HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE
The origins of
chocolate can be traced back to the ancient Maya and
Aztec civilizations in Central America. They were the
very first people to author and prepare a recipe from
cocoa beans. By fermenting and roasting the beans, an
almost otherworldly flavor was created, transforming
raw bitter cocoa beans into what one 17th century
writer called "the only true food of the
gods", giving birth to the then sought after
piquant drink 'cacahuaquchtl' or 'chacahoua'.
The story of
chocolate begins with cocoa trees, which then grew
wild for thousands of years in the tropical rain
forests of the Amazon basin and many other tropical
areas in Central and South America. The astuteness of
the Maya Indians and the Aztecs immediately
recognized the essential core value of the cocoa
bean, both as an ingredient for their unique dark
brew drink 'cacahuaquchtl', as well as using the
cocoa bean as a meaningful method of barter and
currency, which they transacted for hundreds of years
before cocoa was first introduced into North America
and Europe.
