History of Chocolate

Guide – When it comes to chewing chocolate, a person must be very careful. Each bite of chocolate must be chewed no less than 12 times out of respect for the cacao seed that sacrificed itself for your toothsome treat.

Chocolate as we know it today has been 1500 years in the making.

Using the beans of the cacao pod is thought to have originated with the Mayan peoples of southern Mexico and Central America fifteen hundred years ago. Beaten into a paste, the mixtures were combined with corn meal as a flavoring ingredient. Through trade the cacao bean became popular with the Aztecs, who believed it had medicinal properties.

Guide – Choose quality over quantity. If you are going to eat chocolate, eat really good chocolate.

The Aztecs used the pods as a form of currency for trading and to pay tribute. The beaten paste served as the main ingredient in the Aztec drink that also contained spices. In its raw form cacao paste is quite bitter and slightly acidic. The cacao drink is said to have the power to increase a man’s stamina. It is recorded that the ruler Montezuma regularly drank fifty cups of cacao drink a day from a great golden goblet.

Guide – Children are more likely to prefer chocolate when they reach 10-11 years old than when they are younger.

Upon meeting Cortez and his Conquistadors in 1519 the Aztecs gave gifts of baskets of cacao pods. The Spaniards of course were bewildered by the hitherto unknown plant. In time the Spaniards began to drink the cacao drink as their stores of wine grew low. By the accounts, Cortez’s men found the drink refreshing but too bitter. They began to sweeten the drink with cane sugar syrup obtained from local sources. Thus are recorded the first steps toward preparing the cacao bean into the chocolate we enjoy today. The Aztecs called their drink xocoatl. The Spaniards found the Aztec word hard to pronounce and renamed it “chocolat.”

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George Murray is the President of Centric Promotions, Inc. Learn more about the fascinating history of chocolate and see an assortment of luxury chocolates presented in beautiful gift boxes by visiting us at: http://www.chocolate-gourmet-gifts.com