You crave it. It melts
in your mouth. It comes in different forms, cocoa powder, milk
chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and white chocolate . . . But
do you know how remarkable it is? Its history is long. The process
of harvesting and production is almost as long. The information
below will tell you about its illustrious history and the process
that takes it from the tree to your mouth, and will give you a
few tips and recipes. So the next time you sip your cocoa or pop
a piece in your mouth you will love it even more.
The History:
The Mayans started drinking cocoa around 1000 B.C.E. Cocoa grew
in the rain forests surrounding their territory. They loved it
so much that they began growing it in their own backyards. The
Mayans gathered the cocoa pods then let them ferment and dry.
At that point the seeds could be ground into a paste and roasted
over the fire in a clay griddle. The cocoa would be mixed with
water, cornmeal and chili peppers and then it would be poured
back and forth from cup to pot until a foam was formed on top.
By the 1400's B.C.E,
the Aztecs gained supremacy over the Mayans as well as other territories.
The Aztecs were not able to grow cocoa trees in the dry highlands
of central Mexico so they demanded that the Mayans harvest and
deliver cocoa to them as a tribute to their new rule. The Aztec
merchants most likely traded for cocoa already fermented and dried
to make it lighter for transport. Because cocoa was not as readily
available to the Aztecs, it became a drink reserved solely for
the wealthy and their priests. The Aztecs believed that seeds
were brought from Paradise by the god Quetzalcoatl and that drinking
a brew of them would help them gain power and wisdom. They often
dyed the cocoa blood red with achiote, the seed of the
annatto tree, for religious ceremonies. The Aztecs also used the
cocoa seeds as money; they were easy to carry and precious.
In 1502, during his
fourth trip to the New World, Christopher Columbus landed in what
is now Nicaragua. There he was introduced to the cocoa bean, which
was still being used as currency but paid little attention to
it since he was still looking for the sea route to India. It is
Hernando Cortez, a Spanish explorer, who was the European father
of chocolate. In 1519, on his travels to the New World, he watched
Montezuma and the Aztec Indians drinking cocolati, a drink
made of crushed cocoa beans and cold water; sometimes chili powder
or honey was added to decrease the bitter taste.
Because it is so bitter
and cocoa was still being used as currency, Cortez was more interested
in cultivating the beans for their monetary value, so he started
a plantation in the name of Spain to "grow money." Cortez, nonetheless,
did bring some beans back to Spain where they were mixed as a
drink with nuts or cinnamon to mask the bitterness. The Spanish
used a wood stirring stick to make the drink frothy instead of
pouring it back and forth like the Mayans and the Aztecs did.
It was served warm with breakfast since it was recognized as a
stimulant.
For the rest of the
century the Spanish did not export the beans throughout Europe
but kept the precious product for themselves. Next were the Italians
who traveled to the West Indies in 1600 and brought cocoa back
across the Atlantic In 1615, Anna of Austria, a Spanish princess,
married Louis XIII and introduced chocolate to the French court.
In 1655, England began
exporting cocoa directly from Jamaica, which they had recently
taken from Spain. Soon after that, chocolate shops were opening
across Europe. Cocoa had become so popular that The Church of
Rome declared that it did not break the fast and they recognized
cocoa as a stimulant, keeping the congregation awake through the
long services.
By the end of the 16th
century, cocoa was mixed with milk and sugar, similar to how we
drink it today but it was still fairly bitter and oily. In 1674,
a British coffee house began putting cocoa powder into breads
and cakes, which was the first time it was eaten and not drunk.
Until the mid 1700's, the cocoa was made as it had been during
Mayan times, except that the beans were now ground in mills powered
by horses, wind or steam. This mechanization allowed the cost
of cocoa to drop in price now making cocoa affordable for almost
everyone, not just the wealthy. America began manufacturing chocolate
in 1765. Due to the high demand of cocoa, new plantations had
been built in South America, the Philippines and on the continent
of Africa.
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