History of Chocolate

Chocolate is popular among all cultures. Everybody seems to love chocolate. Below is the true history of chocolate, not a specific history of a particular type of chocolate such as Hershey chocolate history, history of chocolate chip cookies, history of French of chocolate or the history of chocolate milk. We are going to tell you the history of chocolate and how it began.

The true history of chocolate The Mayans and possibly other ancient civilizations before them who used to live in today's Central America were the first known people to crush open cacao tree and make drinks out of them.

Cacao and Chocolate history

Cacao is the origin of chocolate. Cacao beans grow from cacao trees. The cacao drink tastes bitter which the ancients probably drank it cold and without any additions of sugar and milk like chocolates are nowadays. We know that the Mayan drank cacao beverage because of the ancient Mayan writings that refer to cacao drink as the "food of the gods". Images of cacao pods were also carved into the walls of the Mayan stone temples.

How did the history of chocolate begin in Europe?

Christopher Columbus brought a handful of chocolate or cocoa beans to Spain from his last voyage to the Caribbean islands in 1502. He presented these cocoa beans to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. But, the King and Queen dismissed the cocoa beans.

Two decades later, the Spanish explorer Cortes was greeted by the Aztecs with cups of a dark drink called chocolatl. The Spanish conquered the Aztecs but they saw the true value of cocoa and they began new plantations in the region. For a century, chocolate was the Spanish 's best kept secret.

History of French Chocolate

The history of the French chocolate began when monks in charge of processing cocoa told their French counterparts about the cocoa drink. From then on, the French modified the chocolate drink by adding more taste and spice the drink up. Chocolate drinks soon spread to England and the rest of Europe.