Cocoa Story
Before becoming the popular aromatic drink and creamy confectionery we know today, chocolate has undergone many changes with a history as rich and exciting as chocolate itself.
And Columbus discovered… chocolate !
The story of chocolate began in the tropical green valley of Ulúa in Honduras more than 2,000 years ago when the ancient civilisations of central and South America enjoyed what they called ‘xocolatl’ - literally bitter water.
Cultivated by the Mayas and the Aztecs, cocoa beans were used as currency and also for ‘the drink of the gods.’ This sacred beverage was made by drying and grinding the beans into a powder which was mixed with hot water and chilli.
In the early 16th century Spanish explorers arriving in the New World encountered the cocoa bean but Christopher Columbus in 1502 was not impressed by these foreign nuts which he viewed as just a local botanical curiosity. Hernan Cortes in 1519 showed more initiative. Aware that the Aztecs valued them almost as much as gold, he brought shiploads of cocoa beans back to the Spanish court.
Chocolate : favourite drink of the European royal courts.
At first enjoyed for its medicinal and therapeutic virtues, cocoa powder was prescribed as a stimulant, digestive tonic…. and aphrodisiac! In his ‘Traité des Aliments’ published in 1702 Louis Lémery claimed chocolate had the properties “to excite the ardour of Venus.” Was that why it became the favourite drink of fine Spanish ladies? The French would find out when in 1615 Louis XIII married the Spanish Anne of Austria who brought the aromatic chocolate drink with her. Flavoured with amber, musk, cinnamon, vanilla and honey, this noble nectar caught on quickly in all the royal courts of Europe during the 17th century.
The chocolate drink gradually became widespread in the 18th and 19th centuries.
From liquid to solid
In 1828 Dutchman Coenraad van Houten found a way of extracting the fat from cocoa to produce a powder which dissolved more easily in water and other liquids but the big breakthrough came in 1846 when Englishman Joseph Fry invented the chocolate bar. Now chocolate was not only imbibed, it was eaten too!
Aztecs
According to ancient Toltec legend Quetzalcoatl was a god of feathered-serpent appearance who gave the cocoa tree to his people in return for the sacrifice of a princess. From the blood of this martyred princess sprang the tree whose fruits concealed a treasure of seeds as bitter as her suffering, as strong as her virtue and as red as her blood.
On April 21 1519, the same day that Aztec prophets expected Quetzalcoatl to return to earth, the conquistador Hernan Cortes landed on the coast of Mexico. Just as the serpent god had feathers, so Cortes was dressed in gold braid and coloured plumes. The Aztecs had no doubts, here was Quetzalcoatl returned in fulfilment of the prophecy. Cortes was welcomed like a god and as a gesture of welcome and submission the Aztec emperor Montezuma proffered the divine drink - cacao.
Cortes liked this dark brew and noted in his journals: “after drinking this you may travel all day without fatigue or need of sustenance.” He had thought to find gold, but discovered first this strange fruit, so precious to the Aztecs that they used it as currency.
It was a bitter-sweet irony for the proud Aztec people-quickly enslaved by their Spanish conquerors, their symbolic beverage would survive them and become the favourite drink of Spain and the whole of Europe.
Flux RSS
