History of Chocolate
The history of the cacao bean is as vast as its variety. Cacao is now being cultivated around the world, but its origins guide us back to the Middle Americas where cacao is still being produced today. Here in the East Mexican Lowlands the first known crop of domesticated cacao beans were cultivated by the Olmec Indians from about 1500BC - 400BC.
Around 250BC the Mayan civilization began using cacao. Mayans believed cacao pods or beans were an offering from the gods to man. The ancient Olmec and Mayan people were the first to cultivate and create a bitter, cold drink from the cacao pod, which was considered a luxury only enjoyed by kings, noblemen, and used in sacred rituals. Each stage of cacao cultivation was accompanied by religious rituals, which involved the consumption of chocolate. The act of eating chocolate was thought to enrich the blood.
Much like the Mayans, the Aztecs restricted cacao use to the upper elite classes. They also made an unsweetened drink from ground cacao beans, calling this concoction 'tchocolatl.' The twelfth century Aztecs believed chocolate to be a source of spiritual wisdom and energy. Aztec warriors were given small bags of unsweetened chocolate tablets and wafers to be used as energy enhancers during military conquests. It was thought that the power and strength of chocolate traveled with the warriors to overcome periods of weakness and exhaustion. Cacao was also viewed as an exotic luxury due to its lack of supply, and became one of the first recorded taxed commodities.
Later during the sixteenth century, when the Spaniards landed in Latin America they were showered with elaborate gifts and riches, including a cacao plantation by the Aztec people. The Spaniards were quick to realize the economic significance of cacao used as a form of currency and trade by the late Aztecs. They soon referred to cacao as "liquid gold" and began cultivating chocolate for profit and exporting the exotic "gold" to Spain.
To gain popularity with the Spanish, the Aztecs recipe for chocolate as a bitter, frothy drink infused with chilies would not suffice. As the Spanish began to settle in America, the cultivation of sugar cane in the Canary Islands, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic made sugar more available. Early European settlers in Mexico were the first to add sugar to chocolate, and the now sweet chocolate spread like wild fire through the newly conquered territories.
The popularity and demand for the thick, sweet-scented chocolate drink also spread rapidly throughout mainland Spain and soon chocolate houses, known as chocolaterias, could be found in every city. It became a fashionable trend for the wealthy to visit the chocolaterias to enjoy an afternoon cup of chocolate.
By the seventeenth century, the sweet chocolate drink was not only being enjoyed by Spain, but also by the Netherlands and Italy. Around 1615 Chocolate was introduced to France when princess Anne of Austria married Louis XIII. She loved chocolate so much, that when journeying to France she brought along with her several servants, all of whom were skilled in the art of preparing the divine treat. When Queen Maria Theresa married Louis XIV she also brought with her much enthusiasm for chocolate, and during her life made chocolate a popular item to be found at France's finest soirees. This led to the legendary career of France's first patented chocolatier, David Chaillou.
By the late eighteenth century, wealthy aristocrats at luxurious chocolate houses socially enjoyed the chocolate drink throughout Europe. Eager to find an alternate way to consume chocolate, Coenraad Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, devoted years in his home basement to revolutionizing the chocolate industry. It took years of patience and trial and error before Van Houten would be honored as the first to successfully transform chocolate into form other than liquid in 1828. Van Houten developed a machine to extract a large portion of the cacao butter in the liquid state leaving behind a dark, fine powder, referred today as cacao powder. Taking cocoa powder to the next level, chocolate manufacturers developed a process of melting the cocoa butter, combining it with ground cacao beans and sugar, and creating a smooth paste. The paste was then poured into fancy molds and hardened into "eating chocolate." This sparked a new trend with chocolate manufacturers around the world. Eating chocolate began appearing in the form of elegant bars and individual chocolate bonbons displayed in beautiful specialty boxes.
Meanwhile in Great Britain, chocolate was late to flourish due to the coffee and tea craze. However, for the wealthy upper class chocolate houses would become the place to be seen. As its popularity increased so did its import tax, which lead to smuggling and increased demand. Chocolate soon became big business as it became more affordable though, and was available to all. British officials and other European confectioners with pockets full of chocolate and a pioneering spirit provoked the first chocolate factories in America in 1765.
Today, chocolate can be found almost everywhere you look. From elaborate chocolate sculptures to bite sized treats, chocolate is now available for everyone to enjoy. CocoaBella Chocolates invites you to come explore our new world concept in an old world fashion with selections from our marble counters...
