Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Tree Talk: Tree sweets

If you ask nearly any kid, the best part of October might be the way the month ends: Halloween. The challenge is perfecting the most creative or spookiest costume. The reward is loads of candy!

The most popular candy in the U.S. varies from year to year, but Reese's Pieces, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and M&Ms are among the top choices. In Canada, it's Kit Kat. Chocolate dominates as the favored choice in many countries, and we have the Cacao ("kuh-KOW") tree to thank!

Chocolate comes from beans of the cacao plant/tree and has been consumed for nearly 4,000 years – but in a much different form than we consume chocolate today. The delicacy is made from the fruit of cacao trees, which are native to Central and South America. The fruits are pods, each of which contain about 40 cacao beans.

Ancient civilizations drank a bitter chocolate drink and used it as medicine. Dark chocolate contains high levels of antioxidants and some modern studies have suggested chocolate could lower cholesterol levels and prevent memory decline (consumed in moderation, of course).

In the 15th century, the Aztecs used the beans as currency, believing that chocolate was a gift from the gods. They drank it as a beverage, as an aphrodisiac, and as part of a ritual to prepare for war. After the European discovery of the Americas, chocolate became popular throughout the world.

The Spanish were the first to mix the bitter delicacy with sugar and honey to make it a more palatable drink. With the invention of the chocolate press in 1828 (thank you, Industrial Revolution), a process was perfected to squeeze cocoa butter from roasted cacao beans, leaving a fine cocoa powder behind. The powder was mixed with liquids and poured into molds, solidifying into edible bars of chocolate, and the modern era of chocolate was born.

Chewing gum is the favored sweet treat in Mexico and in Egypt. Gum got its start from the chicle sap found in sapodilla trees (hence, "Chiclets"). Some "old-fashioned" candies-with-a-tree-connection include candied citrus peels and sugar-coated rose petals, used in the 17th and 18th centuries as a sweet confection and topping on cakes. Maple drops are hard candies sweetened with maple syrup. Marzipan is made primarily from almonds, made into a paste to form small confections or used as cake icing.

Other tree nuts commonly found in candies include pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts. While we cannot grow cacao trees here, native N.D. hazelnut shrub species are found in the Turtle Mountains, the Pembina Hills and in the Sheyenne River Valley.

Trick or treat!