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. It is a common ingredient in many kinds of confections such as chocolate bars, candy, ice cream, cookies, cakes, pies, chocolate mousse, and other desserts. It is one of the most popular (or at least recognizable) flavours in the world. Chocolate was created by the Mesoamerican civilization, from cacao beans, and cultivated by pre-Columbian civilizations such as the Maya and Aztec, who used it as a basic component in a variety of sauces and beverages. The cocoa beans were ground and mixed with water to produce a variety of beverages, both sweet and bitter, which were reserved for only the highest noblemen and clerics of the Mesoamerican world. Chocolate is made from the fermented, roasted, and ground beans taken from the pod of the tropical cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, which was native to Central America and Mexico, but is now cultivated throughout the tropics. The beans have an intensely flavoured bitter taste. The resulting products are known as 'chocolate' or, in some parts of the world, cocoa. Today, chocolate commonly refers to bars made from the combination of cocoa solids, fat, sugar and other ingredients. Chocolate is often produced as small molded forms in the shape of squares, animals, people, or inanimate objects to celebrate festivals worldwide. For example, there are moulds of rabbits or eggs for Easter, coins for Hanukkah, Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) for Christmas, and hearts for Valen
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Mentha (mint) is a genus of about 25-30 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, with a subcosmopolitan distribution, seven from Australia, one in North America, and the others from Europe and Asia; several hybrids also occur. They are aromatic perennial herbs, growing to 10-120 cm tall, with wide-spreading underground rhizomes and erect, branched stems. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, simple oblong to lanceolate, often downy, and with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced in clusters ('verticils') on an erect spike, white to purple, the corolla two-lipped with four subequal lobes, the upper lobe usually the largest. The fruit is a small dry capsule containing 1-4 seeds. Species Mentha aquatica � Water mint, or Marsh mint Mentha arvensis � Corn Mint, Wild Mint and Japanese Peppermint Mentha arvensis var. sachalinensis' - Sachalin Mint Mentha asiatica Mentha australis Mentha canadensis (syn. M. arvensis var. canadensis) Mentha cervina Mentha citrata (syn. M. odorata) � Bergamot mint (smells like Bergamot) Mentha crispata Mentha cunninghamii Mentha dahurica Mentha diemenica Mentha gattefossei Mentha grandiflora Mentha haplocalyx Mentha japonica Mentha kopetdaghensis Mentha laxiflora Mentha longifolia - Horse Mint Mentha pulegium � Pennyroyal Mentha requienii � Corsican mint Mentha sachalinensis Mentha satureioides Mentha spicata (syn. M. viridis) � Spearmint, Curly mint Mentha suaveolens (syn. M. rotundifolia) � Apple mint (smells like apples) and Pineapple mint (a variegated cultivar of Apple mint) Mentha vagans
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