A little funny where most chocolate is produced

At the words "fine chocolate" and "chocolatiers", me and many other people think of European countries like Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany.

However, the actual cocoa beans are grown very far away in tropical areas, so it makes me wonder why Europeans and North Americans seem to have taken to cooking with cocoa more heavily than the people who always had it as a native plant.

Guess I'd have to read up on the history to see why, which I probably won't end up doing for a while.

There are probably some other foods for which this is the case, but I can't think of them.