Read The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets Online
Authors: Roald Dahl
The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets (4 page)
There was a
royal chocolate maker
at the court of Louis XIV.
At first, chocolate was only for the rich. They drank it in “chocolate houses,” which were like cafes.
The first chocolate factory in America was set up in 1765.
Cocoa powder is made from dried beans that are roasted and ground.
It takes a year’s crop of cocoa beans from one tree to make just one tin of cocoa
Cocoa pods are as big as rugby balls. They contain about thirty beans.
Factories can produce over
five million bars
of chocolate a day.
“Only once have I discovered a new molehill in our orchard in the month of February. I love seeing molehills because they tell me that only a few inches below the surface some charming and harmless little fellow is living his own private busy life scurrying up and down his tunnels hunting for food. . .
“Do you know anything about moles? They are remarkable animals. They are shy and gentle and their fur coats are softer than
velvet. They are so shy that you will seldom see one on the surface. . . The molehills that you see are not of course their houses.
They are simply piles of loose soil that a mole has pushed up out of the way because, after all, if you are digging an underground tunnel you have to put the excavated soil somewhere.
“His food consists of worms, leather-jackets, centipedes and beetle grubs, and the fantastic thing is that he actually has to eat one
half of his own body weight
of these tiny delicacies every single day in order to stay alive! No wonder he’s a busy fellow. Just imagine how much food
you
would have to eat to consume half your own body weight! Fifty hamburgers, one hundred loaves of bread and a bucketful of Mars Bars
and
the rest of it each and every day. It makes one quite ill to think about it!”
Have a look at an early version of the Whipple-Scrumpets’ song about greedy Augustus Gloop, and compare it to the one that actually appears in
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
, sung by the Oompa-Loompas. Can you spot the differences?
The Whipple-Scrumpets. . . began dancing about and clapping their hands and singing:
“Augustus Gloop! Augustus Gloop! The great big greedy nincompoop!
How long could we allow this beast
To gorge and guzzle, feed and feast
On everything he wanted to?
Great Scott! It simply wouldn’t do!
And so, you see, the time was ripe
To send him shooting up the pipe;
He had to go. It had to be.
And very soon he’s going to see
Inside the room to which he’s gone
Some funny things are going on
.
But don’t, dear children, be alarmed.
Augustus Gloop will not be harmed,
Although, of course, we must admit
He will be altered quite a bit.
For instance, all those lumps of fat
Will disappear just like that!
He’ll shrink and shrink and shrink and shrink,
His skin will be no longer pink,
He’ll be so smooth and square and small
He will not know himself at all.
Farewell, Augustus Gloop, farewell!
For soon you’ll be a caramel!”
“They’re teasing,” Mr. Wonka said, shaking a finger at the singing Whipple-Scrumpets. “You mustn’t believe a word they say.”
Strawberry-flavored
Chocolate-coated Fudge
You will need:
9 × 9 in. shallow baking pan
Waxed paper
Large saucepan
Sugar thermometer
Cookie cutters
1 lb. sugar
1
⁄
2
cup unsalted butter
3
⁄
4
cup evaporated milk
A few generous drops of pink food coloring