History of Chocolate

The cacao tree produces a bean that is used to make chocolate which has been used as a drink for as long as is known. In November of 2007, archeologists discovered the oldest use of cacao in a place in Puerto Escondido, Honduras which dated back to 1100 to 1400 BC. There was a white pulp in the vessel that showed that cacao was not just used as a beverage but it was used in the preparation of food as well. The Mayans had cacao trees in their back yards. The used the beans to make a frothy drink and the white pulp was used to ferment sugars to make an alcoholic drink. The Mayans also used chocolate for ceremonial purposes. As a drink it was usually flavored with vanilla, chili pepper and achiote and it made a bitter spicy drink. Chocolate has always been known to have a calming affect on the person that consumed it, and it was also used to fight fatigue. In our modern today people still use chocolate to relax as in: a hot chocolate drink, a piece of chocolate candy before bedtime, or a glass of cold chocolate mild on a hot day.

Chocolate has always been something of a luxury and continues to be something of a luxury today. However, in pre Columbian days the cacao beans were used as money, i.e. if you wanted to buy a turkey it would cost you one hundred cacao beans and an avocado would cost you three cacao beans. Areas that were conquered by the Aztecs grew cacao trees for the beans which they used to pay their taxes although; the Aztecs called it a tribute not a tax. Both the European and South American cultures have hundreds of years used cacao to treat diarrhea.

In the sixteenth century no one in Europe heard of this popular Central and South American drink until the Spanish conquered the Aztecs and chocolate could be imported. It was an expensive import and only royalty and anyone that had money was able to buy it. In 1689, a physician by the name of Hans Sloane made the firs milk chocolate drink in Jamaica which was used in apothecaries (prescription stores) and was later sold to the Cadbury brothers in 1897.

Some two-thirds of the world’s cacao is produced in Western Africa with about forty three percent from the Ivory Coast. There are two main jobs linked to the creation of chocolate candy; the candy makers and the chocolatiers. The makers use the beans together with other ingredients to make “couverture” chocolate. The chocolatiers takes the couverture and makes chocolate candy such as bars, truffles, etc.

White chocolate is generally eaten for pleasure while there are some health benefits associated with dark chocolate, i.e. good for the circulatory system, anticancer, as a brain stimulator, cough preventor and an anitdiarrheal. It is said that chocolate is also an aphrodisiac but has yet to be proven. Whatever the reason for eating or drinking chocolate it is enjoyable.