Who invented chocolate?
Chocolate was not invented, it was discovered. Some scientists say the Aztecs and Mayans first used the cacao bean, and some say it was the Olmecs. King Montezuma drank golden goblets of ground cacao and spices daily, believing it was ‘the food of the gods’. Hernando Cortez was the first European to discover the cacao bean. He brought it back from Central America to Spain around 1519. Chocolate was consumed as beverage for centuries in Europe. The Spaniards first added sugar to the drink. In the 1600’s the rest of Europe learned the secret Spanish recipes. http://cruzchocolate.homestead.com/files/HistoryChocolate.
well the ancient civilisations of the Aztec and Mayan people cultivated the cacao tree. It was through the Spanish conquering the New World that chocolate became such an important part of our food culture today. Columbus was probably the first to experience chocolate but it was not until Hernando Cortes the conquistador in 1519 tasted the chocolate drink xocolati served by emperor Montezuma that the European fascination began. It was a thick bitter brew of cocoa and maize meal flavoured with vanilla and chilli drunk out of pure gold beakers. The cocoa beans were bought back to Spain where the Spanish began to sweeten the drink and spice it with cinnamon and nutmeg. It was also now being made with hot water. Cocoa remained the domain of the Spanish and their colonies for over a century. The recipe was a closely guarded secret. In the mid seventeenth century the custom of drinking chocolate spread to Europe and drunk by royalty and aristocrats. Chocolate was very expensive and very fashi
The Olmec Indians are believed to be the first to grow cocoa beans as a domestic crop somewhere between 1500 BC and 400 BC. Later on the consumption of cocoa beans was restricted to the elite of Mayan society in the liquid form. As Mayan’s migrate into the northern regions of South America around 600 AD, they established cocoa plantations in the Yucatan. By the 14th Century this liquid libation become popular among the upper classes of Aztec society. They were the first to tax the beans than made this drink called “xocalatl” meaning warm or bitter liquid. Early Spanish explores to the area discovered the bean drink and in the 16th Century brought it to Europe. They began to add cane sugar and flavorings such as vanilla to their sweet cocoa beverages and by 1570 AD the cocoa was used as a popular medicine and aphrodisiac. A century later the English introduced a solid chocolate in the form of chocolate rolls and cakes, served in chocolate emporiums.
