Today I learned...
Oct. 18th, 2025 12:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI'm watching a youtube on Belgians in the Congo. This is not the song-time Belgians in the Congo, it's the later 1800's Belgians in the Congo, but whatever. (The song is this one and of course that's gonna be Billy Joel instead of some modern band because I have the olds). Belgians were in the Congo for a long damn time, none of it good. I'm watching it because this morning I was just kind of... Why is Belgian chocolate?
Belgium is somewhere in Europe, kind of near France and the Netherlands. The Germans in WWII went through Belgium to get to France instead of attacking the Maginot line or whatever, so it's next to France. (I watch a lot of WWII on youtube because it's nonfiction that's typically well narrated by people who care a lot about it.)
Belgium is also a "low country" which means it's near The Netherlands, also a low country. (I have now looked at a map. Belgium is between France and the Netherlands and also next to Germany. Go me! All those WWII videos were not wasted time.) ANYWAY, chocolate does not grow in Belgium, this I know. So, again, why is Belgian chocolate?
Chocolate is FROM the Americas. It's a New World food. It's also a tropical food, like, restricted to the tropics for sure. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure they grow a lot of chocolate in West Africa. (Wikipedia agrees with me, about 81% of the modern chocolate crop is produced in West Africa.) Hunh.
The Congo River (and the drainage of the Congo river, a region known as "The Congo") is also located in Africa. The Congo river drains a big hunk of the middle of the continent and hits the Atlantic Ocean under the big sticky-outy lump on the western side of Africa, a thing I know because I read Heart of Darkness and know about Stanley and Livingston and also know How Come The Congo River Sucks For Trade Purposes (short answer: tons of rapids and big waterfalls near the coast make it non-navigable to the ocean for shipping purposes).
Y'know, I bet chocolate grows in the fucking Congo and I double bet that Belgians in the Congo is why Belgian Chocolate is a thing.
Colonialism. It's always colonialism. *sigh*
Belgium is somewhere in Europe, kind of near France and the Netherlands. The Germans in WWII went through Belgium to get to France instead of attacking the Maginot line or whatever, so it's next to France. (I watch a lot of WWII on youtube because it's nonfiction that's typically well narrated by people who care a lot about it.)
Belgium is also a "low country" which means it's near The Netherlands, also a low country. (I have now looked at a map. Belgium is between France and the Netherlands and also next to Germany. Go me! All those WWII videos were not wasted time.) ANYWAY, chocolate does not grow in Belgium, this I know. So, again, why is Belgian chocolate?
Chocolate is FROM the Americas. It's a New World food. It's also a tropical food, like, restricted to the tropics for sure. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure they grow a lot of chocolate in West Africa. (Wikipedia agrees with me, about 81% of the modern chocolate crop is produced in West Africa.) Hunh.
The Congo River (and the drainage of the Congo river, a region known as "The Congo") is also located in Africa. The Congo river drains a big hunk of the middle of the continent and hits the Atlantic Ocean under the big sticky-outy lump on the western side of Africa, a thing I know because I read Heart of Darkness and know about Stanley and Livingston and also know How Come The Congo River Sucks For Trade Purposes (short answer: tons of rapids and big waterfalls near the coast make it non-navigable to the ocean for shipping purposes).
Y'know, I bet chocolate grows in the fucking Congo and I double bet that Belgians in the Congo is why Belgian Chocolate is a thing.
Colonialism. It's always colonialism. *sigh*
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Date: 2025-10-19 02:45 am (UTC)